Thinking Aloud
Opting Out of Opt-Out Schemes
I was shocked when I received my M1 phone bill this month.
The amount somehow ballooned to three figures and it was only after scrutinising the...
When Trying Your Best Is Not Good Enough
My brother-in-law was stuck in the excess baggage claim counter at Changi Airport while two staff - who had no idea what they were...
You Only Live Once
I read with sadness that Violet Lim, an entrepreneur I met once some time ago, had succumbed to cancer.
She's the feisty 55 year-old lady...
2008 Calendar of Events For The Opportunistic Entrepreneur
January
Singapore's Changi Airport opens its third major terminal, T3, on 10th January to much fanfare. More hordes of happy tourists will descend to our...
Which Will You Choose?
A regular, easy job in a small company. Pays somewhat comfortably but riddled with frustrations from frequent R&D and product delays. Little, if any,...
Customer Service Is An Attitude, Not A Process
I laughed when I read this story in the Straits Times.
Oh, I thought OCBC Bank scored a public relations coup, for sure. The gesture to make...
How NOT To Name Your Product
Spotted in a supermarket - two products with naming irregularities:
1. Sounds pathetic and pitiful, the poor thing.
2. Do you really want to use the...
Controversial Products – Would These Offend You?
If you are a believer, would these tongue-in-cheek T-shirts* offend you? Or do they amuse you?
In either case, you're likely to talk about it.
Products with...
This Caught My Eye…
Sometimes you come across great out-of-home (OOH) media that makes you do a double-take, just like this one:
I saw this in Melbourne along Brunswick...
Can You Guess What They’re Selling?
Spotted this in Melbourne's city centre along Flinders Street. Yup, their signboard says it all...
It's a fun pun on the name of Nobel Prize-winning...
Idea: Mag Nation – Coffee And Magazines Do Mix
It may go against conventional thinking, but the marriage of coffee and magazines make so much business sense it's a wonder why no Singapore...
These Web Entrepreneurs Started Young
What do Digg.com, Reddit.com, NeoPets and FaceBook have in common?
Other than the fact they all made, and are still making, big splashes on the...
How Smart Are You?
Which is smarter - surrounding yourself with smart people, or surrounding yourself with people who tell you you're smart?
Still Surfing the Web 2.0 Wave – Brightkite, Orgoo and Plurk
There's no end in sight in the Web 2.0 revolution.
Here's a look at three Web 2.0 newbies that have been wow-ing the Singapore web...
Singapore’s Earliest Contribution To Science?
Many people may not have known that in 1922, a German-born scientist of Jewish descent came to - of all places - Singapore to...
What Kind of Business Relationship Are You In?
This post is inspired by a chat session I had with Su Yuen, Howie and Wayne from The Digital Movement about business relationships. We were...
We’d Love To Hear From You…
It seems strange, but sometimes people do say no when I ask to interview them.
Here are some of the reasons they give:
1. "We're not...
Why I Set Up This Blog…
Robert Scoble said on his Twitter:
"My biggest beef? Startups don't get covered very well by the mainstream press..."
This is one of the reasons why...
When Crowdsourcing Goes Wrong – Stylis? Connexis?
Fusionopolis
Crowdsourcing, a term first coined by Jeff Howe in a Wired magazine article in June 2006, describes the trend of leveraging the masses to...
The Developer Is Everybody’s New Best Friend
I had the opportunity to meet Jeff Roberto of Friendster over lunch today, along with Ben Koe of JamiQ, Howie Chang from TDM, Michael...
Stealth Mode – A Silent Way For A Startup To Die
During one of the recent events I attended, I spoke to this guy working in a new local startup who proudly declared, "We're in...
Reinventing Customer Service
What if customer service folks were among the most highly-paid in a business?
Or if businesses hired the best and the brightest to handle customer...
Greed Will Be The Death Of Singapore’s Food Culture
Last night, I ordered dinner at a foodcourt in a shopping mall.
It tasted appalling. Perhaps I should have hesitated when I saw the mainland Chinese cook manning the kitchen.
Before...
An Old Man And His Craft
During my vacation to Hong Kong last week, I made a day trip with my wife to nearby Macau. As we walked past Senado...
An Upcoming, And Hopefully Interesting, Project
I'm currently organizing a project which I hope will add value to Singapore's entrepreneurial, and technopreneurial, scene.
Slated to start sometime in January 2009, it...
Merry Christmas; Pledge Your Support For Underprivileged Children
Now that the Christmas presents opened and the feasting is done, spare a thought for the needy this festive season. Drop by Samsung Hope...
Being Smart
Most people think Levi Strauss invented the blue jean. Actually, it was Jacob Youphes (aka Jacob Davis), a Latvian immmigrant to the United States...
Ten Things You Can Do For A Better 2009
By all accounts, 2009 is shaping up to be a very bad year. The global financial crisis that has wiped out billions of dollars...
MyLinkup.sg – Innovative Tuition Agency Goes Web 2.0; Conducts Questionable Blogging Contest?
Picking the right home tutor for your child is an extremely important process, and it can take a long time to find someone suitable....
Doom And Gloom For Small Businesses In Singapore; Buggered By Greedy Landlords And Hypocritical...
According to a Straits Times story, 131 small businesses in Singapore closed down last year - an increase of almost 25 percent over 2007, with...