Published: October 01, 2012
THEY say that each child is born on a white sheet of paper... it is how we colour the paper that shapes the child's character. Needless to say that the most appropriate time to instill good values in our children is always at an early and impressionable age, especially when we as parents wish to inculcate a habit or impart knowledge, such as educating our children on entrepreneurship.
As we make our way towards achieving the country's aspiration of being a developed and a high income nation, baby boomers like me need to start embracing changes and adjusting to the demands of the Gen Y.
Believe it or not, baby boomers like me have been drummed in our heads since our pre-school age about jobs and professions. At that time, our teachers and parents encouraged us to do well in our exams so that we can earn fat money as engineers, doctors, pilots and lawyers.
During my school years, the word "entrepreneur" was hardly mentioned and believe you me, l don't think it was even regarded as a profession. Come to think of it, the word "entrepreneur" did not even appear in any of my spelling tests!
As we understand the effect of entrepreneurship on the dynamism of an economy, and the fact that the endogenous growth of any nation comes from domestic companies, today "entrepreneurship" has been given an elevated status as a profession.
Entrepreneurship is no longer is a profession of the last resort, but a preferred one among many graduates. In fact, among Apec economies l observed start inculcation of entrepreneurship at a young age beginning in primary schools, especially in New Zealand, US and Australia. In fact, in the States, many organisations are dedicated to teaching entrepreneurial skills in schools which are becoming increasingly relevant in the job market and workplace.
For me personally, it was a pleasant surprise when my youngest daughter in Primary Six last year went into the world of kidpreneur in school just before the end of the year school break.
Armed with RM30 as capital to buy stickers and game cards, in addition to her sister's old handbags, shoes and jewellery, together Nazira and her other two "business partners" ventured into the world of entrepreneurship.
Not only did the three young business partners made a handsome RM200 profit, they even "employed" two Standard Five students as salesgirls to mend their store as the goods they sold were attractive to the school kids and they had to keep on getting more stock.
Meanwhile, to ensure that leaders like me communicate the right messages to the young, l myself have been invited to speak about entrepreneurship among secondary school children as well university students. To do this effectively and in more structured manner, Miti through SME Corp Malaysia collaborated with the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) when in 2008, we introduced the "SME-University Internship Programme".
This programme, which was emulated from the model called Consulting-Based Learning for Asean SMEs (CoBLAS), enhances the synergistic relationship between universities as centres of excellence to the SMEs, with the government as a facilitator.
Throughout the programme, undergraduates with the guidance from their lecturers and SME Corp Malaysia's Business Counsellors provide consultancy and advisory services to SMEs for them upgrade and improve their business operations. Coverage of advisory services includes management, branding, marketing, accounts as well as technical skills. This activity is also seen as a strategic approach in providing graduates with crucial on-the-job experience in an actual, real business world.
Participating SMEs in the programme benefit from consultancy assistance provided by the students. The name of the game is to turn around the company within three months! The primary focus is to enhance the business performance of the company in various aspects of management, including to provide an expose of the best business practices and applications of technology.
As SME Corp Malaysia's objective is to develop resilient and capable SMEs, this programme assists companies to enhance their capabilities as well as improve their efficiencies, especially the micro-sized SMEs.
To date, the programme has attracted the participation of 15 public universities, involving 142 SMEs and 720 students.
What's more interesting, in line with the government's aspiration to see more entrepreneurs bloom among our batch of graduates, this year SME Corp will organise the "SME-University Internship Challenge 2012" on October 9 at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
This inaugural event serves as a platform for universities that have participated in the 2011/2012 session to showcase their best teams that have been able to turn around companies and shown the best ROI results.
This year, students from UKM, UPM, UTHM, UMP, UniMap, UUM,UiTM, UniSZA, UTEM, USM and USIM will put their best team forward to grab the title as the first winner of the "SME-University Internship Challenge" where the winning team will walk away with a trophy, a cash prize of RM 8,000 for the students and RM2,000 for the participating SME sponsored by Mydin, an iPad each as well as a Prosper Siswazah financing scheme with a maximum of RM50,000 by PUNB for the winner to kick-start their own business.
So, as much as I am eager to listen and evaluate the student's presentation at this inaugral "SME-University Internship Challenge", I am also excited to congratulate the next new generation of young entrepreneurs.
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