THE image of a 31-year-old John Lennon, eyes yearning for an end to the fighting - in an era when the notion of world peace had yet to be mocked - stares down at Jarrold Ong, and dares him to imagine.
And imagine he does.
In a tiny office sparsely adorned with posters of music greats of yesteryear, the National University of Singapore (NUS) graduate has spent the past six months turning his dream into reality.
He is part of a team of five behind Homespace.sg, an ambitious project that is attempting to move property listings to the Web in order to fully utilise the interactivity it affords.
A dozen projects like his are housed in Garag3 (pronounced 'garage'), an incubator for Interactive Digital Media (IDM) start-ups located on the fringes of the NUS campus.
Projects are funded through the Media Development Authority (MDA) microfunding scheme launched last May, which awards successful applicants $50,000 to cover their living expenses and develop their ideas.
Since its opening in October last year, Garag3 has seen 12 out of the 50 applicants successfully obtaining the MDA microfunding grant.
This figure is further sweetened by $5,000 for Garag3 members, courtesy of NUS Enterprise, one of 10 mentors identified by the MDA that help administer the grant and provide mentorship.
NUS Enterprise engages well-known tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to sit on their investment panel, which determines which start-ups receive funding.
They then go on to directly mentor an average of two to three start-ups each.
Garag3 is run by NUS graduate Justin Lee, who worked closely with the director of NUS Enterprise, Wong Poh Kam, to realise his dream of replicating what he had seen in Silicon Valley - the global hub to the world's most prominent high-tech players and venture capitalists - right here in Singapore.
Mr Lee highlighted the need for start-ups to have a physical space where they are free to work uninterrupted for long stretches, often late into the night.
'There's only so long you can stay at Starbucks to use the wireless hot spot before they close or chase you away,' he said. 'All we needed was aircon, broadband, electricity, and coffee.'
NUS Enterprise paid $40,000 to refurbish Garag3's current premises, and tasked Mr Lee with sourcing for interesting project proposals.
Prof Wong said: 'We thought that instead of us going out to evangelise, why not 'outsource' the running of the IDM incubator to these young people?
'IDM is basically a generational thing, it's much harder for a 40-year-old than a young person.'
Across the narrow hallway cluttered with flip flops - footwear is not allowed in the offices as it is also where they sleep - another young dreamer is hoping for a break.
NUS graduate Royston Tay is working on ZopIM, an application which allows companies to communicate with Web visitors via instant messages.
Trained as an engineer, he has had to get up to speed with the business aspect of running an IDM start-up.
'I was in the library reading business books. An uncle came up to ask if I was studying for my MBA,' said Mr Tay.
He survives on $600 every month, the maximum amount that founders are able to pay themselves, as stipulated by the microfund, with the rest being ploughed back into developing their ideas.
'I think that you need a little bit of stupidity and impracticality to go into start-ups,' says Mr Lee, with a smile. 'Basically, we're all dreamers.'
And as you leave the room, it is impossible not to notice the other singer plastered on the wall - the guy that sang My way.
This article was first published in The Business Times on May 20, 2008
