January 2009 Issue No 10                                                                                              Happenings in CIE
    CIE Vision :
To be the Centre of Excellence for Business & Entrepreneurship.

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Social Enterprise IG at VivoCity

 

Over the course of 2 weekends in December 2008, some 200 over students spent their holidays in a meaningful way by participating in the Social Enterprise Bazaar at the Social Innovation Park’s PaTH Market in Vivocity, organized by the Social Enterprise IG.  Students worked directly with social enterprises such as MINDS (Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore) and SAVH (Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped) to arrange for products produced by the disabled or less-privileged to be sold at the Bazaar. Students also helped the organizer, the Social Innovation Park (SIP) to conduct a survey to find out about the public’s awareness of social enterprise and the PaTH Market, and how supportive the public were of social enterprises.

The Pop and Talent Hub (PaTH) Market is a social enterprise initiative by SIP to develop creative talent from the marginalized groups to encourage them to be self-reliant.

 
Students working in teams to set up the booths at the PaTH Market Students explaining the products made by the disadvantaged to customers.

 

Planning for the bazaar began as early as August 08. The student planners were proactive during the planning process of sourcing for and working with social enterprises on their respective business plans. They visited the social enterprises to discuss the products they could sell at the bazaar, project the demand and marketability of the products, pricing, logistics planning, as well as sales and profits projection and contingency plans. A series of briefings were conducted to equip them with the knowledge in basic business planning. 

Apart from learning more about social entrepreneurship and cultivating a sense of social-mindedness, many students were encouraged by the spirit and effort of the less-privileged or marginalized group of the society to be independent and self-reliant despite their disabilities or difficulties. 

It was truly an enriching experience for the students who were involved. All proceeds from the Bazaar go towards the running of programs by each social enterprise.

 

 

    

Centre for Innovation & Enterprise

 

 

 
Editors: Juliet Chow, Joyce Loh Web Design: Jasmine Ang
I&E Extras Section:  Susan Sek. Staff Contributors: Ken Toh, Elena Chan, Ng Sua Keong, Chionh Chye Chin, Sammy Arvis, Leslie Sim
Information is accurate and updated as of 15 January 2009.
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