think&drink7: The day we tackled some of the shittiest issues on Earth

Or a night at the friendly Pigeonhole with WTO founder, Mr. Jack Sim.

That’s right. WTO.

The World Toilet Organisation.

Jack told us about his childhood, about talking too much in class and getting caned on stage. He thanks his education experience for not making him too comfortable – having no other opportunity after leaving school, he went into business.

So, “good things come from bad things too”. He went on to start 16 companies over his adult life. One of them was the Restroom Association of Singapore and the WTO, organisations doing us all very very big and dirty services by campaigning for cleaner public toilets - and soon placed him on the international social entrepreneurship map.

By self-admission, he wants “everything” in life. In a poignant moment, he mused: there's no need to live life as a scoreboard (contrary to what our system teaches all good Singaporeans). He also saw no point in “buying chocolate coloured Louis Vuitton bags to one-up each other”? He’d rather do something that he likes with other … chocolate coloured stuff.

That white shirt he’s wearing in the photos? He bought it because it reminded him of toilet tiles.

Jack Sim "the shirt"

And why would he not? He shared a golden insight relevant to so many people in Corporate Singapore: why trade dollars for minutes – especially after you’re already satisfied. Why be a prostitute selling your body for money to your boss or company?

Jack talks about enjoying every moment in his life – including on the toilet. And whether his business, his wife (he thanks her for “forgiving him for what he is”, to his upcoming Toilet film and toilet museum under the WTO, he clearly likes what he is doing. And he advises us to do the same.

After all, in his words, “if you can't shit, life has no meaning.”

think&drink6

Davide Bonomi showing us a picture from the Shawshank Redemption17 Dec 2011

Syinc held our last think&drink for 2011 at The Pigeonhole - and it was a night of some introspection and lots of conversation.  

We opened with Davide Bonomi from Dufresne Research sharing his experiences organising the EV Li-ion Battery Forum and the Energy Storage Forum. Davide talked about the need for greater collaboration to spur innovation - hence, Dufresne specialises in creating networks and stimulating co-creation through their events. What was particularly interesting? Well, Dufresne's events are often highly technical - with each event having a certain niche that attracts select users. By doing this, Davide is able to move the industry discussion deeper on those specific niche areas. And did you know that Andy Dufresne from the Shawshank Redemption was the source of Davide’s inspiration for this company? Because of his fierce optimism in the bleakest of moments, because of his moral fibre, and of course, his eventual triumph. Perhaps a spirit that will resonate with many, many change makers.

Then, we tried something new to think&drink. We had 2 special guests make pitches on projects they were working on.

(This is an idea we're testing out: that people not only want to see those who've done impressive stuff, but also get a whiff of stuff that's still brewing and in the works.)  

Vincent Perrier-Trudov 

First off, we had Vincent Perrier-Trudov from Citizens for Social Business and he shared with us that social businesses are sustainable businesses dedicated to tackling poverty or an alleviation of an issue related to poverty. Vincent's goal is to promote the concept of a social business worldwide. And it seems the triple bottom line is fast becoming the new black and if you aren't on that train... well, it's never too late. Check them out if you want to learn more!

Right after that, we had Tan Hang Chong, an active environmentalist in Singapore, come up to spread the message regarding a petition for Bukit Brown to be conserved. He gave an impassioned speech about the history behind the site and preserving the local flora and fauna - even throwing out the wild idea for it to be sited as a tourist attraction. We're curious to find out what happens with the petition! 

And in typical think&drink style, lots of conversation continued after. And hey, don't fret if you missed this one; stay tuned in the new year coz we have lots lined up! Till then, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Aug 13 Double Bill: RYSEC Workshop 2 + think&drink5

AFTER SUNRISE: RYSEC Workshop 2

THE STATS: 40 young social entrepreneurs. 13 speakers+panelists. 8 workshop segments. 1 speed-dating lunch.

40 young aspiring social entrepreneurs came for our full-day workshop held at the Lexmark Headquarters @ Novena Square. On the menu: Root Cause Analysis, Strategy Planning, Business Model design, and other tools for business fundamentals. But all tools and no stories is boring-as, so we threw in not one, but two panels featuring awesome folks like Meng Weng Wong (serial entrepreneur, angel investor and breakout star of the day), Rob Kraybill from Impact Investment Exchange Asia, and other great peeps. The panels: "What makes a great entrepreneur?"; and "Moolah: Where can I get it?". 

Check out some snaps below, courtesy of none other than Meng Wong (also a guerilla photographer) unless otherwise stated. Also, more pics on our Facebook page (go like us!). 

Panelists Zhixun from SPRING (wearing striped tie) and Anna from MCYS

Allan Lim of Alpha Biofuels shares his insights on being a SEpreneur. He will wear any teeshirts you give him, so FREE MARKETING. Also a RYSEC 2011 mentor (and wears a few other hats too ;o)Robert Kraybill, MD of IIX and RYSEC 2011 mentor. So that means if you apply to RYSEC, you'll be connected to awesome mentors like him.Behind the scenes: The team hard at work making RYSEC 2011 awesome. (left-to-right Zelig Lee, Haresh Tilani, and Francis Chua of Lexmark)

AFTER SUNDOWN: think&drink5

After lots of brainstorming (and brainstuffing) over the day, it was time to let our hair down. We headed down to Group Therapy coffee @ Duxton Road for think&drink5 which we aptly themed around SE as well - Social Entrepreneurship: Realities of transitioning from theory to practice.

Our eclectic panel: Tong Yee (School of Thought), Olivia Choong (Green Drinks Singapore), Meng Wong (silicon valley rockstar + awesome person). 

"It's good to share with your peers your ideas prior to setting up your enterprise. Competing ideas is good.." (RYSEC + think&drink5 panelist Meng Wong). Photo by Shaun KohLEFT: "Entrepreneurship in Singapore is still very top-down. The bottom-up mechanisms need more work here." (think&drink5 panelist Tong Yee, Co-Founder of School of Thought) RIGHT: "I founded Green Drinks because I felt very strongly for the environment," (think&drink5 panelist Olivia Choong, Founder of Green Drinks Singapore)Spirited conversation: This is what Think & Drink is all about.And these great conversations and ideas don't stop here. If you missed the workshop, and Think & Drink (we forgive you), you can still get in on the action: 

Registration for RYSEC 2011 is OPEN till 27 Aug 2011 - find out more at http://bit.ly/oaz3nn