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The macro-level perspective presented the view that the balance sheet of households are generally healthy. Additionally, based on the data released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), only a segment of the population are struggling to meet their debt obligations – mainly those who have over-borrowed in the property market during periods of low interest rates and extended loan tenures. Such households will be saddled with financial trouble when interest rates rise.

Conversely, the micro-level experiences of institutions dealing directly with the cases of debt call for a broader understanding of the issue.

Given the interest in the debt problem in Singapore at the national level, the annual Community in Review (CIR) seminar, organised by the Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA) in collaboration with its parent organisation, AMP, took on the theme, Debt: A Clear and Present ‘Danger’ to Society?, this year. Held on 14 February at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, the seminar featured two panels comprising both academics and practitioners, who sought to discuss the macro- and micro-level perspectives on the severity of household debts and to highlight the challenges of affected families.

BY ABDUL SHARIFF ABOO K

ASSIM

For example, Mr Kuo How Nam, President of Credit Counselling Singapore (CCS), said that the organisation saw the number of clients counselled rising at an increasing rate over the last five years – from 1,066 clients in 2010 to 2,458 (with Malays forming 13% of them) in 2014. Similarly, Mr Christopher Chuah, President of One Hope Centre Singapore (OHC) also reported an increasing trend in the number of clients over the last four years – from 245 in 2011 to 526 (with Malays forming 10% of them) in 2014.

One of the speakers from the panel addressing the macro-level perspective, Dr Walter Edgar Theseira, Assistant Professor of Economics at Nanyang Technological University, argued that widely-reported macro-level financial statistics often show relatively little about what causes debt amongst low-income households, and whether measures can be undertaken to address them. He suggested that studies of debt amongst low-income households in Singapore may need to examine data sources outside the formal finance sector.

Dr Theseira’s co-panellist, Professor Sumit Agarwal, Vice Dean and Low Tuck Kwong Professor of Finance at the National University of Singapore, spoke about peer effects – ‘catching up with the Ongs’ or ‘status competition’ – being plausible in a densely populated country or city such as Singapore, which may push some consumers to spend well beyond what their budget is capable of allocating. Professor Agarwal also noted in his presentation that the monthly card debt (credit and debit) between April 2010 and February 2012 for the Malays was generally higher compared to other ethnic groups – with the card expenditure mainly being on services, mobile phones and car maintenance.

A key takeaway from the seminar was that the discourse on debt had been dominated by the macro-level perspective, which is useful only in explaining the overall resilience of the financial system. It is, however, less so for understanding low-income household finances, where there is a need to monitor the rising debt levels of such households, and whether there ought to be policy responses to the phenomenon.

APRIL 2015

© ASSOCIATION OF MUSLIM PROFESSIONALS. PERMISSION IS REQUIRED FOR REPRODUCTION© ASSOCIATION OF MUSLIM PROFESSIONALS. PERMISSION IS REQUIRED FOR REPRODUCTION

The macro-level perspective presented the view that the balance sheet of households are generally healthy. Additionally, based on the data released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), only a segment of the population are struggling to meet their debt obligations – mainly those who have over-borrowed in the property market during periods of low interest rates and extended loan tenures. Such households will be saddled with financial trouble when interest rates rise.

Conversely, the micro-level experiences of institutions dealing directly with the cases of debt call for a broader understanding of the issue.

Given the interest in the debt problem in Singapore at the national level, the annual Community in Review (CIR) seminar, organised by the Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA) in collaboration with its parent organisation, AMP, took on the theme, Debt: A Clear and Present ‘Danger’ to Society?, this year. Held on 14 February at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, the seminar featured two panels comprising both academics and practitioners, who sought to discuss the macro- and micro-level perspectives on the severity of household debts and to highlight the challenges of affected families.

For example, Mr Kuo How Nam, President of Credit Counselling Singapore (CCS), said that the organisation saw the number of clients counselled rising at an increasing rate over the last five years – from 1,066 clients in 2010 to 2,458 (with Malays forming 13% of them) in 2014. Similarly, Mr Christopher Chuah, President of One Hope Centre Singapore (OHC) also reported an increasing trend in the number of clients over the last four years – from 245 in 2011 to 526 (with Malays forming 10% of them) in 2014.

One of the speakers from the panel addressing the macro-level perspective, Dr Walter Edgar Theseira, Assistant Professor of Economics at Nanyang Technological University, argued that widely-reported macro-level financial statistics often show relatively little about what causes debt amongst low-income households, and whether measures can be undertaken to address them. He suggested that studies of debt amongst low-income households in Singapore may need to examine data sources outside the formal finance sector.

Dr Theseira’s co-panellist, Professor Sumit Agarwal, Vice Dean and Low Tuck Kwong Professor of Finance at the National University of Singapore, spoke about peer effects – ‘catching up with the Ongs’ or ‘status competition’ – being plausible in a densely populated country or city such as Singapore, which may push some consumers to spend well beyond what their budget is capable of allocating. Professor Agarwal also noted in his presentation that the monthly card debt (credit and debit) between April 2010 and February 2012 for the Malays was generally higher compared to other ethnic groups – with the card expenditure mainly being on services, mobile phones and car maintenance.

A key takeaway from the seminar was that the discourse on debt had been dominated by the macro-level perspective, which is useful only in explaining the overall resilience of the financial system. It is, however, less so for understanding low-income household finances, where there is a need to monitor the rising debt levels of such households, and whether there ought to be policy responses to the phenomenon.

Professor Agarwal (left, standing) presented his insights on the debt problem from the macro level.

A group shot of panellists from the macro- and micro-level perspectives, with Mr Azmoon Ahmad (second from left), Chairman of AMP Group.

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On 27 February 2015, AMP’s youth wing, Young AMP, organised its inaugural Corporate Leadership Series Xperience (CLSX) for seven aspiring entrepreneurs at Fusionopolis and Plug-In@Blk71. CLSX is Young AMP’s new initiative, which provides participants with a more practical and hands-on learning experience beyond the boundaries of a classroom.

Divided into three segments, the session started off with a guided tour around the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) FusionWorld, which houses more than 40 of their innovations and state-of-the-art technologies. The participants were in awe as they explored the different interactive and multi-sensory showcases at the gallery.

The participants were then ushered to a seminar room, where they were given a short technical briefing onfive of A*STAR’s ready-to-go technologies: Snap2Tell Alive, Virtual Try-On, Intelli-Signage, Restroom Visitlizer and Limelight. As a follow-up, the participants are required to write a proposal on productivity savings and deployment based on any of these technologies. The best proposal chosen will be presented at an event jointly organised by Young AMP and A*STAR in May 2015.

Among the other highlights of the session was the tour around Plug-In@Blk71, which is situated at JTC LaunchPad. The hub

Grooming Future Entrepreneurs

BY MUHD ZULHELMY ZAIMAN

provides a platform for start-up companies to network, conceptualise their ideas, and hold entrepreneurial events. It was an eye-opening experience for the participants as they had the opportunity to watch entrepreneurs at work. They were also given advice on how to start up their own businesses, as well as the different qualities necessary of an entrepreneur.

Young AMP hopes that the session will cultivate the participants’ entrepreneurial spirit, and looks forward to organising more similar sessions in the near future while reaching out to the youths and young professionals in the community.

A group shot of the participants with a representative of Plug-In@Blk71 (second from right) after their

stimulating tour at the hub.

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This year’s AMP’s Micro Business Programme welcomed more than 40 budding home-based entrepreneurs determined to build on their skills to develop, enhance and sustain their businesses. The six-month programme which commenced in February will see the participants attending an eight-day business workshop conducted by the SME Centre of the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SME Centre@SMCCI). They will learn how to manage their data, cash flow and customers’ expectations more effectively, while picking up tips on how they can maximise their productivity to sustain their businesses.

BY MARIAM M

USTAFFA

The training workshops enhanced the participants’ trade skills, enabling them to stay current in the market.

The participants at an interactive group brainstorming session during one of the business workshops.

In addition, the participants will also be equipped with fundamental IT skills such as basic applications and communication tools that can aid in their product marketing.

This year, the programme includes a new module on ‘Home Service’, in addition to the other four modules – Food Business, Wedding Crafts and Accessories, Sewing, and Beauty and Wellness. Those who have chosen to undertake the new module will be trained in air-conditioner and plumbing maintenance and will receive an Institute of Technical Education (ITE) certification upon completion. It is hoped that the programme, which has been running for 10 years, will continue to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of individuals from disadvantaged households and enable them to elevate their businesses to the next level.

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A Race to Remember

A Race to Remember

Show, challenged the young members in the Siapakah Saya? (Who Am I?) guessing game, and topped the day off with some colouring and face-painting. The activities were spread across the vast compounds of the zoo, allowing them the opportunity to bond with one another as they moved from station to station.

In between completing the given activities, the participants were also required to complete a crossword puzzle that involved going around the zoo to search for answers. They had tremendous fun running to the different animal sanctuaries to try and solve the challenging puzzle. It is hoped that the event had enabled the participants to forge closer ties with their family members and realise the importance of communication and cohesion in the family in order to maintain family unity.

In a bid to enhance family cohesiveness, AMP’s Adopt a Family & Youth Scheme (AFYS) and Debt Advisory Centre (DAC) jointly organised the Amazing Race @ Singapore Zoo event for their beneficiaries. The event on 14 March saw a total of 282 parents and children bonding and engaging in fun activities together at the Singapore Zoo. Recent assessments done on the AFYS and DAC beneficiaries showed that family cohesiveness was an area that needed to be strengthened further. It is hoped that the families will strengthen their ties through completing the various station activities together.

The families worked hand-in-hand during activities like Animal Origami, laughed together while watching the antics of the animals at the zoo’s Animal Friends Show and Splash Safari

BY AMALINA SUJAK

The AFYS and DAC children bonded with their siblings while dabbling in face-painting and colouring at one of the activity stations.

An AFYS family eagerly waiting to catch the Animal Friends Show at the zoo.

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BUILDING TIES

THROUGH SPORTS

Aligned with its efforts to foster close ties with students from the various Institutes of Technical Education (ITE), Young AMP collaborated with a group of students pursuing Higher Nitec in Sport Management at ITE College East for the latter’s final year project. As part of their project assessment, the students were required to manage a sporting event, which also included planning and sourcing for sponsorships.

The project culminated in an event titled, Flag Conquest, on 10 February at the ITE College East campus, where 55 participants faced off in a game of dodgeball with a twist. The game, which

BY TIARA SURYA DUSQIE

A group shot of the student organisers for the Flag Conquest sporting event.

aimed to hone their coordination and teamwork skills, required the participants to not only eliminate players from the other team while avoiding the ball and water bombs thrown by their opponents, but at the same time, move all their flags to the opponent’s side successfully. The winning team won tickets to the Adventure Cove Waterpark.

Encouraged by the positive feedback it received for the event, Young AMP plans to organise more of such activities with students from the ITEs as a way of bringing them together with other youths and young professionals to benefit the community.

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© ASSOCIATION OF MUSLIM PROFESSIONALS. PERMISSION IS REQUIRED FOR REPRODUCTION

BY MUHD ZULHELMY ZAIMAN

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AMPlified: You had a background in biomedical science before you set up your own company. How did this switch happen and what inspired you to start your own company?I had studied molecular biology in school, graduated as a university scholar, and was quite content in executive roles in big pharmaceutical and medical device multi-national companies for some five years – which was when I realised I had to get out of my comfort zone. That, plus the business opportunity that ‘chose’ me. Having been a freelance ‘IT guy’ from when I was 14, I was asked by a family business to find software to help manage their logistics operations. In true Singaporean practicality, I simply drafted a Request for Quotation (RFQ) and searched for vendors for a good six months. Simply put, there was nothing out there that met their requirements of simplicity, affordability and reliability. We now know that software-as-a-service is the answer, but it was from this innocuous experiment that the blueprint for Sypher Lab’s flagship product, VersaFleet™, emerged.

AMPlified: Why did you choose to start your own company?I have always had a fascination with start-ups but from a very academic point of view. I had pursued a Minor in Technopreneurship at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Overseas College programme at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and found it to be quite interesting. Although I constantly thought about it, I was actually surprised myself when I finally took the leap.

AMPlified: What are some of the challenges you face in running your own business? How do you overcome them?Start-up founders are typically assailed on all fronts: financially, socially, emotionally, psychologically and even physically (chronic insomnia). It can be brutal, but is expected and simply par for the course. In facing challenges, I always recall the wise Hebrew phrase that can make the happy man sad, and the sad man happy: gam zeh ya’avor. Transliterated as ‘this too shall pass’, it is a reminder that every situation is transient: bad times shall pass, just as surely as good times will not last.

AMPlified: What advice can you offer to the students and young professionals who aspire to be like yourself?My advice would be to quickly enrol in the ‘school of hard knocks’, especially for youths who are academically high achievers, to whom failure is often a foreign experience. The reality is that the world does not care how many distinctions you have scored or exams you have aced. On the contrary, ‘real life’ actually rewards those who are adept at responding to failure and rejection on a continuous basis. No matter your talent or intellect, one must develop some gumption and resilience to create sustainable value.

AMPlified: Even with your busy schedule, you still find the time to volunteer as Director of AMP and the President of Young AMP. What are your thoughts about giving back to the community?To me, it is really in the small things – random acts of kindness, paying it forward, and generally doing good. It should start from home and our immediate circle of influence.

There is a saying by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), “Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand [by taking action]. If he cannot, then with his tongue[by speaking out]; and if he cannot, then with his heart – and that is the weakest [manifestation] of faith.”

To me, this spirit should similarly apply to good deeds – do what we can. Of course it is better if we can do more, but it is imperative that we do something.

AMPlified: What are your hopes for the future?There are certainly many in our community whom have made good for themselves. And sometimes, the sentiment we hear is that they have achieved this ‘in spite’ of their background. While their accomplishments are no less notable for it, I hope our language will change into the positive, where we all embrace our identity as an advantage and contributor to success. After all, it is far nobler to rise with the ranks, rather than through the ranks – the spirit of collective advancement must prevail.

When he is not busy juggling his responsibilities as a family man and shouldering his roles as Director of AMP and President of its youth wing, Young AMP, Mr Muhd Shamir Abdul Rahim, 32, manages his fast-growing start-up, Sypher Labs Pte Ltd. Founded in 2012, his team has over a decade’s experience in technological solutions, and have built their flagship product, VersaFleet™, which helps logistics companies to manage operations more productively from anywhere in the world.

Today, his start-up’s network of clientele spans across Singapore and Malaysia, and looks set to expand into Thailand and Indonesia. A well-versed technologist, Mr Shamir has also appeared on MediaCorp Suria’s primetime talkshow, ForumSG, as a panelist to speak on the Smart Nation initiative.

A Rising Entrepreneur

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© ASSOCIATION OF MUSLIM PROFESSIONALS. PERMISSION IS REQUIRED FOR REPRODUCTION © ASSOCIATION OF MUSLIM PROFESSIONALS. PERMISSION IS REQUIRED FOR REPRODUCTION

AMPlified: You had a background in biomedical science before you set up your own company. How did this switch happen and what inspired you to start your own company?I had studied molecular biology in school, graduated as a university scholar, and was quite content in executive roles in big pharmaceutical and medical device multi-national companies for some five years – which was when I realised I had to get out of my comfort zone. That, plus the business opportunity that ‘chose’ me. Having been a freelance ‘IT guy’ from when I was 14, I was asked by a family business to find software to help manage their logistics operations. In true Singaporean practicality, I simply drafted a Request for Quotation (RFQ) and searched for vendors for a good six months. Simply put, there was nothing out there that met their requirements of simplicity, affordability and reliability. We now know that software-as-a-service is the answer, but it was from this innocuous experiment that the blueprint for Sypher Lab’s flagship product, VersaFleet™, emerged.

AMPlified: Why did you choose to start your own company?I have always had a fascination with start-ups but from a very academic point of view. I had pursued a Minor in Technopreneurship at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Overseas College programme at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and found it to be quite interesting. Although I constantly thought about it, I was actually surprised myself when I finally took the leap.

AMPlified: What are some of the challenges you face in running your own business? How do you overcome them?Start-up founders are typically assailed on all fronts: financially, socially, emotionally, psychologically and even physically (chronic insomnia). It can be brutal, but is expected and simply par for the course. In facing challenges, I always recall the wise Hebrew phrase that can make the happy man sad, and the sad man happy: gam zeh ya’avor. Transliterated as ‘this too shall pass’, it is a reminder that every situation is transient: bad times shall pass, just as surely as good times will not last.

AMPlified: What advice can you offer to the students and young professionals who aspire to be like yourself?My advice would be to quickly enrol in the ‘school of hard knocks’, especially for youths who are academically high achievers, to whom failure is often a foreign experience. The reality is that the world does not care how many distinctions you have scored or exams you have aced. On the contrary, ‘real life’ actually rewards those who are adept at responding to failure and rejection on a continuous basis. No matter your talent or intellect, one must develop some gumption and resilience to create sustainable value.

AMPlified: Even with your busy schedule, you still find the time to volunteer as Director of AMP and the President of Young AMP. What are your thoughts about giving back to the community?To me, it is really in the small things – random acts of kindness, paying it forward, and generally doing good. It should start from home and our immediate circle of influence.

There is a saying by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), “Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand [by taking action]. If he cannot, then with his tongue[by speaking out]; and if he cannot, then with his heart – and that is the weakest [manifestation] of faith.”

To me, this spirit should similarly apply to good deeds – do what we can. Of course it is better if we can do more, but it is imperative that we do something.

AMPlified: What are your hopes for the future?There are certainly many in our community whom have made good for themselves. And sometimes, the sentiment we hear is that they have achieved this ‘in spite’ of their background. While their accomplishments are no less notable for it, I hope our language will change into the positive, where we all embrace our identity as an advantage and contributor to success. After all, it is far nobler to rise with the ranks, rather than through the ranks – the spirit of collective advancement must prevail.

When he is not busy juggling his responsibilities as a family man and shouldering his roles as Director of AMP and President of its youth wing, Young AMP, Mr Muhd Shamir Abdul Rahim, 32, manages his fast-growing start-up, Sypher Labs Pte Ltd. Founded in 2012, his team has over a decade’s experience in technological solutions, and have built their flagship product, VersaFleet™, which helps logistics companies to manage operations more productively from anywhere in the world.

Today, his start-up’s network of clientele spans across Singapore and Malaysia, and looks set to expand into Thailand and Indonesia. A well-versed technologist, Mr Shamir has also appeared on MediaCorp Suria’s primetime talkshow, ForumSG, as a panelist to speak on the Smart Nation initiative.

AMPlified got in touch recently with the proud father of two

young sons to learn more about his entrepreneurial journey

and aspirations.

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