CHAPTER 30 - Jumping onto the Business Bandwagon

Summary

“MNCs needed manpower from China and I saw a niche opening.”

— Tan Gek Noi, EEE Pioneer

IN 2008, PIONEER LEE BEE WAH was at the forefront of bringing long-awaited joy to the entire nation of Singapore. The Singapore team had won silver at the Beijing Olympics, Singapore's first Olympic medal in 48 years. Bee Wah is the President of the Singapore Table Tennis Association. Her team went on to beat China in the finals of the World Championships in Moscow.

Sporting glory is only one of Bee Wah's achievements. She is also active on the entrepreneurial scene. After a 12-year employee stint first with Singapore Technologies Construction and later Wing Tai Properties Management, she founded LBW Consultants LLP in 1996. The firm which provides civil, structural and project management consultancy brings in $2 million a year. Her company had been awarded the Rotary-Asme Top Entrepreneur of the Year Award. As a registered engineer, she was given the title ‘Er’.

Bee Wah is deeply convinced of the importance of her trade. “Civil and structural engineering creates and sustains the very infrastructure of society,” she said. “It improves the basic quality of life.” That conviction led her to become the president of the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES), the first woman to hold the post.

In 1999, IES wanted to recommend her to be a Nominated Member of Parliament. She consulted Inderjit Singh, an MP cum fellow pioneer. “I became one of his grassroots leaders and came under the PAP's radar,” she said. During the 2006 general elections, she was elected as part of the Ang Mo Kio GRC team led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Another lady making waves as an entrepreneur is Tan Gek Noi. When she started IM&P Services in 1993 to provide MNCs with manpower from China, there was only one employee: herself. Today, the company, which is now called Xcellink has surpassed her “wildest dream” in terms of scope, staff strength and revenue. It enjoys a turnover of $23 million with some 1,000 people on its payroll, a far cry from the one-woman outfit almost two decades ago. Nowadays, Xcellink offers customers IT-managed services in the areas of data center and call center management and various IT support functions.