Bjorn talks about Singapore’s lack of Web 2.0 readiness, a sort of reply to James Seng’s post.
I am thinking that one thing that could help the community is to provide an estate for all of us. Something like the hostel that SMU students have. Convert one of the older estates and rent it out to programmers and people involved in startups. The programmers don’t need to be involved in the startups. They can be working in IT companies like how I am.
It might seem a bit artificial, but I think it will help. Nothing beats waking up and being able to just go next door and talk to someone about an idea. My most productive moments in NUS was when I was staying in the hostel. The ability to live and breathe my projects really helped. The other productive moments were when we all camped over in some lab.
Of course, why can’t we do it in our own houses. Logistics. It is difficult to get your family to understand why your friends are staying over 24/7. Also, it inconveniences them.
And why allow people not involved in startups. Cos a lot of programmers have expertise to offer and while they may not be fully involved, I believe there are enough people who will be willing to burn their weekends in some way to contribute and be part of the startups. Get designers to stay there too. So that startups can just walk over to a neighbour and ask for help with a template and share what is needed. So that the coder can focus on code and not struggle with the look of a site.
I don’t know. But I just keep dreaming about this community. I hope it can happen.
Tony | 13-Feb-07 at 11:44 am | Permalink
I had this conversation with a couple of travellers some time ago and realised that basically our high density housing does away with garages. (A garage can be an attached or detached shelter to which you can park your vehicle off the street.) It doesn’t sound like much but remember that many corporate greats started that way… @pple, M1cr0s0ft and of course the bands, artists and designers. Alot of parallels can be drawn between entrepreneurs, musician, artists/ artisans but my point is that the access to a cheap, independent, un-harried and focused space allows for individuals to experiment.
I’m not against collectives which is what these entrepreurship/ startup centres essentially are about. However, not many people are confident enough or have sufficient funding to rent a space. Creativity and artistry does not need verification from a committee, in fact we should encourage for a safe environment like a garage… cheap and you can do whatever you want. Artists communes and startup hubs seems to always require the individual to apply and subject his work to scrutiny… how many people can develop a ROI on a truly innovative idea/ concept?
Many times we find in the commercial environment that landlords increase the rent after the initial lease contract lapses. You can understand how disruptive this is to the startup organisation.
Anyways, enough ranting. The desire from an individual
must be strong enough to overcome the odds; mollycoddling may work against creativity.
Anyways, your blog’s header image caught my eye and I thought I pen a note.
iantimothy | 13-Feb-07 at 12:14 pm | Permalink
Hey, thanks for sharing. I agree with your points. The housing idea I was thinking is not one where you can only get if you are a startup. There shouldn’t be a committee which needs to vet your business plan before you can rent the place. It is more like if you are interested in that sort of field/industry then you can rent that space to stay for housing, not office space. You don’t actually need the business. It is more of getting a group of people to stay together. Of course, some people will just rent the place to stay and not really interested in the building of that community. And that is why I believe the rate for rental should be market rate. So the only reason why you are staying there is not cos of subsidised cost but because you want to be part of the community. And the location cannot be too central, if not it will be about location.
Bjorn | 13-Feb-07 at 12:15 pm | Permalink
hi ian, our paths cross again. =) Incidentally, i was talking about this to a friend from IE Singapore yesterday about entrepreneur-friendly facilities (like cafes) in the Bugis Area which will be a hub of creative talents in the next few years. the eclectic audience of artists, designers in fashion, graphic, digital sectors, and students from SMU should make it a very vibrant neighborhood. not to mention the kinda bohemian fashion culture that is springing from all the bugis street shops selling jap, korea fashions.. its a very good area to observe youth trends and a conducive environment for dreaming up ideas that will be in sync with their lifestyles.. think of those fashion districts in japan or korea..
iantimothy | 13-Feb-07 at 12:18 pm | Permalink
Oh and Tony, I hope you don’t misunderstand my blog’s header image. It is not to say that I don’t welcome tourists in Singapore, but like what my first post said, it was about me not allowing myself to be a tourist in my own country.
iantimothy | 13-Feb-07 at 12:21 pm | Permalink
Hello Bjorn, and our paths will cross again on Thurday. Going for that event of yours. Can’t wait! Yeah. I know what you are talking about. Actually, didn’t Singapore have some sort of Bohemian area that disappeared cos we needed to build some sort of highway. I can’t be sure if I’m remembering it correctly. Can’t remember the name of that place.
Bjorn | 13-Feb-07 at 3:59 pm | Permalink
haha, i didn;t know there was even that sort of place. maybe a lame attempt to engineer one so artificially last time it failed? =)
cya on thurs! i will be in a white polo tee with the E27 logo.
Tony | 13-Feb-07 at 5:03 pm | Permalink
Hi Ian,
no worries. I agree with you that curiousity needs to be there so that one continues to grow and see things afresh.
Lets take the discussion further. We have had the following “communes”- Kentridge Design Labs, Telok Kurau Arts Studios, Ean Kiam Foundation properties even Warees enterprises properties. Aside from the first, the rest still remains and achieved varying levels of success.
Developing a community takes more than just making available the space. A common core belief needs to be in place. Babysitting and jumpstarting a community does not always work because the desire to produce and experiment must come from a deeper aspiration.
Let me give you an example. Chinatown verus Joo Chiat verus Little India. URA sanitised Chinatown in the 80s to the point that locals felt its soul was lost. As a result, URA tries not be too hands on with redevelopment of a district (see Pam Lee’s autobiography). Now with Joo Chiat, the URA masterplan outlined that redevelopment of Joo Chiat needs to reinforce the existing communities (especially of Peranakans & Eurasians) while encouraging it to become a F&B hub. Over 20 bars were licensed to open along Joo Chiat Road in the space of 1 year and the inevitable has to happen. The media hype of Little Vietnam and its problems is now public knowledge. The success of Little India as a conservation district was a “managed accident”; first was a brilliant proposal from within the community to protect its heritage (see Sharon Siddique’s book) and reinforced by the mass immigration of transient workers from Indian continent.
My opinion is that a tripartite relationship needs to exist where authorities listen, private enterprise rationalise and individuals participate. Civil activism is lacking in Singapore which is why most of us are simply waiting for things to happen.
So, back to my original suggestion that “garage” communes need to exist so that everyone understands that the limit to ones potential lies in ones desire and commitment. Within the Singapore context, the relaxing on rules of running a business in HDB is a good attempt. I see further, the schools/ institution playing a greater part….
A greater problem lies with aspirations and commitment of the individual. We have opensource and GNU available to us but have a look at just how many participants are actually Singaporeans on SourceForge? This deepset problem I believe is a major hurdle for us progressing into that collaborative utopia….
I’ll keep quiet now… had a couple of beers and too much coffee…
iantimothy | 14-Feb-07 at 1:04 am | Permalink
Hello! Wah.. I didn’t even know about some of the places Tony mentioned. Will definitely go and look for some of the sources you mentioned. On another note, I wish I too had a bit of beer and too much coffee.
Tony | 14-Feb-07 at 12:03 pm | Permalink
everything looks better through the bottom of a beer glass. I’ll go put on my beer goggles now…