Legacy or Currency?

by MOK WEI-MING PERRY (Singapore)

We began this course with great expectations, expectations to learn the ropes and walk this treacherous path of entrepreneurship. Technological Entrepreneurship has become more than a module for me. It has allowed me to begin this journey as an inspired entrepreneur. Why do we try? Are we sadists trying to torment ourselves in the quest to stroke our egos? If so, this journey has certainly been a humbling one for me. Do we simply “love” this experience of being a salesman trying to convince the world to believe in your “baby”? I am sure there are easier paths to walk in life. I want to touch upon the most valuable nugget of wisdom that I have gathered during these 13 weeks; and that is if given a choice, would I choose a legacy or currency?

The rigidity of the education system which all of us find ourselves in has “programmed” us as future employees of the corporate world, soldier ants who will hopefully generate lots of revenue for the organizations that we join. Cooped up in our respective cubicles, we are expected to work tirelessly in exchange for remuneration which we will always complain to be insufficient. I’m sure one day, as we are promoted to more senior levels of the corporate ladder, the money and stability will indeed make us comfortable, too comfortable to set out on our own in bid to venture into entrepreneurship. I term this choice currency.

What I really want to drive home (forgive the pun with respect to our project) to the readers today is this… what will your legacy look like? How will you be remembered? Please don’t get me wrong, I believe there are many avenues in which you can pass down life’s lessons and everyone should be given the right to chart his/ her own course in life. Starting your own business and being an entrepreneur will not be easy. It will take up your life and you will definitely have to make sacrifices, some of which you may regret in the future. It will consume your every waking moment as you brain-storm for ideas over all aspects of business from new product development to trying to cut costs and you will be vexed, tired and short of friends even. In exchange, I strongly believe that your efforts will not be in vain; you will be forming a legacy, your very own legacy. Billy Graham shared that “The legacy in which we leave is not just in our possessions, but in the quality of our lives.” This couldn’t be more true. I firmly believe that there should be no excuses that we are not doing what we love in this time and age. If you love what you do, you will not be working a day of your life, something which many of us deem as an ideal but unattainable. Do we not try just because it is difficult?

Let me end this last journal with an encouragement to all my peers and friends whom I have had the privilege to share these 13 weeks with. Let’s choose legacy over currency. It will never be as cushy as what an MNC can give you but, it promises to be one hell of a ride. It is not the numbers of years in your life that is important but the life in your years that really make the difference. Lastly, I’d like to thank all of you for teaching me so much this semester, from Prof Lim to every single one of you. I have indeed benefitted much.