Speech by President Tony Tan Keng Yam at the Flagship Conference of the Social Enterprise Association “Social Collab 2013”

Mr Seah Kian Peng

Deputy Speaker and Co-Chairperson

of the Social Enterprise Association

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning.

I am very happy to be here this morning to officiate at this year’s Social Collab, the annual flagship conference organised by the Social Enterprise (SE) Association. 

         With over 280 members across different sectors, including corporate firms like DBS, and voluntary welfare organisations, that support and collaborate with social enterprises, the SE Association plays an important role in nurturing local social enterprises to bring about positive social impact to our community.

         Social enterprises are neither charities nor businesses, they are more altruistic than commercial businesses, but they are also more business-minded than traditional charities.  Social enterprises help disadvantaged Singaporeans achieve self-reliance through employment and meaningful engagement.  I have visited some of our budding social enterprises and I am pleased to see that they have already made positive social impact in Singapore.

         Let me give one or two examples.  Bliss Restaurant and Catering has provided job opportunities for persons with disabilities and also worked with grassroots organisations to engage and to support needy families.  SATA CommHealth has ploughed back its profits to offer subsidised healthcare services for the needy, thereby helping to provide access to affordable healthcare to the public on a sustainable basis.

         Social enterprises face tough challenges – they have to balance social and financial returns. A thriving social enterprise sector needs the support of the public, private and people sectors. There is always room for new ideas. I am delighted to see that new and creative approaches have emerged both in Singapore and overseas to give greater impetus to support the social enterprise sector.

         In the area of philanthropy, the concept of venture philanthropy – which combines the fields of venture capital and philanthropy – has emerged in recent years.  Philanthropists now have an added avenue to channel philanthropy funds to support experimentation, and to encourage potential social enterprises to test-bed their ideas. There are two examples - one is from overseas, which is the Acumen Fund from the United States, which has invested over US$40 million to help 35 enterprises in East Africa, India and Pakistan, and created more than 22,000 jobs.  Here in Singapore, a similar concept was introduced in 2011 when the Singapore Totalisator Board set up the SE Hub to offer business advice and equity investment into local social enterprises.  

         Corporate businesses too can play a role and here of course DBS is in the forefront of businesses.  In the United Kingdom, Deloitte worked with a microfinance social enterprise on a micro-loan programme.  They jointly developed a training programme for officers managing the micro-loans.   They also provided the loan recipients, typically low-income women, with advice, training and support to start sustainable businesses and to repay their loans more quickly.

         According to a survey carried out by the SE Association in Singapore, about half of our corporate companies interviewed are willing to lend their expertise and support to social enterprises.  Just one example - Ms Sim Sin Sin, whose family owns a chain of cafes called Secret Recipe, decided to make use of her business expertise and networks to start a social enterprise restaurant, Laksania, which employs persons with disabilities.  More recently, she has also established Social Food Inc.  By working with a job coach from the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore, Social Food has started to train persons with intellectual disabilities and employ them in its central kitchen.

         In December, the Ministry of Social and Family Development will be starting a pilot Social Enterprise Mentoring Programme in which corporate executives and businessmen serving as mentors will share their professional know-how with social enterprises.  The programme aims to help social enterprises scale up their operations and to achieve greater social impact.  The details of the pilot programme will be announced by the Ministry in due course.

       All these local and overseas examples demonstrate that there are opportunities for like-minded people – philanthropists, venture philanthropists, corporate businesses, government, non-profit organisations and social enterprises – to create social impact by collaborating and working together.  By sharing our strengths and resources, we can build a more inclusive society in Singapore with a strong spirit of generosity, care and compassion for our people.

       I therefore commend the SE Association for putting together this conference which provides a common platform for representatives in various sectors to discuss the role of social entrepreneurship in Singapore, and the opportunities for corporate firms and voluntary welfare organisations to collaborate with social enterprises.  I hope that this initiative will lead to new ideas and partnerships that will further enrich our social enterprise sector and in that way help enhance and improve the lives of Singaporeans. 

       I wish all of you an enjoyable and fruitful conference.   

       Thank you.