Commentary

5 tips to keep you afloat in your first year in business

If you have taken that first step to start your business, congratulations! You’re in for a treat that will take you to the highs of highs and to the lows of lows.

5 tips to keep you afloat in your first year in business

If you have taken that first step to start your business, congratulations! You’re in for a treat that will take you to the highs of highs and to the lows of lows.

Property investment guide: Getting the right properties for the right people

Over dinner the other night some chaps at the other end of the table were discussing how clever they had been with their Singapore property investments, my end of the table was discussing the latest mall opening so I carried on nodding but turned my attention back to these savvy-investors...

Digital natives transform technology into workplace necessity

Jonathan Wong, a trader based in Singapore, strides across the trading floor with a microphone tucked neatly into  his ear as the lights on his trading turret beep urgently, indicating three additional incoming calls.

Customer service in Singapore goes beyond the Frontline

Singapore, our little red dot, is an island of service enterprises. As a customer, if all you need is “Yes, Sir!”; “Thank  you, Sir.” I would say then that you have been served.

You think experience counts? Singaporean qualifications, round two

Recently reading “Singaporean qualifications don’t mean a thing without experience” I was provoked to write in defence of all those who are qualified and are applying for jobs throughout the island.

How to flip the 'insane imbalance' in your business

Today's empowered consumer means traditional forms of marketing and acquisition won't work.

Singaporean qualifications: Think thrice before writing them off

Singapore is a paper-chase country. Every Singaporean is chasing after paper qualifications to excel in school and career. Is collecting paper qualifications important? You bet!

Can a Google-like office make you happier?

Employees are the building blocks of a company, yet they are often neglected, as seen by the rising cases of employees collapsing from exhaustion, and even reports of employee abuse.

Making Singapore a shinier red dot

Firstly, I must confess that the content of this article will not go down too well with many Singaporeans and maybe some Indonesians. I grew up in Singapore, born and bred here – except for a short stint overseas for my university education. This is based on my observations and after thoughts after one of my recent business trips to Jakarta.

The problem with Singapore's high value added investment philosophy

Singapore has always emphasized high value added economic activities when soliciting overseas investments and devising development programmes. In fact I myself was recruited to NUS because of one such push started in 1980 with the establishment of National Computer Board, to promote the widespread use of IT in business and in society generally.

Lessons from the Singapore Girl

As my profession revolves around luxury brand strategies, I have often asked myself and my friends “what is the best customer service you have ever experienced?”

Stir up your business with impressive corporate governance

For many Singapore’s businesses such as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), corporate governance is like the weather. We always talk about it, but we cannot do anything about it.

The keys to excellent leadership at all levels

Leadership is becoming increasingly complex not just in Singapore. Leaders need to be mindful and respect various cultural, societal backgrounds, market differences and expectations of their fellow employees. The business environment today also brings together a culmination of social and economic circumstances, which challenge responsibilities, roles and competency among leaders.

Singaporean qualifications don’t mean a thing without experience

Singapore is obsessed with qualifications. Everyone is geared towards getting the best and most number of diplomas and degrees and MBA’s. I hate to tell you all but they mean absolutely nothing without experience.

5 challenges that HR professionals face today

In light of the rapidly changing business landscape in Singapore today, the challenges within the field of human resources are endless. The role of human resources professionals is constantly evolving and expanding, with new challenges surfacing beyond operational HR issues.

Just when you thought you've forged a great team

Here in the Lion City, I speak to many Lions and Lionesses, and some Cougars and Pumas, who run their own businesses or are part of large organizations. We talk about many things under the sun, ideas, current affairs, vagaries of people and establishments, and, invariably at some point, the topic of “good help is so hard to find nowadays” crops up.

Worries over Singapore's wage gap intensify

Professor Lim Chong Yah's call to greatly reduce Singapore's rich/poor wage gap as a matter of national urgency, has aroused much interest - he is not only is one of the long standing prominent economists in Singapore, but also happens to be related to Mr Lee Kuan Yew by marriage thus making it natural for one to wonder whether the issue was discussed between them before being brought out in public.