Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at Singapore Heartland Enterprise Summit 2022
Jun 28, 2022
尊敬的新加坡全国商联总会 会长
杨向明先生，BBM
贵宾们、同事们
女士们、先生们：
大家下午好！
我很荣幸出席首届的新加坡邻里企业峰会。看到今天这么多人出席这个峰会令我非常地鼓舞。
邻里商店在社区扮演的角色
邻里商店在我们的社区里扮演着特别的角色。
这些商店为大家提供便利和价格合理的商品和服务，以满足我们的各种日常需求。
更重要的是，邻里商店也是凝聚我们的社区居民的聚集点。
这些商店更为年长者和其他需要在住家附近工作的居民提供就业机会。
居民因为长期的光顾，都认识商店里的Uncle和Auntie，而对他们感到额外的亲切。
所以，邻里商店是我们新加坡文化遗产非常重要的一环。
创新与转型的必要
但同时，我们的邻里商店也面对越来越多的挑战。
比方说，这两年来的冠病疫情对我们的商家带来了很大的冲击。
除此以外，消费者也趋向网购，或者更喜爱逛比较新颖的购物中心、购物商场。
我们的邻里商店就必须与时并进，以维持邻里的活力，有效地服务居民。
要达到这个目标其实并不容易，所以政府会在整个过程中全力支持我们邻里商店。
例如，今年较早推出的“2025邻里新天地”计划，将在未来四年投资五千万元:
协助邻里商店数码化，支持商联会，为我们的邻里注入新活力，以吸引更多顾客。
除了提供资金，我们也进行人才配对，把新的技能和想法引入邻里。比如，我们和文礼商联会合作，让年轻的居民帮助我们社区的商店推行电子商务、优化市场营销和物流等。
我们也成立了由沈颖高级政务部长和刘燕玲政务部长所领导的“邻里数码化与振兴委员会”，来协调和推行我们在经济增长和转型方面的努力。两位部长们将继续与在座的嘉宾们分享并实行新措施。
在此，我要感谢新加坡全国商联总会积极协助和推动邻里商店的创新与转型。
例如，今年3月至6月，新加坡全国商联总会 举办了第二届“邻里创新挑战计划”。
在这项计划下，各个商联会和邻里企业，以及工艺教育学院和理工学院的学生及大专生齐聚一堂，集思广益创造新的产品、服务、营销渠道和业务模式。
今天峰会的节目也包括各项研讨会和学习之旅，协助我们的邻里商店掌握新技能和新知识。
凭着坚韧不拔和创新的精神，我有信心，我们的邻里商店能够成功地适应变化万千的商业环境。有些甚至可能在国际舞台上大展拳脚。
例如，深受国人喜爱的老曾记 (Old Chang Kee) 自1956年在丽士戏院 (Rex Cinema) 附近一家咖啡店的小摊位开始营业。
创办人曾先生出售的咖喱角，被国人亲切地称为“丽士咖喱角”。
如今，现任主席韩权元和总裁林照壹把老曾记打造成家喻户晓的品牌，分店不但遍布全岛，甚至在伦敦也有它的分店。
老曾记之所以能成为响当当的名号，是因为在通过投资新系统和生产设施，以及运用符合消费潮流的新营销策略的同时，也确保咖喱角仍然保持它特有的质量。
老曾记并不是唯一从邻里起家的新加坡品牌。
其他一些成功的邻里企业包括SK珠宝和杏和堂参茸药行。
这些企业的领导人今天也在座，我们必定能向他们学到宝贵的知识和吸收他们的经验。
有许多令人感到新奇又有趣的生意点子也在邻里商店中出现，包括一些刚起步的小企业和社会企业。
其中一些商家也开始崭露头角，比如在大巴窑开设第一家店面的独立冰淇淋与咖啡馆 Creamier，以及于2017年开业，专门为饲养蚂蚁爱好者提供商品的 Just Ants。这些都是新一代的邻里商店。
这些令人耳目一新的概念，确实为我们的邻里注入新的活力。
齐心协力振兴我们的家园
我们如何能继续协助邻里商店创新和转型，并同时保留它们独特的文化特色呢？
这是我们希望能和大家一起探讨的课题， 所以我们展开了一项“邻里组屋商店研究”，听取国人和商家的意见。
至今已有超过2,800名利益相关者， 与我们分享了他们的看法。
有人建议政府更积极地对在邻里商区开业的行业和品牌进行筛选，挑选那些能为邻里群体做出最佳社区贡献的商业。
也有人建议，政府可以在数码化、市场营销和场所营造方面给予更多的支持，让我们的邻里企业更具活力与效益。
我们正在详细斟酌所收到的反馈，并将在接下来的几个月公布调查结果和建议。
与此同时，我们也与新加坡全国商联总会，与各个商联会和邻里企业探讨如何加强现有的计划，如“商店提升计划”。我们将会与大家分享探讨的结果。
结论
最后，我们希望能继续与国人，包括在座的各位紧密合作，让我们的邻里商店继续大放异彩。
作为凝聚本地商家的力量，以及商家与社区之间的桥梁，商联会扮演着举足轻重的角色。
我们期待与在座的各位保持紧密的合作关系。如果有任何建议或反馈，请随时联系我们。
希望各位能在今天的峰会中获益良多。祝大家身体健康，生意兴隆。谢谢大家。
Mr. Yeo Hiang Meng, President of the Federation of Merchants’ Associations, Singapore
Distinguished guests
Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good afternoon. I am honoured to be here at the inaugural Singapore Heartland Enterprise Summit 2022.
Community Role of Heartland Shops
Our heartland shops play a special role in our local communities. They provide convenient and affordable options to meet our daily needs – from food and household goods, to opticians and hairdressers. More importantly, they help to forge strong social bonds in our neighbourhoods.
They serve people from all walks of life, giving opportunities for residents to mix and interact, regardless of their race, religion or socioeconomic status. They provide jobs for seniors and others who may need or prefer to work near home.
Many Singaporeans have their favourite heartland shops that remind them of home – where the auntie or uncle behind the counter knows their name, and asks how their family is doing. So our heartland shops are an important part of our culture and heritage.
Need for Innovation and Transformation
But our heartland shops also face growing challenges. The past two years have been difficult due to COVID. Beyond the pandemic, more shoppers are also turning to e-commerce, or may prefer more modern shopping malls.
Our heartland shops have to keep up with these trends, and remain lively and relevant. But it isn’t always easy, and that is why the Government is committed to supporting our heartland shops on this journey. For example, earlier this year we launched the “Our Heartlands 2025” initiative, which will invest $50 million over the next 4 years. To help heartland shops to digitalise, support Merchants’ Associations, and revitalise our heartlands to attract more customers.
We want to support, not just with funding, but by bringing together people with different perspectives and skills too. For example, we worked with Boon Lay Merchants Association to bring young Boon Lay residents to help shops in their estate with things like e-commerce, marketing and logistics.
To coordinate our efforts, and sustain the momentum to grow and transform, we have the Heartlands Digitalisation and Revitalisation Committee or HDRC under SMS Sim Ann and MOS Low Yen Ling. They have reached out to some of you to share and implement ideas, and will continue to do so.
I would like to thank FMAS for stepping up to help drive innovation and transformation for our heartland shops too. For example, from March to June this year, FMAS organised the second run of the Heartland Innovation Challenge. This competition brought together Merchants’ Associations, heartland enterprises and tertiary students from the ITEs, Polytechnics and Universities, to work together to create new products, services, channels, and business formats.
Today’s Summit will also include various workshops and learning journeys, to help heartland shops pick up new skills and knowledge.
With resilience and innovation, I am confident that our heartland shops can adapt successfully to their changing business environments. Some may even go beyond their local neighbourhoods, and scale up nationally or even internationally.
For example, the well-loved Old Chang Kee started off in 1956 as a small stall in a coffee shop, near what was then Rex Cinema along Mackenzie Road. Its founder, Mr Chang, sold curry puffs known affectionately as the "Rex Curry Puff".
Today, the current Chairman and CEO, Mr Han Keen Juan and Mr William Lim, have grown Old Chang Kee into a household name, with stores island-wide and even overseas as far away as London.
They did this by investing in new systems and production facilities, along with fresh marketing strategies to keep pace with consumer trends – all while maintaining the quality of their signature curry puffs. Old Chang Kee is not the only local brand that had its humble beginnings in our heartlands. Others include SK Jewellery and Heng Foh Tong medical hall, which have come a long way from their first stores in Bedok Central and Bukit Batok respectively.
Some of the leaders from these businesses are with us today, and I am sure that we will all learn a lot from them. There are also many new and exciting businesses popping up in our heartland shops, as budding entrepreneurs and social enterprises try out their ideas.
Some are making a name for themselves, such as Creamier, an independent ice cream and coffee lifestyle café that started in Toa Payoh, and the more niche Just Ants, a one-stop shop for ant-keeping needs that started in 2017. Such novel and refreshing concepts inject new life into our neighbourhoods.
Working Together to Revitalise our Heartlands
How can we continue to help our heartland shops to innovate and transform, while retaining their unique culture and character? This is something we want to work with everyone on, and that is why we have embarked on a Heartland Shops Study, to hear the views of all Singaporeans.
Over 2,800 stakeholders – including residents, shopkeepers, workers, business leaders, and the FMAS – have generously shared their ideas with us. Some ideas include more active curation of our heartland shops, to pick trades and brands that can best contribute to the heart and soul of local communities.
Others suggested more support for digitalisation, marketing, and placemaking events, so that our heartland businesses can become livelier and more productive. We are studying the feedback in detail, and will release our findings and recommendations in the coming months.
At the same time, we’ve been engaging with FMAS, and various Merchant Associations and heartland enterprises, on improving specific programmes like the Revitalisation of Shops scheme, and we look forward to sharing the findings in due course.
Conclusion
To conclude, we hope to continue working closely with the community, including all of you here, to keep our heartland shops vibrant and relevant for future generations.
Merchants’ Associations, in particular, play an important role in bringing together local shops, and serving as a bridge between businesses and the community. We look forward to our continued partnership, and please feel free to write in to us if you have any suggestions or feedback.
Thank you and enjoy the summit.