RP Alumni Wins Promising Entrepreneur Award!

Singapore, 18 November 2011 – Republic Polytechnic's (RP) Diploma in Integrated Events Management (R28) alumni Ang Min Yi from the School of Hospitality (SOH), recently won one of only three merit awards at the Shell LiveWIRE Awards 2011 at the finals held at ITE College East.

The award recognises enterprising students and/or alumni below the age of 21 from the various secondary schools, JCs, ITEs or polytechnics in Singapore. Applicants are judged on three main categories in the competition namely, Education and Experimentation, Enterprise and Personal Qualities.

Min Yi receiving the award from
Minister of State for Trade and
Industry, Mr Teo Ser Luck.

Even though many of the participants were well-prepared and highly experienced, Ming Yi, mentored by RP staff Ms May Mak Tey and supported by RP's Centre for Innovation and Enterprise (CIE), managed to overcome the stiff competition with her business plan "Edu Travel". The plan focuses on educational tourism and offers a complete solution for overseas educational trips which includes trip conceptualisation, pre-trip activities, funding coordination, onsite tours and post trip events.

When asked why she decided to focus on educational tourism, Min Yi explained, "We are aware of the internationalisation fund created by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 2008 to encourage local students to gain exposure to life overseas. I strongly adhere to the belief that travelling is the best form of education."

Ms May shared about the effort that went into preparing for the competition, "We worked very closely for almost six months to refine the business idea to ensure its commercial viability. Being a tourism student, Minyi was fully capable of conceptualising the operations and marketing aspects of the business. I guided her on the development of the financial plan for the business."

Commenting on the stiff competition Min Yi faced, Ms May added, "When we attended the interview session, the competition was tougher than expected. Moreover, it was held just before the commencement of Min Yi's NTU exam. Therefore, I am very proud of Min Yi for keeping her cool during the competition and convincing the judges that she is worthy of the award."

With such tenacity and a cool head for business, Min Yi hopes to be an intuitive entrepreneur managing her own events management firm in the future.

We wish her all the best!

Article contributed by:
Ruzanna Bte Abdul Rahman
Diploma in Communication and Information Design (R32)
Centre for Culture and Communication