PINGters be Inspired – These 42 Entrepreneurs are like U and I

It is rare that ordinary citizens get the opportunity to be honoureed for doing what they like…

Spirit of Enterprise (SOE), a non-profit body that promotes and advances entrepreneurial spirit in Singapore, today honoured 42 local entrepreneurs. The annual Awards Ceremony will be held at the Pan Pacific Singapore Pacific Ballroom on the 26th September 2007. The annual Award honours, as well as seeks to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit in Singaporeans. Guest of Honour for this years event will be the Minister of State for Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Mrs. Yu-Foo Yee Shoon.

This year’s honourees were selected from a pool of over 156 nominations. Incorporating online voting from the general public over 27,000 voters assisted SOE’s Board of Governors in selecting the honourees for their perseverance and inspirational displays of the entrepreneurial spirit.

Honourees include Mr. David Gan of Passion Hair Salon, and Mr. Ted Ngo, of the hip design hotel, Gallery Hotel. The winners picked represent various industries with the services and lifestyle industries gaining traction. Mr. David Gan is well known for being the personal stylist to MediaCorp queen, Zoe Tay and Chinese superstar, Zhang Ziyi. Mr. Ted Ngo has created a one-of-its-kind boutique hotel that has won awards like the STB Tourism Awards for Best Accommodation Experience.

With Minister Mentor Lee mentioning that Singapore is entering a ‘Golden Period’ in terms of economic growth and social development, this years awards recognize the honourees for playing a strong role in bringing the industry to where it is now.

“Amongst this year’s honourees, many of them hail from services, lifestyle, food and beverage industries. This reflects well on our economy’s transformation towards an exciting lifestyle oriented city.” Said Mr Henry Tan, President of The Spirit of Enterprise. “The emergence of more nominees in these sectors points towards the Singapore economy vibrantly developing its own home-grown brands poised to take on the future.”

Two other awards were also announced today. The Best Student Interviewer Awards went to Mr. EU XING LEONG of National University of Singapore and Ms. HUIXIANG CHEN of Singapore Institute of Management, while the Friends of Enterprise Awards went to Shell LiveWIRE and the Singapore Institute of Management.

Also involved in the interviewing process were students of ITE, Millennia Institute, Nanyang polytechnic, NTU, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, SMU, Singapore Polytechnic, SMU, NUS and SIM. The SOE’s Board of Governors would like to announce its appreciation for all volunteers who have kindly assisted. The number of participating schools has increased from 7 to 10 demonstrating the stronger interest from schools to expose their students to entrepreneurial leaders.

The 42 Honourees of the 2007 awards are presented in alphabetical order of their company name as follows:

Honouree & Company

ADELINA PANG ADELINA PANG FENGSHUI CONSULTANCY PTE LTD
STEVEN NG BAN NEE CHEN PTE LTD
ALVIN LEE BEAUTIFUL MINDS
VINCENT LIM BIG COMMUNICATIONS PTE LTD
DAVID BLACK BLACKBOX RESEARCH PTE LTD
CAROL LIM BRA SHOPPE (S) PTE LTD
AREENA NG BRIDGE LEARNING PTE LTD
JERNNINE PANG CALIFORNIA-ASIA SUSHI ACADEMY C/O THE ACADEMY PL
KEVIN LOH CAMPAIGN CLEANING SERVICES (PTE) LTD
BENNY CHUA CHOCZ. PTE LTD
STEVE MELHUISH COMIASIA
IRENE GOMEZ CORPORATE MEDIA SERVICES PTE LTD
PALANI PILLAI CRUSH ADVERTISING PTE LTD
SEAH LIANG CHIANG DIGITAL SCANNING CORPORATION PTE LTD
DAVE ROGERS E-ART-H WORKS PTE LTD
HUANG LIANG YU E-COM DIGITAL INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD
GEOFF ANG GEOFF STUDIO PTE. LTD.
MICHAEL LIM KOH LEONG GO FLY KITE PTE LTD
FOO SIEW ENG IFB FREIGHTBRIDGE PTE LTD
K SIVARAMAN NAIR INDIA SAREE EMPORIUM PTE LTD
IRENE TEO IRENE’S CREATION PTE. LTD.
LEE MAN SAN KIA HIANG GOURMET PTE LTD
DONNA LEE KINDERGOLF PTE LTD
Rachel Ng Sheok Hoon LIFESTREAM GROUP PTE LTD
LEE CHEE WEE LYNK BIOTECHNOLOGIES PTE LTD
MAX TAN MBC AIRCONDITION ENGINEERING
KARTHIK TIRUPATHI NIHONGO BASHI PTE LTD
MARK TAN PAGE ONE HOLDINGS PTE LTD
DAVID GAN PASSION HAIR SALON PTE LTD
GLORIA HO & MR AUGUSTINE LIM PETSTYLIST
PEGGY ONG PRO-TEACH BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE
BHAKT YAP QUEST MODEL MANAGEMENT LLP
YEO GIM LAM RESOUND HEARING SERVICES CENTRE PTE LTD
DEBORAH SOH, MS LIU SIN YEE & MR KELVIN TAN ROOM FOR DESSERT
IRENE ONG SERENE NURSING HOME PTE LTD & IRENE NURSING HOME PTE LTD
SEBASTIAN TAN SHOOTING GALLERY ASIA PTE. LTD.
LIM CHEE SONG SIMPLEX PTE LTD
IVAN LEE THAI EXPRESS (S) PTE LTD
TED NGO THE GALLERY HOTEL PTE LTD
ONG SZE CHING AND MR SHEGAR V.K. THE TATAMI SHOP PTE. LTD.
LIM TIONG KOK TIONG KEE KATONG LAKSA
EDWARD WEE WEE CHWEE HUAT SCAFFOLDING & CONSTRUCTION PTE LTD