SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE

Before we present an ongoing series of blogs to share with our readers, let me first share excerpts from a book published in 2004 called “More inspiring stories from Singapore’s Entrepreneurs”. It was published in honour of the 2004 nominees of the Spirit of Enterprise in which ISE Travel was a winner.

The Spirit of Enterprise is a non-profit, privately funded Institute of Public Character that has created a variety of programmes to “honour and inspire” the entrepreneurial spirit. Thus it was an honour for ISE Travel, not that it will inspire the company to be big but to tell the world of the personal ‘grit’ gathering little capital, finding a place to do business, and carrying on in all weather.

DREAMS TO REALITY

"My dream has always been to travel and help educate people to make the world a better place to live in.  I think I could have been a good diplomat but I guess fate took me on another charted course. I find that there is so much in common learning from both the tourism and education industries. The only difference is that education traditionally confines learning mainly within the four walls of a classroom, while tourism brings the learning process out into the real world. After all, people travel to new destinations to learn about new things, gain new experience and explore new opportunities. Armed with a textbook or travel magazine, new knowledge, new experience and new opportunities are encountered through travel.  It is the desire to bridge the gap between tourism and education which inspires me to start this venture" – page 13.

ON THE BIG EDUCATION DEBATE

When you learn through formal education, you use your head. Once you have acquired the knowledge, you need to use your heart to communicate. So I would say education only helps you to open the first door.  It is the foundation of any business opportunity. Education gives you a good mind. It broadens your communications skills; the lack of those skills creates communications breakdowns, misunderstanding and bitterness." – page 97.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"One should be willing to share with people. Like a lighted candle, if we were to light another, the world will be a brighter place to live. When you are willing to share yourself with others, it will only inspire more people.  But if you keep everything to yourself, your candle will burn out eventually. If you don’t share, how do you expand the world of entrepreneurship?"

With that, let us continue writing and sharing travel blogs, interesting or otherwise and at the same time, we encourage you to share yours

– Jimmy Ooi