MCYS MEDIA RELEASE NO: 19/2007

DATE OF ISSUE: 08/03/2007

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE COMMITTEE TO GROW VIBRANT SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

Philip Yeo heads team tasked with developing framework to support businesses with social
missions

1 The Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports (MCYS) has brought together a high-
level team of entrepreneurs, professionals, civil servants, and social sector advocates to develop a more
vibrant social enterprise scene in Singapore.

2 The Social Enterprise (SE) Committee is headed by Mr Philip Yeo, currently Chairman, A*Star and
soon to be Chairman of SPRING Singapore. The 15-member committee includes MPs Mrs Josephine Teo
and Ms Penny Low, seasoned social sector advocates Ms Elim Chew and Mr Gerard Ee, as well as
representatives from the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), SPRING Singapore and the Singapore
National Employers’ Federation (SNEF). The committee also includes social entrepreneurs like Ms Norma
Sit, founder of Youth Life Ownership Ltd, a social enterprise which teaches life-skills to disadvantaged
young people, and Mr Alfie Othman, director of Ikhlas Holdings, a catering company hiring ex-offenders and
needy single mothers. [Please refer to Annex A]

3 Social Enterprises or SEs are small to medium businesses with a social mission, either to help
needy and/or disadvantaged people through employment, or to generate profits which can be channeled
towards services for the needy. [Please refer to Annex B for examples]

4 The current business climate for SEs is challenging, as the business has to maintain the double
bottom-line of fulfilling both its social and profit-making objectives in Singapore’s competitive market. The
work of the Social Enterprise Committee aims to help social enterprises better manage this double bottom-
line.

5 The Committee will be developing a set of recommendations to develop a pro-social enterprise

environment and a culture of social entrepreneurship in Singapore. It will seek to empower the people and
private sectors to create opportunities for:

a) needy disadvantaged Singaporeans to move towards self-reliance and

b) Singaporeans to effect innovative social change.

6 It will be developing strategies to (i) support SEs (ii) support Socially Responsible Enterprises
(SREs) (which provide employment opportunities for the needy disadvantaged) and (iii) encourage social
entrepreneurship. Key issues which the Committee is looking at include developing a comprehensive
funding framework for social enterprises through a review of the ComCare Enterprise Fund; developing a
business support and case management system for social enterprises; and facilitating training and
networking opportunities for local social entrepreneurs.

7 Part of the committee’s work will focus on developing ‘Work-Integration Social Enterprises’, which
are businesses that offer job opportunities to needy disadvantaged Singaporeans. This includes people
from multi-problem families, ex-offenders, and people with physical, sensory, or psychiatric disabilities.
These social enterprises help by providing a supportive, structured environment for them to learn work skills
and eventually become self-reliant. The aim is to enable these Singaporeans, who find it challenging to gain
employment on the open market, to hold down steady jobs with decent pay; and to provide opportunities for
training that will lead to an eventual increase in their salaries or even better jobs.

8 The Committee intends to tap on the capabilities of the people and private sectors to create more
job opportunities for such needy disadvantaged Singaporeans. The Committee is looking into several
models to engage the people and private sectors more closely. One model the Committee is interested in is
a Social Venture Partners model, which originated in the United States. In this model, members of the
community with resources and skills to offer can come forward to invest their time, expertise and financial
resources into worthwhile social entrepreneurship projects. This model encourages active, involved
partnership between the investors and social entrepreneurs to develop a project to its fullest potential.

9 The Committee will also look into how to facilitate skilled volunteers to mentor social enterprises, to
assist them in building capacity and growing the business. Volunteers can contribute their expertise in
project management, marketing, accounting, legal issues or even product design.

10 An additional strategy the committee will explore is to encourage more existing companies to
become Socially-Responsible Enterprises or SREs. SREs are conventional profit-motivated organizations
willing to extend a helping hand to needy disadvantaged Singaporeans by employing them as workers.

11. The Committee intends to complete its recommendations after mid 2007. Currently, aspiring social
enterprises can apply for start-up funding through MCYS’ existing ComCare Enterprise Fund. [Please refer
to Annex C]
###
ISSUED BY

MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS

 Annex A

Social Enterprise Committee Factsheet

The Social Enterprise Committee comprises representatives from the people, private, and public sectors.
Appointments are for an initial 2-year term.

Committee members include:

1. Mr Philip Yeo Chairman, A*STAR

(Chairman)
2. Mr Niam Chiang Meng Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Community
(Deputy Chairman) Development Youth & Sports
3. Mr Gerard Ee Chairman, National Kidney Foundation
4. Mr Chew Hock Yong Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Community
Development Youth & Sports
5. Mr Darrell Chan Brand Manager, FJ Benjamin
6. Mr Andrew Wang Management Consultant, Shell
7. Ms Norma Sit Founder, Youth Life Ownership Ltd
8. Ms Sim Sin Sin Managing Director, Secret Recipe
9. Ms Penny Low Founder, Social Innovation Park
10. Mr Alfie Othman Finance Secretary, Pertapis
11. Ms Josephine Teo Human Resource Director, National Trades
Union Congress (NTUC)
12. Ms Elim Chew Founder, 77th Street
13. Mr Koh Juan Kiat Executive Director, Singapore National
Employers’ Federation and Singapore
Business Federation
14. Mr Png Cheong Boon Deputy Chief Executive, SPRING Singapore
15. Mr Goh Eng Ghee Deputy Chief Executive, Workforce
Development Agency
 Annex B

Examples of CEF-Funded Social Enterprises

(i) Immanuel Beauty School (IBS)

This SE, set up by a socially minded individual, is targeted at providing training and job opportunities for
out-of-school youths, female ex-offenders and other needy women interested in work opportunities in the
beauty industry. IBS provides locally and internationally recognized certification courses in beauty and
aesthetics. Persons from disadvantaged backgrounds can receive sponsored training programmes,
internships and employment in IBS’s network of beauty salons. This fills a service gap as commercial
beauty schools currently do not provide training sponsorship, internships or employment placement for the
disadvantaged who are interested in working in this area. IBS will also work closely with the social service
agencies to counsel and mentor the beneficiaries, to ensure their progress. IBS commenced operations in
December 06.

Contact Details:
Immanuel Beauty School
Name: Ms Hazel Menon
Email: hazel@immanuelbeautyschool.com
Tel: 6884 9480
Fax: 6438 7212

(ii) O School/ City Harvest Education centre

This SE, set up by City Harvest Education Centre (CHEC), is targeted at providing highly subsidized dance
training for out-of-school youth, so that they can make dance a career choice. It also aims to generate
revenue for bursaries for needy students attending CHEC’s GCE ‘O’ and ‘N’ level programmes for out-of
school youths. O School started operations in May 06

Contact Details:
O School (City Harvest Education Centre)
Name: Ms Jelaine Ang
Email: jelaine@oschool.com.sg
Tel: 6511 6822
Fax: 6511 6844

(iii) Ikhlas Holdings Pte Ltd

Ikhlas is a food catering service employing people who have difficulty finding jobs on the open market,
including ex-drug addicts, ex-offenders and needy mothers (single mothers and older, less educated
mothers). Ikhlas Holdings also employs offenders on the WRS (work release scheme) programme.

Contact Details:
Ikhlas Holdings Pte Ltd
Name: Mr. Alfie Othman
Email: alfie@pertapis.org.sg
Tel: 9066 2291

(iv) Dignity Links Ltd - Barista Express Café

Barista is a café selling up-market food and beverages to provide employment, counselling and support for
people recovering from psychiatric conditions. The café is set up by the social enterprise Dignity Links, with
the support of the Institute of Mental Health. Barista started operations in May 06

Contact Details:
Dignity Links Ltd
Name: Kala Karkal
Email: kalakarkal@hotmail.com
Tel: 98423203
Fax: 65332718
 Annex C

ComCare Enterprise Fund Fact Sheet

1. Background

Social enterprises focus on social causes. They use business principles to drive social change. The
ComCare Enterprise Fund (CEF) provides seed funding to sustainable social enterprises which are focused
on helping needy disadvantaged Singaporeans.

The CEF budget for the financial year 2007 is $3.4 million.

2. Funding Criteria

Generally, the CEF funds projects that have:

i) A compelling social objective

„ Currently the focus of the CEF is on funding work integration social enterprises, i.e. enterprises which
provide employment opportunities to needy disadvantaged Singaporeans such as people with
disabilities, ex-offenders, people with psychiatric conditions, and older less educated workers from
multi-problem families.

ii) A viable business proposition

„ The feasibility of the business model and the operations plan will be assessed in the light of market
conditions.
„ The organizational capacity of the enterprise will also be considered, i.e., whether it has a well-
articulated plan for growth and sustainability.

iii) A committed team to drive the project who have:

ƒ Experience and expertise in the relevant markets and industries; and

ƒ A mindset geared towards results, accountability and sound business principles

The funding is intended for viable business projects which can sustain themselves with the revenue they
generate, not social programmes which depend on external sources for funding.

Applicants should be a legally registered body in Singapore with the intention of carrying out the social
enterprise’s core activities in Singapore.

3. Funding Guidelines

As a guide, CEF approves funding up to 80% of the total project cost, subject to a cap of $300,000. The
funding norm is about $100,000 per project. Applicants seeking a higher percentage of funding or a sum
above the limit set should be prepared to present their justifications to the evaluation panel.

4. CEF Application Process

The following diagram lays out the workflow of the CEF Application process:

cant Preliminary Applicant firms Proposal Secretariat Fund is

mits draft assessment by up proposal evaluation by informs disbursed to
osal CEF Secretariat and submits evaluation applicants of successful
late final version panel panel’s decision applicants
5. Evaluation Process

In assessing the social enterprise proposal, the CEF secretariat would make an evaluation of the following:
1) Sustainability (commercial viability) of the proposed enterprise; and
2) Social impact of the enterprise.

To evaluate the commercial viability, the secretariat would look at the business plan and the cash flow
forecast. The secretariat would also look at whether the project champion and the management team have
the necessary drive and experience to run the enterprise.

To evaluate the social impact of the enterprise, the secretariat would look at the reach and sustainability of
the social benefit which the proposal claims will be achieved. For work integration social enterprises, the
secretariat would assess the training and support provided to the target group, as well as the average
income and career prospects of employees.

After refinement of the application, the proposal is submitted to the CEF panel for their final decision.

6. The CEF Evaluation Panel

The CEF evaluation panel makes the final decision on all CEF applications. The panel comprises people,
public and private sector representatives.

Applicants which have been approved for funding are required to sign a contract before the CEF grant is
disbursed. CEF recipients are required to submit quarterly progress reports.

7. Submission of Applications

The application form can be downloaded from the website http://www.se.gov.sg/Applications can be sent
to:

The CEF Secretariat

Community and Social Sector Development Division
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
510 Thomson Road
#10-02 SLF Building
Singapore 298135

or e-mail to: Geraldine_Hong@mcys.gov.sg