An NTU student's profiles of gung-ho self-starters earns him the Best Student-Interviewer prize at the Spirit of Enterprise (SOE) Awards.

To share inspiring life stories of grit and perseverance, first-year NTU Accountancy student Ho Kok Koon sniffed out and "grilled" five businessmen.

His uplifting accounts speak of sacrifice, courage and achievement.

They also earned him a top award when he beat more than 60 interviewers from local tertiary institutions – including the National University of Singapore and the polytechnics – to take the Best Student-Interviewer Award and a cash prize of $500 at the Spirit of Enterprise (SOE) Award Ceremony on 23 September.

As a participant in the SOE Student-Interviewer programme, Kok Koon nominated and interviewed five entrepreneurs operating small- and medium-sized businesses earlier this year.

"I wanted to learn about the business world from the horses' mouths," he explains. "The most valuable learning experience was to hear how each entrepreneur I interviewed pulled through difficult times in the course of starting their business. Their passion and determination was most inspiring."

Thoughtful and engaging
The SOE Board found Kok Koon's interview articles to be thoughtful and engaging, contributing in no small part to four of the entrepreneurs – Mr Ken Chee, Mr Joe Lee, Mr Kenneth Tay and Ms Doreen Tan – being selected as recipients of the Spirit of Enterprise Award, along with 36 others.

All 40 honourees were chosen from 107 nominated entrepreneurs based on online public voting through the SOE website and assessment by the SOE Board of Governors.

Kok Koon has accepted the invitation to serve on the SOE Board as a Student-Governor.
SOE, a non-profit set-up, advances the entrepreneurial spirit through various programmes and activities. It honours local self-reliant entrepreneurs in the hope that this would inspire more Singaporeans, especially the young, to become entrepreneurs.

© Corporate Communications Office