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JUDGING PANEL

OVERALL CHIEF JUDGE

Lawrence Leow

Chairman & CEO

Crescendas Group

Lawrence Leow is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Crescendas Group, a diversified and dynamic group of businesses spanning property, hospitality, manufacturing, distribution and technology, with more than 1,600 employees working in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Sri Lanka, Maldives and United States.

Lawrence has been active in both social and business community work. He is presently the Patron of Yew Tee Citizens’ Consultative Committee and a board director of Ren Ci Hospital. He also serves as Honorary Treasurer of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and chaired the SBF-led Small and Medium Enterprises Committee (SMEC) from 2012 to 2018. He is now Advisor to the SMEC and represents Singapore on the APEC Business Advisory Council, besides chairing the East Asia Business Council. He is also a Panel Member of Enterprise Singapore LEAD Evaluation Panel (LEP) and sits on the SIAS Management Committee serving as the
Honorary Secretary.

Lawrence was formerly a Nominated Member of the Parliament of Singapore. He was President of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises from 2002 to 2011. Lawrence was also a board member of the Central Provident Fund Board, SPRING Singapore and the National Arts Council. In addition, he was previously a member of the Pro-Enterprise Panel for the Ministry of Trade and Industry and a member of the Customs Advisory Council for the Singapore Customs.

For his public service and community work, he was awarded a Public Service Medal (PBM) in 2015 and the People’s Association Grand Award for Community Service in 2017. Lawrence’s business achievements were also recognised when he won the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Diversified Industries) in 2016.

ADVISER & JUDGE

Lennon Tan

Group Chairman

Adera Global

Mr Lennon Tan started his career as an engineer in the Petrochemical industry before spending 10 years with American multinational, 3M. His last role before leaving 3M was managing and developing business for 3M, covering 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific.

In 2001, he decided to pursue his dream of being an entrepreneur.

After taking over a smart card manufacturing business in China, he tapped on technology and innovation to transform the manufacturing outfit into the top 10 global smart card producers in the world, before transforming the company to the leading Fintech and BPO solutions provider it is today.

Today, Adera Global has evolved and transformed its capabilities to lead in fields of Artificial Intelligence, automation, digitalization, secured data handling, data analytics and smart technologies. Headquartered in Singapore, the company is a diversified group of companies holding assets of more than USD $250 million, employing over 2000 employees, including 200 R&D engineers over 20 offices worldwide.

In 2017, Lennon was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Financial Technology Enablement) from global professional services firm Ernst & Young. Lennon is the President of the Teochew Entrepreneurs Club and also serves as Adviser to Women Entrepreneur Club.

ADVISER & JUDGE

Claire Chiang

Senior Vice President | Banyan Tree Holdings
Co-Founder | Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts

Ms Claire Chiang is co-founder of Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts and pioneered the Group’s retail business. As Chairperson for China Business Development she focuses on acquiring new management contracts, and as an Advisor on Human Capital Development guides strategic issues in organisational and human capital capability. She also chairs Banyan Tree Global Foundation, the Group’s sustainability arm.

Ms Chiang is currently the Chairperson for Singapore Book Council. She was appointed Director of Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund, Mandai Park Holdings and Denmark-based ISS A/S in 2015. She was appointed as a Director of Singapore Art Museum in 2016 and was also recently appointed a Member of the Singapore Biennale 2019 Steering Committee.

A Justice of the Peace since 2008, her many affiliations also include, Member of the National Arts Council, Chairperson of the Shirin Fozdar Programme at Singapore Management University, Deputy Registrar of Marriages cum Licensed Solemnizer, Honorary Council Member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) and advisor to Help Every Lone Parent (HELP).

For her advocacy in social issues, Ms Chiang has won national and international awards, including the Public Service Star BBM in 2014 for her contribution to implementing work-life integration. In April 2016, she received NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Science’s Distinguished Arts and Social Sciences Alumni Award and was also awarded Friend of the Arts by the National Arts Council in 2017.

She was the winner of the Supernova Category at the inaugural Women Entrepreneur Award (WEA) 2017 and was, in March 2018, inducted to the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (SWHF) established by Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO).

DR LIM WEE KIAK

Member of Parliament
CEO
EAGLE EYE CENTRE

TIN PEI LING

Member of Parliament CEO
Director, Corp Dev,
GRAB Board Member, BUSINESS CHINA

CHEW MOK LEE

Assistant Chief Executive
ICM & DIGITALISATION, ENTERPRISE SERVICES & NEW INDUSTRIES ENTERPRISE SINGAPORE

TAN WEE BENG

Deputy Chief Executive (Operations)
SKILLSFUTURE SINGAPORE

HOWIE LAU

Managing Partner, Corp Dev & Partnerships, NCS

LAWRENCE LEOW

Chairman & CEO
CRESCENDAS GROUP

JUDGING CRITERIA

Women Entrepreneur Awards celebrates women in business with outstanding achievements and potential. Participants are judged by the Award Judging Panel based on the criteria of:
  • Entrepreneurial Journey
  • Financial Performance
  • Strategic Direction
  • Innovation & Disruption
  • Market Growth
  • Business Viability & Sustainability
  • Business Model Scalability
  • Corporate Social Responsibility

Please use the questions below as a guide to write the Award Submission Proposal. It is not compulsory to input all questions and you are free to bring in other pointers not mentioned here that support the sections. Please complete all sections in Award Submission Proposal.

Section 1

Entrepreneurial Journey
(Max Word Count: 1000 words)

1.1 What ignited the spark for you to start the business/ businesses?

1.2 What were some challenges that you faced during your entrepreneurial journey? How did you overcome these difficulties?

1.3 What were some of the biggest breakthroughs and achievements which you had faced as an entrepreneur?

1.4 What was a key important lesson which you had learnt in being an entrepreneur?

Section 2

Financial Performance
(Max Word Count: 1000 words)

2.1 What was the company’s revenue and profit growth in the last 3 financial years?

2.2 How is the company projected to perform in the next 3 years? What are the factors/ reasons that will contribute to this performance?

2.3 How is the company raising capital?

 

Section 3

Strategic Direction
(Max Word Count: 1000 words)

3.1 What is the vision and mission of the company?

3.2 What are some key corporate goals set?

3.3 What have you done to lead the company to achieve the vision and mission? Eg. talent building and retention, operational excellence, resource utilisation, intellectual property multiplication, branding, customer service, innovation, R&D or technology are non-mutually exclusive examples of business activities you could highlight.

3.4 What are the key values that have impacted you as an entrepreneur? How have you infused these values into the Company?

Section 4

Innovation & Disruption
(Max Word Count: 1000 words)

4.1 How are you as a leader inspiring change in the company?

4.2 How are you encouraging an innovative culture?

4.3 How much are you spending on Research & Development of Innovative activities eg. Rollout of new products and services, business concepts, etc.?

4.4 Please name at least one innovative project in your company that has resulted in growth/ improvement to processes?  Cite measureable outcomes.

4.5 How has the company been encouraging disruptive values/ actions amongst its staff that has changed the business’s course of direction?

Section 5

Market Growth
(Max Word Count: 1000 words)

5.1 Please explain how your products and services are positioned in the market(s) that your Company is serving? If there is a Blue Ocean strategy, please mention.

5.2 What are the strategies and plans to expand the market share of the company?

5.3 Please cite target audience/ markets of intended or new markets expansion and corresponding penetration strategies

5.4 Please cite new product innovations or technologies adopted that has helped to achieve market penetration, if any

Section 6

Business Viability & Sustainability
(Max Word Count: 500 words)

6.1 How is the company ensuring that the business model is kept dynamic and resilient in the face of changing economic and market environments, competition, customers’ preferences and country regulations?

6.2 What are the strategies, plans and budget spend to expand, improve and adapt the business model?

6.3 How is the company ensuring good liquidity management practices? Please explain how existing debt obligations, cash flow projections and adequacy of cash flows can meet these obligations in the next three years.

6.4 How adequate is the financial support from financial institutions and/ shareholders  funds for re-financing and other liquidity requirements?

Section 7

Business Model Scalability
(Max Word Count: 500 words)

7.1 What are the current capabilities that will allow you to scale your business model? What are the areas of improvement needed before you can scale your business model?

7.2 Please identify and cite opportunities of the current business model to scale up your current sales and customer base.  You can elaborate in these areas:

  • Internal Scalability – leverage on external resources, digitization & automation, finding right people and partners to scale, eliciting feedback, etc.
  • External Scalability – finding high growth market (s), new customer and channel acquisition, assessing market constraints, etc.

7.3 Please rate how scalable is your business model – low, medium, high.  Please provide supporting reasons for your answer.

 

Section 8

Corporate Social Responsibility
(Max Word Count: 500 words)

8.1 What are some key social responsibility or community initiatives you have started and are carrying out in the Company?

8.2 How have these social responsibility or community initiatives within the Company helped to improve culture, care, cohesiveness or values transference?

(All categories to answer, except Stellar)

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AWARD JUDGE

BG (NS) Chan Wing Kai

Director

Seed Global Investment

BG (NS) Chan Wing Kai spent 29 years in the Singapore Armed Forces as a military officer. He rose up to the Army’s top leadership and held numerous key appointments.

The years in the Armed Forces provided him a strong foundation in leadership, human capital management, operational planning, training development and critical diplomatic skills.

He retired from active military service in 2016 and is currently a Director with SEED Global Investment, a real estate investment firm. He oversees the company’s portfolio and business development in the US and UK. He holds a MSc in Applied Finance from the Singapore Management University, and is no stranger to corporate finance, portfolio management, equities, bonds and derivatives.

AWARD JUDGE

TIN PEI LING

Member of Parliament
CEO

Business China

Ms Tin Pei Ling is the Chief Executive Officer of Business China, a non-profit organisation that harnesses the support of the public sector & private enterprises to strengthen the ties between Singapore and China. Prior to joining Business China, Pei Ling was the Group Director of Corporate Strategy for Jing King Group.

Pei Ling is an elected Member of Parliament in Singapore since 2011 and currently serves on the Public Accounts Committee. She also serves on the Government Parliamentary Committee for Communications & Information (from 2018, Dy Chairperson) and Health (2011 – present) and previously for Law/Home Affairs (2011-2015) and Social & Family Development (2015 – 2018, Dy Chairperson).

AWARD JUDGE

RYAN CHIOH

Managing Director

Faseastflora.com

Mr Ryan Chioh joined FEF.com in 1998 as Executive Director of Far East Flora Holdings Pte Ltd.

Always a firm advocator for technology, Ryan identified the direction for e-commerce development and saw a business opportunity to offer FEF.com’s extensive range of flowers and gifts online in 2001. Ryan blended his IT savviness and prudent business sense to steer the company’s website to become the leading portal for flowers and gifts. Ryan also brought the company to another level by spearheading the development of a CRM and ERP business solution, integrating the front-end and back-end operations so that there would be easier identification of customer base.

AWARD JUDGE

NEO SING HWEE

Head, Operations System & Control

MAPLETREE INVESTMENTS

Sing Hwee is the Head, Operations System & Control of Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd. He is responsible for the business processes and control functions, information systems and technology as well as Internal Audit and Risk Management.  He also takes ownership of the Group’s Delegation of Authority and Procurement Policy. 

Sing Hwee has more than 20 years of experience in providing risk management, performance improvement, internal controls and business advisory services to clients in various industries, including the real estate sector.  Being a thought leader and a recognised expert in this field, he used to sit in the Ernst & Young (EY) ASEAN Partner Governance Council and led the Advisory (Risk) Internal Audit Practice in Asia Pacific, ASEAN and Singapore covering 17 countries, 30 partners and 700 professionals.  Before joining EY, he had spent many years in risk consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Andersen.

AWARD JUDGE

DR LIM WEE KIAK, PBM

Member of Parliament
CEO

Eagle Eye Centre

Dr Lim Wee Kiak, is an elected Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC since 2015 and serves as chairman of Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth. An Ophthalmologist, Dr Lim is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Eagle Eye Centre.

Dr Lim joined the Singapore Armed Forces as a medical officer in 1994 and completed subspecialty training in Ophthalmology in 1998, with a Master’s degree in Medicine and two post-graduate specialist qualifications in Ophthalmology. During his service in SAF, he led numerous humanitarian missions to neighbouring countries. He joined Singapore National Eye Centre and was awarded the MOH HMDP fellowship in 2003, doing one year of clinical and research Fellowship at the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health.

Dr Lim had been an active grassroots leader since 1998 before joining politics in 2006. For his active community involvement, he was awarded the Young Executive of the Year in 2000 and Public Service Medal (PBM) in 2003.

AWARD JUDGE

Chew Mok Lee

Assistant Chief Executive
ICM & Digitalisation
Enterprise Services & New Industries

Enterprise Singapore

Ms Chew Mok Lee is the Assistant Chief Executive in charge of ICM & Digitalisation, Enterprise Services & New Industries in Enterprise Singapore, a government agency spearheading enterprise and industry development, reporting to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore. Enterprise Singapore is also the national Standards body in Singapore.

Prior to Enterprise Singapore, Mok Lee was with National Productivity Board (NPB), PSB and SPRING Singapore. She graduated from National University of Singapore, majoring in Economics and Statistics. She has a double Masters and is well versed in the area of enterprise promotion, industry development and partnership building, having been involved in various aspects of capability development, support for local enterprises, enabling a viable enterprise eco-system and entrepreneurship for 29 years. She also served as Secretariat to the Action Community for Entrepreneurship and was responsible for working with the Minister in Charge of Entrepreneurship and private sector members to foster entrepreneurship and support start-ups in Singapore.

AWARD JUDGE

CHIA KIM HUAT

Regional Head
Corporate and Transactional Practice

Rajah & Tann Singapore

Mr Chia Kim Huat has extensive experience in capital market, public and private mergers and acquisitions, cross-border joint ventures and private equity investments, both in Singapore and the region. He travels regularly in the Asia-Pacific region advising clients on a wide range of matters, including direct investments and infrastructure projects in China, major acquisitions in Korea, joint ventures in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan and cross-border mergers and acquisitions transactions. Kim Huat also advises foreign investors on their investments in Singapore, including listings on the Singapore Exchange, privatisations, secondary and dual listings.

He has been recognised as a leading lawyer in his field by International Financial Law Review 1000, Chambers Global “Leaders in their Field”, Asia Pacific Legal 500, “Eminent Practitioner” in Chambers Asia Pacific, Who’s Who Legal: Corporate – Merger & Acquisition/Capital Markets – Debt and Equity and Merger & Acquisition, ‘Leading Lawyer’ in Asialaw Profiles and Best Lawyers, 2017 Edition.

AWARD JUDGE

TAN WEE BENG

Deputy Chief Executive (Operations)
SkillsFuture Singapore

Wee Beng is the Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) of SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). He leads the Business Technology Group (Operations Planning Division, Capability Development Division, Operations & Support Division, Security & Infrastructure Division), the Training, Manpower & Infrastructure Group (Manpower & Infrastructure Planning Division, Office of Lifelong Learning, and Institute of Adult Learning which comprises Learning and Professional Development Division, Research and Innovation Division, Learning Services and Support Division ) as well as the Business Services Group (Shared Services Management, Integrated Business Services Division &, Corporate Services Division).

Prior to joining SSG, Wee Beng was an officer with the Singapore Armed Forces, leading both large and small teams. His last appointment was Chief-of-Staff, Republic of Singapore Navy, overseeing a range of staff departments and ground commands. Other key appointments held were Head Naval Operations, Commander of Maritime Security Task Force and Commander, Naval Diving Unit. Wee Beng holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Physics from Oxford University, UK, and a Master of Science in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

AWARD JUDGE

HOWIE LAU

Managing Partner, Corp Dev & Partnerships, NCS

Mr Howie Lau is Managing Partner of Corporate Development and Partnerships for NCS Group, with oversight of marketing, communications, partnerships, M&A, ESG and government relations. 

 

Prior to this, he was the Assistant Chief Executive of Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, a government agency responsible for the technology, telco and media industries as well as Singapore’s digital economy. He was previously the Head of Consumer business and Chief Marketing Officer at StarHub, and Corporate Vice President of Corporate development at Lenovo. He serves on a number of boards and advisory committees and graduated from National University of Singapore. He has been recognised as IT leader of the Year 2020 by Singapore Computer Society, and received the Philip Kotler marketing excellence award 2018 and NUS outstanding alumni award 2009.

AWARD JUDGE

LAWRENCE LEOW

Chairman & CEO
CRESCENDAS GROUP

Kawee is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kino Biotech Group, Kinofy and Kinohimitsu brand. With over 20 years of experience in the health, wellness, beauty and food industry, he is responsible for the overall strategy, business growth, performance and investment of the Group.

 

Under Kawee’s leadership, he has established Kinohimitsu as the No.1 selling collagen beauty drink brand in Southeast Asia, winning numerous local and international awards, like the Singapore Media Awards, World Beverages Innovation Awards and Monde Awards. The brand offers wide range of products from detox, anti-aging, bird nest, superfood to the essence of chicken. All these can be found in over 6500 points of sale across the region, from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Canada, Dubai, Vietnam to Myanmar. Drawing on his leadership, executive management, supply chain management, finance and regional experience, together with the Group’s 6500 points of sales across the region to address the challenges of an ever-evolving market entry landscape, Kawee established Kinofy in 2018 to provide Market Entry Solution as a Service to empower overseas merchants to be more successful in China and Southeast Asia through the ChinaGo and SEAGo online and offline solutions. Kinofy combined Consulting, Business Solutions, and Retail Tech to help businesses kickstart their entry into new markets, embark on internationalisation and digitalisation. We do this by offering a suite of solutions that enables speed to market as well as a safe, transparent and practical infrastructure that ensures scalability and sustainability.

 

Together with his team members, now crafting a unified and seamless user experience through online and offline channels, offering a holistic customer journey and reaching the modern customers.

 

Kawee graduated with a BS degree in Accountancy, is a Certified Public Accountant in the USA and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Singapore.