For his work, Tan was recognised in 2020 in Edge 35 Under 35 by the Action Community for Entrepreneurship. A year later, he snagged the Impact Entrepreneur of the Year title by the National Youth Entrepreneurship Awards, which celebrates contributions of young entrepreneurs to the Singapore start-up ecosystem. Did these accolades help to assure Tan that his was a “proper job”?
“For a while, I didn’t want to join any competitions, even though this was a conventional way to raise awareness and capital. I wanted to focus on the impact that we were creating,” he says. “I always remember the story, The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs. I believed that if I kept my focus on the goose, the eggs would come. But yes, it feels good to be recognised.”
With international borders loosened as Covid-19 transitions into an endemic, Tan is scaling up Bamboo Builders’ corporate VTO (voluntary time off ) programmes. Building on Bamboo Builders’ series of local learning journeys that deep-dive into social issues, such as food waste, urban farming, and inequality, these experiences encourage full-time employees to participate in corporate social responsibility.
“Some MNCs use VTO programmes as team-bonding opportunities,” says Tan, “especially if they are attended by staff from offices across different countries.”
Tan and his team are developing an app-based library of social entrepreneurship courses, making education more accessible for young enterprisers. To make it even more practical and relevant, modules such as financial literacy and marketing feature content are drawn from other social entrepreneurs in South-east Asia. The library is being beta-tested and will be available on a subscription basis when it launches in two years’ time.
Even over Zoom, the 29-year-old is visibly excited about the future, continually smiling while talking about his work. He frequently reads up on leadership, technology, and “things that challenge current mindsets”. As he points out, “If I cannot [do this], how can I expect the same of others? To be an effective educator, I must be a role model, too.”
