SE sector in Ireland

Recently, I came across this article

Read more at http://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/item/33627-social-enterprise-sector/

It is said that in Ireland, 25,000 jobs can be created through the social enterprise sector by 2020. Furthermore, the social sector in Ireland has already employed “more than 25,000 people in more than 1,400 social enterprises in Ireland.” This caught me by surprise as I always thought that social enterprise have little impact on the economy. In my opinion, I thought that social enterprises have more impact on individuals than on the society. Because they aim to be profitable and able to make an impact at the same time, it will be hard for them to sustain. After reading this article, I went to research on Ireland's social enterprise sector and came across another article by the guardian.

Read more at http://www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise-network/2013/mar/19/ireland-social-enterprise-sector-recognition

This article talks about how social enterprise in Ireland was not recognised in the past, but now, the Ireland government is going to "follow through with an earlier commitment to support the development of social enterprise in Ireland". This shows that they government "recognises social enterprises's 'important role in supporting jobs in many local and rural communities'". However, the 'follow through' is not confirmed and there are no definite details about whether is it really going to happen. In Ireland, even though social enterprises creates job for a lot of individuals and 'represents a sizeable proportion of economic activity, with recent estimates suggesting it generates €240m (£205m) in revenue and employs 9,300 people directly, as well as a further 5,100 indirectly", it does not have as much support as corporate or enterprises. Also, people tend to mix social programs and social enterprise together. 

To me, this situation is somewhat similar in Singapore. Singapore is ranked as one of the easiest place in the world to start a business. However, starting a business and sustaining a business is 2 entirely different thing. In my opinion, I feel that it is hard for social enterprises to sustain in Singapore. Social enterprises need to have 2 goals in their concept, one being the profit and the other one being their beneficiaries. Concentrating on 2 things will leave them at a disadvantaged end. On top of that, social enterprises in Singapore are not very recognised. Singaporean's awareness for social enterprises are low and there are people who still think that social enterprises are charities or even social programs. In my opinion, people always think that since social enterprises are there for social good, they should charge at a cheaper price, instead of the quality of their services or products. On top of that, people only go to a social enterprise because they want to do good. They do not view social enterprise as a for-profit enterprise, thus they pay them very little attention.

Maybe this is happening because social enterprise sector is just starting to get in trend in Singapore and that because its a new entity, thus it will still need some time for social enterprises to have an established place in the society that they are also business entities.

Japan's Yamato Transport Company

After the incident at Dhoby, I decided to look for social enterprises in Japan as they are well-known for their aging population. I wanted to see what the do the social enterprises there solve aging population. Then, I came across an interesting article.

Read more at: http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2013/07/09/221-People-in-Asia-will-now-be-able-to-taste-fresh-Japanese-food-thanks-to-TA-Q-BIN.html

This article is about a courier service named TA-Q-BIN run by Yamato Transport. It talks about how TA-Q-BIN is Yamato Transport's internation courier service that provides delivery service to five countries, namely Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Malaysia in collaboration with All Nippon Airways (ANA). I was curious as to how my search for social enterprise in japan will lead me to this article. SO, I decided to do a little research on Yamato Transport!

AND THERE! (Read more at http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/)
There was no information about it being a social enterprise. It is a large delivery company that was established in 2005 but had a history from 1919. Then I being searching more and I found an article on Social Enterprise Buzz.

Read more at: http://www.socialenterprisebuzz.com/2013/06/25/yamato-transport-delivers-more-than-just-parcels/

In the article, a lady called Mayumi Matsumoto was working for Yamato Transport as a driver. One day, she delivered a package from a son to his elderly mother. Matsumoto thought that the woman looked unwell, but did not say anything and left. However, the woman passed away in her home that night and was not found until 3 days later. Matsumoto was haunted by the experience and furthermore, in Japan, solitary deaths are an increasingly common occurrence. Thus, she decided to do something. Her idea was to combine parcel delivery services with basic health inquires. Her idea only got implemented after 2 years in a town with a lot of elderly and at a disaster area. In the disaster area, because there was no services and no necessities available around them, the delivery services is very essential. It allows them to get clean water and food.

The service slowly got accepted and it became available to residents in 2011. This is an article on intrapreneurs getting recognised in their corporate. It is very hard for an intrapreneur to get their idea recognised and support from their colleagues. However, Miss Matsumoto did it. With her action, energy and passion, she managed to convinced people around her and started this program that will aid a lot of elder in the future.

This article really inspired me a lot of because I never thought that delivering services could make such an impact. It made me realise that no matter how small the thing may be, it can still make a significant impact to any individual. It is just whether we want to put in effort and make it happen. Because they always say nothing is impossible, you just have to keep trying till you get it.

I will end off with a quote:

"In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... In the real world all rests on perseverance." 

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Aging Population (Opinion)

In my opinion I think it is a brilliant idea. I mean, a lot of old people don't want to go to old folks' home because they feel abandoned. However, it is also not a good idea for elder to stay alone at their home. Some of them cannot even take care of them properly. & if anything happens, nobody will be there to help them. Its dangerous. However, if there were to have a service like HomeShare, things will be easier! Moreover, in Singapore, people cannot buy their own flats if they are no married. I think this is partially because we are a small country and resources are very limited. So we can't have everybody owning their own flats! However, if this program is implemented in Singapore, a lot of singles people can move out of their house and live independently.

However, as I am typing this post, I slowly realised the loopholes of this program. Firstly, it will be dangerous if the wrong applicant was set to live in the same house as the elder. Things such as elder abuse may occur and the even if the elder is able to report the case, the deed would have already been done. It would have already left the elder injured, either physically or emotionally. On top of that, the house will not be under surveillance, thus there is a higher chance of such cases happening. Also, some elder may not know how to react to situations of elder abuse, thus they may choose to remain silent.

Secondly, applicants that move in will not even bother about the elder. They will just move in and mind their own business, thus even when something happens to the elder, they may not know. Thirdly, some of them may even feel that if something happens to the elder, they will be accused or be put in a difficult spot, thus they will not choose to rent with an elder.

Even if there is a non-profit organisation that provides this service and even if the applicants are carefully selected and chosen, there will still be a lot of problem. However, I believe it can be a good idea to tackle the aging population is the government steps in and help this service. If the government steps in, there will be more assurance and awareness for this service which allows it to have a higher chance of success.

This is just an opinionated post, if there is any false information, please feel free to correct. Also, the things that I say is not a representation of Singapore or the people living there.