At the Entrepreneur of the Year Award ceremony on Thursday were (from left) Rotary Club of Singapore president Keith Harrison, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, Ademco Security Group managing director Toby Koh, the overall winner in the Established Entrepreneur category, and ASME president Kurt Wee.Click on this link to read the Straits Times article or click read more below to read President Keith's full speech.
View the photo album http://www.rotary.org.sg/PhotoAlbums/eya-2017 and you can also visit the EYA website here
SPEECH: KEITH HARRISON, PRESIDENT, ROTARY CLUB OF SINGAPORE, DELIVERED AT THE EYA 2017 AWARD PRESENTATION CEREMONY, 23 NOVEMBER 2017, AT THE RITZ-CARLTON, GRAND BALLROOM, LEVEL 1
Guest-of-Honour
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin
Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
Mr Kurt Wee
President, ASME
Mr Thomas Fernandez
Co-Chairman, Award Organising Committee
Mr Alan Tan
Co-Chairman, Award Organising Committee
Mr. Linus Goh
Head, Global Commercial Banking, OCBC Bank
Ms. Tan Aik Na
Chief Administrative Officer & Chief Financial Officer, Nanyang Technological University
Mr. Raymond Ng
General Manager, Aston Martin Singapore
Media partners,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and gentlemen - good evening.
The Rotary Club of Singapore established The Entrepreneur of the Year Award (EYA) 29 years ago – and it has come a long way since those modest beginnings. Tonight, along with our fantastic partner, ASME, the Award is very proud to celebrate the achievements of the 17 Winners of 2017, and to continue to inspire entrepreneurship in Singapore.
The EYA prides itself for its rigorous rounds of judging to identify entrepreneurs that have truly outdone themselves. With the theme of “Transform; Reinvent” this year, the Award has identified visionary business leaders that have transformed their businesses to seize new markets, develop new products and achieve greater growth. Not only that, all the winners have also been excellent corporate citizens. Values increasingly important to all of us in Singapore, the World and certainly Rotary. For everyone here tonight, as you further contribute to society in the coming years through your respective CSR programmes, I openly declare that, at Rotary, we will always be a happy and supportive partner to you – just call! (actually, my millennium staff tell me you should just Whatsapp!)
The journey of enterprise requires great passion and commitment, and is a continuous learning process. Many entrepreneurs, when they first start out are like “raw diamonds” – they may be newly discovered or mined, but they are ambitious with a clear sharp vision to create their own mark of success.
Given heat, pressure and the right opportunities, these “lumps of carbon” with the right exposure, experience and industrial hard work – with cutting and polishing - emerge as glittering business leaders. As they say No heat, No pressure, No diamond!
To emphasize my diamond analogy, Messrs Kavin Ng and Eric Lim of Richz Technology are great examples who have shown passion and determination to excel and shine. They have enjoyed success in their niche business of producing lab-grown diamonds. Using an innovative machine, the diamonds that are created are identical to high quality mined diamonds and are more eco-friendly, sustainable and socially responsible. Music to my ears.
Just like all the Winners and leaders here this evening, businesswomen and men today should be constantly challenging themselves to look for new markets and products in the current competitive business environment. The EYA looks forward, in the coming years, to honour more business leaders, be they emerging or established entrepreneurs, who have shown outstanding performance in their respective industry fields.
Before I am forcibly removed from the stage for overrunning my time, on behalf of the Rotary Club of Singapore and the Award, I would like to thank our main sponsor OCBC Bank for their continued support of the EYA.
I would also like to thank our:
• Knowledge Partner: Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
• Automotive Partner: Aston Martin Singapore
• Sponsor: Mont Blanc
Thank you for your strong support of the Award.
In addition, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation and thanks to our Supporting Organisations: International Enterprise Singapore and Spring Singapore.
As touched on earlier, I would also like to thank ASME for their great partnership in co-organising the EYA. The team at the ASME secretariat do an outstanding job – and have again exceeded all expectations. I look forward to developing an even stronger partnership in the years ahead, to honour and celebrate local entrepreneurs in Singapore.
To all the Winners, fantastically very well done, many MANY congratulations and I hope you continue to forge ahead in your enterprise journey and reach even greater heights.
Thank you and I wish everyone an enjoyable evening.