Camera flashes, formal wear, and the buzz of entrepreneurs meeting one another for the first time set the tone for the evening. This was the scene at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, on 21 August 2026, as Spirit of Enterprise (SOE) welcomed this year’s Award Honourees and student winners for the SOE Awards 2026 Honourees Briefing.
The event marked a shift from previous years. Last year’s Night of Inspiration and Celebration recap covered both the Honourees Briefing and a behind-the-scenes food tasting session in one update. This year’s briefing stood as its own occasion, giving Honourees and student winners space to focus purely on preparation, connection and celebration ahead of the SOE Awards Ceremony & Gala.
An evening built around preparation
Guests were asked to arrive from 6:30pm dressed in formal wear, the dress code set specifically for the evening’s portrait photo shoot. Each Honouree and student winner queued to have their portrait taken, with SOE planning to project these photos onscreen during the Awards Ceremony in November. It was a small but meaningful touch, turning a briefing session into the first moment of recognition for many of this year’s honourees.
The Awards Committee began the formal briefing shortly after 7pm, and the session ran for about an hour before photography resumed and guests were invited to mingle over food and drinks, including a separate selection of Halal canapes.
Ms Novie Djayayanti Tjoa welcomes this year’s honourees
SOE President Ms Novie Djayayanti Tjoa opened the evening with a short welcome, giving Honourees a summary introduction to SOE, its programmes and the beneficiaries these programmes support. She then walked the room through some of the milestones from SOE’s 23-year journey, tracing how the organisation’s award categories have grown alongside Singapore’s entrepreneurship landscape.
- 2017 – Neo Group Limited came on board as SOE’s Growth Partner and Award Sponsor, and the SOE-Neo Start-up Award launched with six honourees that year
- 2019 – The SOE-Dian Xiao Er Social Contributions Award was introduced alongside Dian Xiao Er Group, SOE’s Corporate Social Responsibility Partner, the same year SOE celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Fundraising Golf Challenge
- 2022 – The Sustainability Award made its debut at the SOE Awards, supported that year by Evorich Holdings
- 2023 – SOE marked its 20th anniversary
- 2024 – The SOE Top Start-up Honouree of the Year Award was introduced
- 2025 – The SOE Micro-business Award was introduced, widening recognition to Singapore’s smallest enterprises
Each new category has expanded on the same foundation as the original Spirit of Enterprise Award, which continues to recognise entrepreneurs whose courage, perseverance and innovation reflect the values SOE was founded on back in 2003.
Mr Sivanessan S/O Kitnasamy grounds honourees in what gala night looks like
Following Ms Novie’s welcome, Mr Sivanessan, SOE Vice-President and Awards & Events Chairman, took the floor with a similarly warm introduction to SOE’s mission, programmes and beneficiaries, before turning to something more practical: a simplified rundown of what the actual Awards Ceremony & Gala in November would look like. Honourees left with a clearer sense of their reporting times and what to expect on the day itself, helping to ease some of the nerves that come with stepping onto a gala stage for the first time.
Mr Alan Koh brings the room together with storytelling
The evening’s tone shifted again when Alan, SOE’s Book, PR & Media Outreach Chairman, took the floor, choosing a storytelling approach over a straightforward briefing. He began with something personal, his love of comic books, before weaving the story through family, then SOE, and back to books again. The laughter helped ease the formality of the evening, setting the stage for the segment that followed.
From there, Alan introduced the SOE Book, an annual publication that showcases the journeys of Award Honourees, offering readers practical advice and case studies drawn from real entrepreneurial experience. Copies are distributed to schools, public libraries and SOE events, extending the reach of these stories well beyond the ballroom and into classrooms across Singapore.
Student entrepreneurs join the conversation
Beyond the Award Honourees, this year’s briefing also welcomed student winners, who travelled down for the photo shoot and had the chance to mingle with entrepreneurs during the networking segment. For many of these students, conversations struck up over canapes may carry more weight than any classroom lesson, a reminder of why SOE continues to invest in bringing young Singaporeans into direct contact with the entrepreneurs shaping the local business landscape.
Looking ahead to gala night
With the Honourees Briefing behind them, this year’s Award Honourees and student winners now turn their attention to November, when the SOE Awards Ceremony & Gala will bring their stories to the stage. The briefing may be a quieter moment compared to the gala itself, but it sets the tone for what SOE hopes every Honouree carries forward: a sense of community, recognition and shared purpose.
If you would like to be part of that community, whether by getting involved behind the scenes or supporting the next generation of Singapore entrepreneurs, you can find out more about how to volunteer with SOE.
AUTHOR BIO
ALAN KOH
Alan Koh is the Founder and CEO of Impossible Marketing, a group of companies renowned for hyperlocal marketing strategies tailored to businesses in Singapore. His professional journey began in the banking sector, where he quickly rose through the ranks, garnering eight industry awards in just four years.
Follow us for more tips & insights
Join our email list for exclusive updates