Entrepreneurship in Malaysia

[z]

Companies in the (Silicon) Valley are outsourcing to China (Manufacturing) and India (Software & Call Centers).

Taiwan (Electronics), Japan (Biotech & Nanotech) and Korea (Telecommunications) are still doing well as they are at the forefront of niche markets.

What is left for South East Asian countries?

Singapore is strongly encouraging R&D in Biotech. A similar interest is picking up in Malaysia.

The MSC is one of the government's efforts to upgrade Malaysia's status in the high tech industry. The Penang state government is also encouraging the shift from manufacturing to R&D, in order to maintain its competitiveness in the Asian tech market. (Other countries like Singapore, Taiwan and Japan are feeling the same regional pressure from China. Inevitably, China will dominate the manufacturing sector due to its low cost.)

Essentially, we need good ideas and products to maintain a healthy presence in the global market. We need to encourage entrepreneurship and the development of IP (Intellectual Property).

How much government intervention is required? Is the Valley model suitable for SEA/Asian? What strengths and weaknesses do we have?

[chenchow]

Thanks Zi Shen on his post.


I think it is essential that Malaysia capitalize on our extense flora and fauna in this biotechnology industry. I have a strong believe that Malaysia will try its best to expand the pie in this area.


First of all, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi is heading this biotech committee. Secondly, Biovalley (http://www.bic.org.my/resources_body_localscenarios_biovalley.html) is coming up.



Moreover, there are a number of Malaysians interested to work on it, including all of us. Lets work together to make it happen.

[bachok83]

just wanna tell here about putting url in forum....

it's simple just put like this

[url] http://recom.org [/url]

or

[url=http://recom.org] Recom is da' Best [/url]

hope this is clear to all :P

[masterof_none]

Hi Zi,
I agree with you about intellectual property(IP) right.
I think if Malaysian industries is going to go forward, we need a strong IP enforcement. The problem is, people are reluctant to pay for a price of hardwork other people put on developing products.
take for example, movie industry...not long after the film was released, the pirated CD are available on the market. this is simply not right.

How we curb this problem?
We need to tell Malaysian to PRODUCE one IP product, examples software ,music or movie and how do they feel if they are being pirated. That way, people will realize the value of their product. That;s why if you see, Americans are willing to pay (although some are still not).

What's the logic behind protecting IP?
The intellectual property is the main driving force of billions of dollars worth of industries. You name it, from Silicon Valley to Hollywood, from Oracle to Microsoft, and gaming industry, from Xbox to PS2. Can you imagine how much we gain if we simply change our mind to support intellectual property right?

How can we start?
a good start is always come from oneself. I did some study in intellectual property and realize the danger of digital piracy. I abandon Kazaa and buy the music if I want to listen to. Ppl will think that I'm crazy but who cares? we believe what we believe and I believe that only from individual effort this thing can happen. Recently, I bought the $0.99 song from Apple too.It think it's kind of cool. I don;t have to worry abt virus spreading through Kazaa.

Some say that it;s your right online.That it is part of freedom of speech and file sharing.
Although I have to agree with that, I think what freedom of speech means is that you can say whatever you want, not pirated the movie/music. and I know Kazaa is legal from the recent LA court decision. BUt you just have think....


And we need good movies from Malaysia too.

[z]

great response from everyone :) even though we've been touching on a really small aspect of entrepreneurship in Malaysia.

anyway, i'd like to point out that software piracy has, in a way, encouraged IT adoption in Malaysia. The same applies to China as well.

i'm not advocating piracy in anyway, but just like to acknowledge the fact that pirated software generates demand in hardware, increases access to knowledge tools, and indirectly creates a generation of IT-savvy workforce.

how can we achieve the same targets without infringing the IP of software developers?
1. perhaps software distributors should consider a cheaper "Asian version" of the software (much like the Academic version available here)
2. the government/industry should help equip the schools and public libraries with computers (with the necessary software of course)

[maybe someone would like to elaborate further.]

[chenchow]

I think somehow piracy has helped Window in penetrating the market. They were well aware of a lot of piracy among youth on their Microsoft Office. But that helped to spread their program. They charge heftily for companies, while they almost always donate those to schools. Once everyone is accustomed to their Microsoft Office, people wouldn't want to change..

On pirated VCD, government is trying their best these few days to clear off this menace. Although I know that it would not completely cut the supplies of pirated VCD, it has seen some effect. For the past few days, each day there are hundreds of thousands of VCDs got confisticated. It is a small step ahead.

But I agree that if we have design something and see others steal it to use for free, we would feel it!!!

[masterof_none]

yea, I agree that microsoft is actually encouraging ppl who can;t afford to buy their applications to just simply copy it . Since usually companies will use it anyway, so, they will shift the revenue lost in the home-user to companies by charging ridiculous amount of money.
but that;s microsoft, how abt small company ?

There are still a lot of debate about the economic impact on this new digital industry. Things like network effect (e.g msn Instant messenger) or, consumer locked-in (e.g would be microsoft users, who will most likely hate mac(uhuk) ) , that , in some aspect, successfully drives the US Dept of Justice nuts in 1990's microsoft anti-trust trial.

But that doesn;t mean that we should sit here and do nothing, wait until these big companies swallow others while maintaining their competitive advantage.
The cheaper 'asian market' idea by Zi is a good start. I can;t think of anything right now, but I still believe that individual/a group of ppl who study the real stuff (like us, RC people) will benefit from digital revolution.

yea, I think the govt trying hard to destroy the piracy.. but as long as people support the pirated CD and put them profitable , things are hard to change. but I can see things will eventually change.Hopefully

[chenchow]

I think the idea of cheaper Asian Market product, would be similar to the International Edition of textbook, which you could get out of US and is typically much cheaper, although it is safe cover. I am not sure how they could create a slightly inferior, but those from 3rd world countries would still perceive it to be of similar standard.

Anyone has any idea on that?

On piracy, I fully agree that as long as there is demand, it is very tough to solve the problem once and for all. Those traders would always have newer and newer method to sell the pirated VCDs, as the profit margin is very large...

[masterof_none]

I think solution of pirated software in Asia is open source. Open source made available the source code of the software to the public and help educate these "third world" country kids about how to write programs. e.g of open source is GNU/Linux and OpenOffice. Plus, it's legal. You see more and more companies outsourcing their codes. For example, Apple make their Darwin (http://developer.apple.com/darwin/)
source code (the kernel of Mac OS X) available to the public.

I;m not sure how book publishers manage to lower their price in Asian market but I think they heavily subsidized it or they reduce the cost of printing it such as substituting the hard to soft cover ,etc. I think.

Anyway, I don;t know which industry Malaysia should focus on. If Malaysia really serious in becoming the technology hub, it's gotta be serious in software development. Why?.. because hardware is getting cheaper and sooner/later, when Malaysian ppl demanding more wages, the multinational companies like Intel and Apple will shift their production plants to some other countries that has more cheap labors, the obvious example is China. And if that being the case, piracy is the most important factor to consider.

Technology industry is like binary, either you're 1 or 0.
Either you succeed or you dead.

[z]

Open source sounds like a really great idea.

In order for it to grow, we need to large base of competent, and willing, software developers. Also, there must be incentives to encourage development.

Some random ideas:

1. Start from the government. The government should rope in Malaysian experts to lead the way.

2. Higher education institutions should play a more important role. I don't know why, but MMU came to my mind immediately. We should emulate Berkeley (Unix - FreeBSD), CMU (AFS), MIT (Kerberos) etc.

3. Increase computer literacy and offer programming classes in schools.

[chenchow]

Thanks a lot Zi Shen for your ideas. :D

I am pretty attracted to the idea of bringing programming to high school students. I really hope that it would be implemented in every school. Like when I was in Form 4, I learned C Programming. I knew that it is pretty much out of date now, and in fact my school is teaching Java for every Form 4 science stream students now. I think the knowledge of some programming in high school would be beneficial.

Remembering back then in Remove, I learned Word Star, Word Perfect and then in Form 1, I learned typing and ET3(Typing in Mandarin). Form 2, I learned Lotus 1-2-3 and DBase IV. All those are pretty much out of date now and I know that they have changed it to MS Word, Excel, Access respectively, but I think giving every high school student a strong foundation is very essential. Although those assessments are school-based, it was counted into school grades for the year and I think everyone put in a lot of effort in it. I knew deep in my heart that it did not come free. We all paid RM100 every year for the lessons of 90 minutes per week. The RM100 was not used to pay the teacher, but rather to upgrade the computer and pay for electricity, air conditioner, software...etc. The teachers' salary for that purpose was paid by Parents and Teachers Association. I think it is essential that it gave us a good head start and everyone is comfortable with the basic stuff.

Remembering the time in my high school, most societies or clubs in the school has computer of their own. It was donated by the school, after the computer labs were upgraded every year. Basically 1 computer lab is upgraded per year, so each computer in the computer lab would be at most 3 years old. Although the computer passed down to those societies during my time 1998, 1999, were 486, but I think that was a good start and may be we can propose that other schools do the same thing. 2 of my school computer labs and computers were donated by Intel at end of 1992. And it started off from there. I think alumni do have a big part to play in it. From time to time, in my school, alumni came back and donated computers and other facilities. I think that would help a bit towards the end.

I think if Malaysians who have graduated from local universities could give back as much as those Americans give back to their school, or even just a portion of it, that would go a long way to help the universities.

[z]

yes. i'm impressed by jit sin alums. i hope other schools have similar programs.

as always, the problem lies in the implementation stage.

1. solid curriculum and interesting lesson plans.
2. tutors' skill and enthusiasm.
3. students' attitude. everything would be pointless if the students do not understand the goal of the program.
4. facilities. bureaucratic red-tapes attached to the initial setup. maintenance/upgrades.

i'm particularly concerned about points 2 & 3. once again, it's all about the mentality.

[z]

i just notice we haven't talked much about entrepreneurship.
but don't worry, let's continue our interesting discussions in this thread.

anyone going back home next summer? maybe we could plan something together, like teaching programming to high school students. let's begin the knowledge transfer process. we can plan out a common curriculum, and teach it at our own high school. then we can gauge the impact of the program based on the response from participants.

feedback anyone?

[chenchow]

I agree with Zi Shen about the implementation of policy in Malaysia.

Often we have first class laws, but enforcement was third class. A lot of laws, from Cyber Law to local council laws, are often not enforced to what it should be. We should definitely wipe out graft as much as we could.

I think on the issue of graft, it starts from everyone's mentality. In Malaysia, if there is a bus with no one collecting money, but just the slot for everyone to pay, do you think how many people will pay? Compare it if it is done in US? I think we have a lot to catch up in this aspect. I think this problem does not only limit to Malaysia. I have talked to friends in HK and it is the same problem.

On entrepreneurship, I think presently, the Young Entreprise program do have some effects, but I think more students could benefit from it. It is way too limited in terms of participation.

On attitude, I think Malaysians should try our very best to improve in terms of attitude. Sometimes, we expect everything to be served in a golden platter. We do not go out of our way to try to make things happen.

I read in NST letter to editor and I found a letter very hearthening. There was a student who studied in National School. His parents keep constant in touch with the teachers. Before, he used Malay to talk to the parents. He did the same now, but the teacher now replied in English and the teacher is very enthusiastic about English. I really hope this is an across board observation. With that, we can see some ray in the cloud.

All the best to my motherland, Malaysia!!!

[masterof_none]

The idea of teaching programming to kids in Malaysia is really great. In fact, this is the reason why we are here, to directly participate in developing the nation.

I'm not sure whether I'm going to go back next summer, but we really hope that from this community, we can find anybody interested in teaching kids.

I;ve been thinking about creating Malaysian branch for RC, so that when we're not at home, (for example, right now), the process can continue and discussion can also be made through this website.

In addition, I know there are a lot of Malaysian students studying all over the place. UK, Japan, Korea, India etc. We need these people to come here and participate in this process too. Right now, the news are more about Malaysia and US only. I'm pretty sure there are people who studying in Japan/Korea who have different way of doing stuff and would like to discuss it here.
Hm...thinking about designing a T-Shirt so that people know who are we.

[z]

yes, i like the idea of expanding our group. hopefully with more ideas and discussions, we'll be able to formulate something concrete, and take actions to achieve our goals.

[chenchow]

Zi Shen, mind spread the word among those of your batch...if possible, not only those in US, but also elsewhere in the world.

Let all of us spread the word around, to bring as many Malaysians here..and hopefully everyone would try to share their opinions and not just a few of us here...

[z]

(southeast) asian countries should foster closer ties with each other and increase the level of cooperation among one another on projects that will benefit the region. (think: European Union and the Euro)

today's entrepreneur cannot rely merely on the limited local market, but also need to be flexible and tap into the global market. however, before we can compete with the established multinationals, we need a substantial (i.e. larger) "local" market. such a regional cooperation will also make our presence notable.

[masterof_none]

I agree with the idea of cooperation among ASEAN countries.
We must build our own economy.
Right now, when people think of Southeast asia, they'll think about brothels, riots, anti-democracy etc.
(except maybe Singapore, where people might misunderstood as it is located around Hong Kong or something).

So we need to clean our face, and tell them we can do.

Ok.Now do what?
1. cooperate among students (like us).
2. Foster relationship, think of problem solving.

and I think a lot more....

[z]

EE402T Entrepreneurship in Asian High-Tech Industries
http://ati.stanford.edu/seminar.html

Global entrepreneurship seems to be a key element to successful ventures. As growth in domestic market shrinks, we would need to look beyond the local economy, and explore global opportunities. To achieve this goal, we need to be flexible according to market needs and build a business that is scalable.

Asia offers a very attractive market for high-tech entrepreneurship and investment. However, as different countries have different entrepreneurship structure, we need to have a firm grasp of their individual characteristics and bank on their unique strengths. China, for example, offers a large market and low cost manufacturing. India, on the other hand, offers an English speaking work force that specializes in software development. Japan has extraordinarily motivated labor force and research in cutting edge technologies; Korea the telecommunications infrastructure; and Taiwan the world class semiconductor hub.

Much as entrepreneurship is about taking risks and seizing opportunities, it is also about guided vision and sound management. The dot-com bust illustrates that solid business administration cannot be absent from any companies. Essentially, entrepreneurs have to go back to the basics and ensure that they have solid business plans, which are as important as good technologies.

Moreover the importance of a capable management team cannot be overemphasized. Ideally, the management team should have a global perspective and is able to manage multi-location development or operations. By tapping the best human resources in different geographic areas, it is possible to achieve 24-hour workdays to harness maximum productivity. In addition, the management should be adept in identifying entrepreneurial opportunities and accurately assess the value of its product in potential markets. With all these factors covered, the start-up should not have difficulties attracting venture capital funds. The speakers also point out that these invaluable corporate experiences are available through employment at established multinationals.

While Asia seems really promising and rewarding, we should not blindly jump onto the bandwagon without evaluating the situation and own ability to adapt to the Asian market. We should be aware of and address certain outstanding issues in Asia that hinders entrepreneurship:
1. The lack of local venture capitalists to fund projects.
2. The lack of infrastructure to penetrate the market.
3. Bureaucratic hurdles. (Even though the government generally encourages entrepreneurial activities.)
4. Aversion to risk, afraid of losing ?face.?
5. Traditional mindset or cultural tendencies that fosters closed community and hierarchical company structure.
6. Adherence to Confucian ideals that goes against western-style corporate governance.

These issues will probably be resolved soon as the Asian market continues to grow rapidly and find a good balance between Asian and western values. Government intervention is probably required to steer the initial efforts to boost entrepreneurship, but in the long run, it would be best for the industry to self-regulate and determine its development. The effect of entrepreneurship in huge economies like China and Japan will probably effuse to other countries in the South East Asian region. This phenomenon should cultivate interests in entrepreneurship and further boost the development of human resources to provide healthy competition.

[MarquisX]

you see, the business of Intelectual Property is intricate. We will start with IP and then somewhere on the line jump into piracy and stuff. Not that i am advocating piracy, but like somebody said on this forum ( i m sorry i forgot ur name) , piracy actually contribiutes to some good things. If i were a director of education/entrepeneur advancement bureau, i will put more emphasis on drugs (medicine) and biology (including nano-tech-bio) instead of telecommunication. 1st, because drug business is always on demand. Given the breaktrough in nano-tech industry, the next gold mine is gotta be NANO-BIO!

o well, u know what....it's 3 am here, and frankly...i don't even know what i am talking about

:roll: :roll:

[masterof_none]

Yea, I agree with you. The future is Nano tech.
I afraid that around 7 years down the road, nano tech will take over silicon-based business.then what we've learn at school is pretty much obsolete stuff.
A lot of companies are investing in nano tech, seems like it's going to be the future.
NanO Bio...is probably the goldmine of 21st century

[jiinjoo]

Yey - my first post!

So, does anyone wants to stop talking and start doing? Would like to see some real prototypes in this coming year. If you did something cool that could be the seed of a venture in the valley, why don't share it here? "Throw stone to lead the jade"...

Moreoever, now is the time to do it because we're still students, hence (in respond to zi shen's issues)
1. We have research funds from our schools
2. We have enough infrastructure here to start off something (btw, m'sia gov does siginificantly invest in infrastructure... coming soon)
3. There is no bureaucracy (well not much)
4. We have nothing to lose - fail, too bad, just graduate without that extra honors maybe
5. There's a innovation culture here and we should tap into that, there's no company red tape to go against it
6. My mum isn't here to enforce Confucian teachings :wink:

As an aside, are there e-commerce fanatics out there like me? Hope you can look into building something cool (not just an application, but a business) around www.amazon.com/webservices - check it out if you've never heard of it. For others sorry for the shameless promotion :oops:

Back to work...

[masterof_none]

Hi Jinjoo.
I'm now messing around with that kind of stuff.
This link may stimulate your enthusiasm :
http://java.sun.com/webservices/webservicespack.html
I've been thinking of doing something similar....if you're interested, we can do it by discussing the design first,...I think I want to do something like Amazon technology...but less ambitious...maybe for small stuff people want to sell....etc.
Tell me what do you think...and we can design the apps here.(better do it before fall semester start though).