Youth was the theme of the day when Singapore's top entrepreneurs were singled out yesterday.
The Entrepreneur of the Year Award honoured 17 go-getters for their success, with 11 of them at 45 years of age or under, and seven aged under 40.
'The entrepreneurial spirit has percolated down to the young people,' said Mr Suresh Keerthi, co-chairman of the award. 'They have succeeded with a balance of idealism and pragmatism.'
The award, now in its 20th year, recognises local entrepreneurs who have had business success while also developing corporate social responsibility.
The 17 honoured yesterday at the Shangri-La Hotel will now go forward to a final selection, with sub-category winners and an overall champion to be announced at a ceremony on Oct 22.
Mr Chan Chong Beng, founder of interior furnishings firm Goodrich Global, won the overall award last year.
A standout yesterday was Mr Ivan Lee, chief executive of restaurant group Thai Express Concepts and, at 32, the youngest to be honoured.
He founded Thai Express in 2002 after he saw a space in a market dominated by Chinese and Japanese restaurants. Quite a feat for someone who had left university just two years earlier.
He said that while there were many Thai restaurants worldwide, he wanted to make Thai dining casual and accessible to everyone here.
In six years, Thai Express has expanded to 75 outlets in nine countries, including New Zealand, Mongolia and Saudi Arabia.
Ms Valerie Tan, 34, chief executive of Pinnacle International, a parallel importer of cars, was one of two women to be honoured this year.
She entered what has been a traditionally male-dominated sector because she has loved cars from an early age.
She started her company with three others at the age of 21 with capital of less than $100,000.
Today, the firm employs 200 people and exports to 40 countries, including Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.
Others under 40 who were singled out included Mr Charles Wong, 34, founder of footwear chain Charles & Keith, and Mr Von Lee, 38, who founded Expand Construction.
Mr Linus Goh, global head of enterprise banking and financial institutions at OCBC Bank, the main sponsor of the awards, said that amid a global financial crisis, perhaps being 'small is beautiful'.
He added that while small and medium-sized enterprises will have to manage with a slower pace of growth in the economy, their situation will not be that bad.
The awards are organised by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Rotary Club.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on September 19, 2008.
