Unexpected entrepreneurialism in the young.

I have posted before about the lack of entrepreneurialism shown by Singaporeans in general - as evidenced by the lack of them in situations where one would expect them to be present. Once, however, I found myself surprised by an unexpected entrepreneur.

I was in a school where I had been teaching. After the class had finished I waited with one of the school's teachers, for the other teachers to convene. While I waited, a student approached the teacher and presented a catalogue to her. He then began to talk quietly to her, about a product he wanted her to buy. I studied the catalogue more closely and noted the presence of one word on the outside cover: "Amway". Ah...our young student was promoting a network marketing opportunity.

I was immediately struck by the oddness of the moment. Here was a student pitching his own teacher into a business opportunity. Somehow he had managed to reverse the roles. Though she was his teacher, he was teaching her - in this case, of the ways she would benefit in buying products through him. She listened carefully to his words. She nodded on occasions as if she either understood what he said - or agreed with him. In the end, it was clear that he had made some kind of sale, because she asked questions about the product, and indicated that she wanted some of it. It was amazing to watch, in its own way.

Then, as she left, he approached me and enquired as to my name, introduced himself and offered a card, saying: "I have my own business."

His card was coy. It didn't mention network marketing at all - and it gave the impression of being global. I did note something that explained something to me: this boy wasn't Singaporean at all - he was Malaysian, for such was the address given. He was, to be more specific, a Malaysian Chinese boy. I was struck by the entrepreneurialism he showed. I was also struck by a feeling that it was inappropriate of him to be engaging in business, on the school grounds: it seemed to transgress the sanctity of education.

I didn't comment. It wasn't my place to do so - for I was just an external consultant. His teacher hadn't seemed to mind, though.

Yet, his actions did show a certain resourcefulness. He was turning the school grounds into one big business opportunity. While others were studying - he was turning his teachers into customers - and trying to do so with any guest teachers, too.

There is, however, a danger in this boy's nascent entrepreneurial career. His attention is likely not to be so much on his academic work, but on how to persuade Teacher X to either buy his wares, or become a member of his network. This means that for him the school is no longer a place of education, but has become a marketplace. It is likely, therefore, that what he gains in personal income, he might lose in academic growth. He might swap an education, for an income, in a way that might curtail his overall potential.

It is true, however, that the kind of opportunism he is showing reveals a character likely to succeed in life, in the commercial sense, if in no other.

So, this one incident is a hint that, although Singapore might be lacking in its own entrepreneurs, some, among the imported student "talent" might very well be instinctive entrepreneurs.

This is the only time in my life that I have been given a business card, by a secondary school student. He hadn't even taken his O levels yet. It feels quite odd, in a way - for the last thing one expects in a student is for them to attempt to sell one something.

The love and pursuit of money really do seem to begin a little too early in this part of the world.

I am left to wonder one thing: does this young boy's sponsor in the Amway business know he is still in school? Does his sponsor realize the effect this distraction from the true purpose of school might have on his education? Is it the sponsor's policy and strategy to seek out schoolchildren to join his network? There is the making of a scandal here, a moral one, at the least. I wonder what is Amway's official stand on this kind of thing?

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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The lack of entrepreneurs in Singapore

Today, I saw stark evidence for the lack of entrepreneurialism in Singapore. It may not seem much, but the message of what I witnessed is quite clear.

My wife and I had heard about the "flea market" at the Singapore Art Museum on Saturdays. We had mutual memories of Camden Market in London to inspire us with visions of innumerable idiosyncratic little stalls selling the oddest of things - things that would be a good quirky addition to any home. So, with this preconceived idea of what we might see, we went to the Singapore Art Museum.

What we saw, when we entered the central, open space in the Museum where the flea market was being held, quite astonished us. There was nothing there at all - approximately speaking. Not one of the eight stalls I counted amounted to the word stall. They were thoughtless, haphazard and uninteresting in content and presentation. The staff were listless, already bored with the lack of custom. It was both shocking and pathetic. The typical stall consisted of a few pieces of junk thrown onto a table. It was ludicrous.

We felt embarrassed for Singapore - and for ourselves for being there.

It was instantly clear that something was wrong. I have never seen a country so unable to muster such a simple thing as a flea market. Every other country I have visited (about 20), has a thriving subculture of people willing to set up any shop, anywhere. It is from these corner street acts of entrepreneurship, that great entrepreneurial stories begin. Not so, however, in Singapore. A country of 4.6 million people cannot muster more than 8 sad efforts at stalls, when an event calls upon it to do so. That, to me, means that entrepreneurs are rare in Singapore. The attitude of entrepreneurship is not widespread enough even to support a little bit of free market salesmanship at a flea market.

This is sad for what it says of Singapore's future. Every entrepreneur's biography or life history that I have read tells tales of small ventures begun often in childhood - tiny efforts at entrepreneurialism, such as a market stall, from which great empires spring. It is in these small efforts that people learn the skills and mindset of the entrepreneur. Without such experiences and little trials, few have the experience and courage to try anything on a bigger scale. This first step is missing in Singapore. People, generally speaking, just don't even try the first rungs of entrepreneurship, without which they are not mentally equipped for the higher rungs.

The absence of a lively flea market, today, at Singapore Art Museum is thus symptomatic of a serious problem facing Singapore. Without the young entrepreneurs of today, there are no great companies of tomorrow. Today, I witnessed a dearth of just such young entrepreneurs. Tomorrow, this promises a dearth of great new companies.

What is most telling about this is that I have never witnessed such a lack of entrepreneurial spirit anywhere else. I have travelled fairly widely - but never seen such a lack of the basic drive to build a venture, however small. Perhaps Singaporeans think a market stall is not good enough for them. Perhaps they think that only something grander will do for a start. This shows a failing of understanding of what even a market stall can teach a young person. All the basic skills of salesmanship and marketing are involved. All the basic skills of sourcing a product, pricing them, finding a niche. In fact, all the basic skills that make up the backbone of much larger ventures. Starting a market stall could very well be the beginning of a career that ends up with a Mustapha Centre sized outlet.

Perhaps what I saw today was a national pride against starting small. Yet, most great enterprises started that way. Not starting small, usually means never starting at all.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and five months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and ten months, and Tiarnan, twenty-seven months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)