By Teo Hui Sian (25S06C)
All photographs are courtesy of the Raffles Photographic Society
“Spark positive change” is a clause plucked out, verbatim, from the opening address of this year’s Raffles Business Symposium (RBS). This year’s theme is: “Innovations to Improve Mental Health”; the task follows naturally: to conceptualise, prepare and pitch a business idea within the mental health sector. A prima facie account of the event could convince most that sparking positive change would be a logical outcome.
Yet, one could question, are such business competitions and their impact purely theoretical and negligibly material? Is sparking positive change merely an empty promise?
An Introduction: What’s RBS?
Before we arrive at a conclusion, here’s a quick (and very condensed) introduction – RBS is an annual eponymous competition organised by the Raffles Entrepreneurs’ Network (REN), which sees teams from various pre-tertiary schools put forward a business idea to a panel of judges, and sees one team in particular crowned champion.
As borne out by REN’s chairperson, Matteo Jude Wee Sze Yu’s (25S06D) speech at the beginning of the event, the goal of the competition is to empower all participants, to inspire innovation, and to drive positive social change. Yet, while these aims may be desiderata, they tend not to be the most empirically evident. To quote my GP teacher – “kill the word ‘positive’ from your vocabulary … it doesn’t say anything!”
Perhaps, the clearest passage to spark change would be rooted in the theme itself. After all, mental health is a subject matter that is fundamentally human and arguably universal. However, be it as it may that the Symposium’s theme is far from esoteric, it still requires a thoughtful and indulgent discourse in order to further the participants’ understanding of it. That’s what the speaker sharing and Q&A session with the four judges before the competition attempted to achieve.
The Judges
The four speakers-cum-judges of RBS included Ms Lim Ee Ling, executive director of market launch at 500 Global, Mr Theodoric Chew, the co-founder and CEO of leading mental health firm in Asia, Intellect, Mr Jasper Lim, a counsellor in social service, and Mr Samuel Lee, a psychologist in private practice.
By all accounts, they’re all experts in their respective fields, some mental health professionals, others seasoned businessmen and businesswomen. Yet, there’s more than meets the eye for each judge – much more than what their CVs or LinkedIn profiles may reveal. The common denominator, as evinced by each sharing, is a commitment to making social change.
Apart from her day job at venture capital firm 500 Global, Ms Lim Ee Ling is also the co-founder of Smarter Me, the Young Founders Summit, and certainly knows what it means to be a young changemaker.
“Start with why: why the problem matters to you. There are a lot of hurdles; money and achievements don’t last, you need to find a deeper reason.”
Ms Lim Ee Ling
Mr Theodoric Chew, previously featured in the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Asia, founded the mental health platform Intellect after suffering from mental health issues himself in his youth. He spotlights the importance of “measuring the impact you’ve had” as an entrepreneur.
“Founders start with the idea in mind without a clear problem to solve… We need to have lived experience and market validation.”
Mr Theodoric Chew
Mr Jasper Lim, a professional counsellor at Care Corner Singapore, engaged with over 10,000 youths during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s his passion for working with youths and extensive experience that seeps through in every piece of advice he provides.
“Stigma is here to stay … We have to move with the individual, instead of trying to fit them into a mould.”
Mr Jasper Lim
Mr Samuel Lee, a former lecturer at University of Social Science and professional psychologist in private practice, shares how one can effectively help someone with a mental health condition.
“No one size fits all approach; there is collectivity but also differentiation in the solutions.”
Mr Samuel Lee
Speaking of his personal experience as a psychologist, he reflects, “my role is not to help solve [mental health conditions], there is no cure. My job is to listen to them as mental health conditions don’t go away.”
As the sharings closed and the spotlight shifted to the competition, there was no doubt that every head in the room gleaned at least one insight about mental health from the speakers.
Though Mr Samuel Lee jokes that he’s “the least important person in this room because [he has] no idea what all the other judges expect in business”, it’s the melting pot of all the multidimensional experiences and perspectives that allowed this sharing to be so fruitful.
“I appreciate young people talking about mental health … If they want to do that, then I want to be part of it.”
Mr Samuel Lee
The Teams
Now, a ‘business’ or ‘pitching’ competition may seem like an absurdly ambiguous and abstract description. Perhaps the prevalent perception may be: yap enough – and you just may walk home with a prize. In verity, there’s quite palpably a high bar set in each of these competitions.
Before the finals, the teams had to submit a written business proposal and a video detailing their business idea and how it could improve the mental health sector. This requires much more than applying the simple economic binary of demand and supply. Anchored by a fundamental business idea – be it novel, simple or groundbreaking – and elevated by rigorous research, each team supported their pitch with target market analyses, competitive evaluation, UI/UX mockups, go-to market strategies and cash flow spreadsheets.
A look into Team Mindboom’s Business Proposal, courtesy of members Matteo Jude Wee Sze Yu (25S06D), Shyamsundar Ragunanthan (25S06I), Seet Wen Yu (25S06P), Tamilini D/O Mahendran (25S03R)
That was the qualifying round. Now, in the final round, there’s an added layer of difficulty. Each team has to weave their figures and text together into a compelling and concise narrative – a five minute presentation to the four judges, followed by a three minute Q&A to be exact.
As Dheekshitha from Team Quantum Quirks would later reflect, the Q&A would prove to be particularly challenging.
“Maintaining composure under such scrutiny was essential, making this part of the competition particularly tense.”
Dheekshitha, Team Quantum Quirks (JPJC)
As may be the case that the teams were incredibly capable, it’ll still be a herculean task to persuade the judges of the real-life feasibility, competitiveness and tangible impact of their theoretical business.
Of course, all the business pitches were beyond impressive. Team Mental Health Maestros from REN pitched app MindBloom, which utilises a holistic approach to educate adolescents on mental health support and empower youths to each become a “peer counsellor”. The second team from REN, Team Serenify, pitched an app that allows mental health help to become more accessible, approachable and personalised by integrating proven therapy techniques into mini-games.
Team The SIMs from St. Joseph’s Institution pitched an all-in-one mental wellness app ChillPill, allowing therapy consultation bookings, advice forums and an interactive guardian-user interface to be accessible within a single click. Team Wolf of Bukit Timah Road from Hwa Chong Institution (“the Wolf of Wall Street”) pitched an insurance company focused on providing affordable mental health insurance, recognising that existing companies lacked targeted insurance plans that catered to specific conditions.
Team Sayang Sprouts from Crescent Girls’ Secondary School pitched a journal kit inspired by nature therapy, consisting of plant-growing kit and an interactive journal available in four languages – emphasising the product’s affordability and accessibility. Team Quantum Quirks from Jurong Pioneer Junior College pitched Steady Steps tracking glasses, in hopes of helping those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) monitor their compulsions with a pair of smart glasses and an app – both of which they came prepared with a working prototype.
Ultimately, Team Quantum Quirks was crowned the champion. The team’s extensive research and preparation culminated in the team being able to articulate the problems they aimed to solve with an extremely targeted solution. A decidedly, impressive feat, especially considering this was the team’s first experience with such a competition. The team attests, this didn’t come easy.
“Numerous times, we felt like giving up, and the overall team morale was low, but we managed to encourage each other to push through and make sure we put in the hours.”
Team Quantum Quirks (JPJC)
Yet, as impressive as each team’s performance was, the question remains unanswered. Is there really a point in fussing about an imaginary business idea?
REN’s Chairperson, Matteo Jude Wee Sze Yu (25S06D), and Vice Chairperson, Xie Ning Xin (25S06H) rejoin:
“The purpose [of RBS] is not to materialise an actual business, it is to get people to innovate, the real value lies in getting people to think about issues on a deeper level.”
Xie Ning Xin (25S03H), REN Vice-Chairperson’25
“The experience is meant to allow teams to gain exposure, innovating outside of the academic realm.”
Wee Sze Yu, Matteo (25S06D), REN Chairperson’25
This truth is well-corroborated by the testament of the champion team. After all, when you’ve galvanised tens of students to invest time to fully understand how they can help those suffering from mental health conditions, how to build a more supportive community, or how to improve the accessibility of existing solutions, is a tangible product a necessity? I contend, that’s already innovation towards a better future, in its purest form.
So… purely theoretical or still material?
The mere nature of a business competition, even with the inclusion of a progressively significant theme, isn’t enough to warrant the claim that it sparks real change. What truly made the RBS impactful for spectators, participants, and judges alike was the genuine value it delivered. From an unfiltered perspective on the realities of a rising mental health epidemic and the entrepreneurship sector that aims to tackle it, to the novel solutions presented by inspired young minds – it’s guaranteed one would leave RBS inspired, or at the very least, enlightened.
One must add, this was the result of the collective dedication of REN’s organising team– MCs, ushers, logistics heads, tech support, and teachers-in-charge – who began planning in March. The outcome was, in every sense, precisely the product of their dedication.
We often rely on overused, sometimes vague, buzzwords to convey the impact something can have and ‘sparking positive change’ happens to be one of them. Notwithstanding, it is an apt description for RBS, and one could even argue it needs no such euphemism to speak for it.
