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‘Titles culture’ in Singapore stifles entrepreneurial streak, say foreign-born businessmen

SINGAPORE — They have hopped around countries to build up businesses, before settling on Singapore to sink their roots more than 10 years ago. To them, there is no better place than Singapore for entrepreneurs, so much so that one of them, fish farm Barramundi Asia’s managing director Joep Kleine Staarman declares “if you can’t (make) it here, you can’t do it anywhere else”.

Iconic tech entrepreneur Serguei Beloussov, whose backup software and data protection solutions company Acronis is known globally came to Singapore in 1994. Photo: Robin Choo/TODAY

Iconic tech entrepreneur Serguei Beloussov, whose backup software and data protection solutions company Acronis is known globally came to Singapore in 1994. Photo: Robin Choo/TODAY

SINGAPORE — They have hopped around countries to build up businesses, before settling on Singapore to sink their roots more than 10 years ago. To them, there is no better place than Singapore for entrepreneurs, so much so that one of them, fish farm Barramundi Asia’s managing director Joep Kleine Staarman declares “if you can’t (make) it here, you can’t do it anywhere else”.

Yet, relatively few local entrepreneurs have managed to break through to the world stage, despite the favourable conditions, which these prominent localised foreign entrepreneurs put down partially to the “titles culture” here. When people meet for the first time in Singapore, it is not unusual for conversations to start with the schools they went to, or where they have worked, almost as if they are sizing each other up and looking for blemishes, they noted.

As a result, people grow up trying to thrive in school, which, here, focuses on structured learning, and systematic and logical thinking; less on creativity and risk-taking. Mr Steen Puggaard, who is head honcho of local fried chicken chain 4Fingers, said the education system produces workers good in thinking about structures and algorithms, besides being highly efficient.

“But it is still a workforce that is not highly innovative, and that is worrisome for us, as we have to stay relevant in the future economy,” said Mr Puggaard, a Dane who came to Singapore in 1999 and gained Permanent Resident status six years later. His first gig here was to run regional marketing for McDonald’s, then moved to Burger King and Les Amis before joining 4Fingers.

Since he took a stake in the company, 4Fingers has expanded to 12 outlets across Singapore, and several more in Malaysia and Indonesia, with revenue growing from about S$2 million to S$30 million, excluding franchised outlets.

Mr Staarman, 60, who is from the Netherlands, added that the results-driven, exam-centric approach in Singapore’s education system does not require students to think creatively, which often is the essence to create entrepreneurs.

“When you train people to be good in learning the rules, it is harder to have a rebellious spirit, or have an entrepreneurial, risk-taking spirit,” he said.

“We need people who are not afraid to break the norm, to fail a little.”

Mr Staarman came to Singapore in 2004 to work for a company called Marine Harvest. Four years later, he decided to set up his own company, Barramundi, so his family would not need to move around any more, and his children could complete their studies here. Now, even though his children are furthering their higher education overseas, Mr Staarman has no intentions of finding a new base for his business operations.

These localised foreign entrepreneurs rattle off what makes Singapore top-notch for wannabe entrepreneurs.

“Singapore has low crime and is safe. It is easy to start a business here, with the efficient business infrastructure and system. If you can’t do it here you can’t do it anywhere else,” said Mr Staarman.

Agreeing, Mr Puggaard, compared Singapore to the many cities he had lived and worked in — mostly in Eastern Europe, such as Ukraine, Czech Republic and Slovakia — in the six years prior to him settling down here.

“It was an extremely friendly place to do business. There was no corruption, the public sector is pro-entrepreneurship and innovation, which appealed a lot to me,” he said.

Given that the conditions here are primed for startups to thrive, it was important that Singapore society shakes off this culture of defining success a single way, and soon.

Mr Puggaard, whose two children attend Primary One and Four in local schools here, noted that the needs of economies around the world are changing very rapidly due to robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), and the education system needs to encourage risk-taking.

“One of the things robots can’t do yet is innovation and entrepreneurship ... and Singapore needs to make sure it stays relevant,” he said. “Original ideas, patents, trademarks are things that will add a lot of value to Singapore’s economy and we need creative thinkers to have them. It is worthwhile to make sure the next generation of workforce is educated for the economy 15 years from now.”

Iconic tech entrepreneur Serguei Beloussov, whose backup software and data protection solutions company Acronis is known globally, agreed: “Entrepreneurship is one of the things that AI cannot do, as it is about trying and failing, creativity and innovation. Singapore is not as easy a place for entrepreneurship because most of entrepreneurial nature is about people.”

Jewish by blood, and born in Russia, Mr Beloussov came to Singapore in 1994 when the company he co-founded in his home country was dealing with trading partners based in countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea. He decided to stay on here because it was politically stable, neutral, safe, and pro-business. The 46-year-old, valued at UK$600 million, became a Singaporean in 2001, and has based his business, properties, and most of his children here.

Mr Beloussov said Singapore is unique in its own context and should not ape other success stories, such as the Silicon Valley.

“I don’t think Silicon Valley can be a role model for Singapore because it is a different place. Singapore could be a good place for technological companies, I believe so,” he said. “There is this whole obsession for people to be similar to other people, countries to be similar to others, but we must note that they are different — Singapore and the Silicon Valley — in terms of climate, economy, and geographical location.”

Mr Staarman said what needs changing first is for society to be less critical of those who fare less well academically.

“If people are not good in school, don’t write them off. Work on their specialties. Oftentimes, they may be the ones with the potential to be the entrepreneurs of tomorrow,” Mr Staarman said.

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