ENTREPRENEURSHIP AMONG MALAY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS IN SINGAPORE: THE ROLE OF ETHNIC RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Abstract

The ‘Malay problem’ appears to describe the socio-economic “backwardness” amongst Singapore’s ethnic Malays. Orienting more Malays to be business-minded thus appears to be one way out of this syndrome. This study examines the process and eco-system of entrepreneurship among the Malay community in Singapore. It looks at how a “business” environment has been fostered by specific interest groups and entrepreneurs themselves, specifically between two groups of social actors – Malay Muslim Organisations (MMOs) involved in business-related programmes, and Malay business owners and operators of small businesses in the service sector. This research introduces the concepts of ethnic opportunity structure and ethnic resource structure to study the entrepreneurship programmes and initiatives of the MMOs and the micro-entrepreneurial process of small Malay business owners in the service sector. This research concludes that MMOs’ initiatives do not play a critical role in the micro-entrepreneurial process of small Malay business owners as they were sufficiently resourced within their personal social network to start up a business venture.