PRESS RELEASE
PR-087-2024
SINGAPORE, 13 August 2024 – The Philippine Embassy in Singapore successfully launched yesterday (12 August 2024) the digital version of its book entitled “Making a Mark on The Little Red Dot: Trailblazing Filipino Entrepreneurs in Singapore.”
The eBook features the life-stories of twenty-five Filipinos who have not only excelled and succeeded as entrepreneurs in Singapore, but have literally blazed new trails in the field of entrepreneurship.
Besides casting the spotlight on these trailblazing Filipino entrepreneurs, the eBook also highlights the literary talents of the Singapore-based Filipino creative writers who participated in the project as contributing writers.
The virtual launch, which was live-streamed on Facebook, was attended by officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and its foreign service posts, as well as by members of the diplomatic corps, the business community and the Filipino Community in Singapore. As of this writing, the virtual launch reached 11K plays, 2.6K reaches, 323 reactions, 105 comments and 51 shares.
In his Welcome Remarks, Ambassador Medardo G. Macaraig said that we need to encourage overseas Filipino workers to reinvent themselves as entrepreneurs, especially when they go back home to the Philippines for good. By setting up their own businesses, OFWs will not only earn their own income and continue to be productive after their overseas employment. They will also create jobs for other OFWs and contribute to our country’s economic growth. He said that the eBook seeks to inspire OFWs to pursue this path, while providing them with a working roadmap for getting there.
In his Overview of the eBook, Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul General Emmanuel R. Fernandez added that the eBook can also serve as a tool for cultural and economic diplomacy. For one, it can help project to the international community a more complete profile of the Filipino by bringing to the foreground some of our countrymen’s proven excellence in entrepreneurship. It can also help introduce the eBook’s contributing writers to a wider global audience, and – through their literary works – provide the international community with “a window to the Filipino soul.”
Award-winning novelist, essayist and poet Migs Bravo Dutt shared her experience as one of the eBook’s contributing writers, while Dr. Michael Lochinvar Sim Abundo (CEO of Ocean Pixel Pte Ltd) talked about his own experience as one of the eBook’s subjects. An Open Forum followed the talks.
The eBook is one of the projects undertaken by the Philippine Embassy in Singapore to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Philippine-Singaporean diplomatic relations. It is not for sale, and it can be accessed by anyone for free by scanning on the QR code. (END)
