The Sunday Times, 18 June 06

A LIFE LESS ORDINARY, an article about George Tan, published on 18 June 2006.

Beaten, but not broken

Author George Tan has triumphed over a childhood marked by savagery and poverty

Any Singaporeans have probably been on the receiving end of a cane. Singapore author George Tan, 48, is on of them. When he was a child, his father caned him often.

Today, the soft-spoken and neatly-dressed professional sitting in front of me at the Goodwood Park Hotel café is a multi-hyphenate – a “human resource professional, change agent, head-hunter, entrepreneur, writer, publisher, hope-giver, life-long student.”

His life, which he has chronicled in his autobiography Soulprint I – BreakThrough, which was released earlier this year, is the stuff of melodrama.

NYC Times Newsletter, March 2006 issue

The National Youth Council (NYC) is Singapore’s national co-ordinating body for youth affairs. It supports the development of youth and youth organisations through grants, awards, national and international programmes, research and publications, as well as other support services. Author George Tan was featured in March 06 issue of NYC Times, the official newsletter of the National Youth Council.

"Author George Tan was born into a rough neighbourhood. The sixth child in a family of seven, George was often physically abused by his father, who came to Singapore as a collie. His father often gambled away the hard-earned money brought home by his mother, who set up stall as an illegal hawker with his two sisters. George struggled through his school days, and eventually overcame the odds to graduate from university. He later topped his post-graduate diploma and master's classes and ventured into the business world. The 47-year-old however felt that he learnt most of life's lessons when he was a young boy living in a poor neighbourhood in newly-independent Singapore.

Of the 16 soulprints listed in his book Soulprints I: Breakthrough, George shared that the lesson on endurance is the closest to his heart. He recalled on incident at the age of five, when he complained to his mother about his father's unequal treatment of his brothers, especially since he was the only one without a pair of slippers. George recollected:" My mother did not say a word. Then she stood up, went outside and brought in her own pair of slippers to show to me. I was stunned. They were worn out with many holes." He shared that his mother would rather save on buying a new pair so that she could feed the family. George learnt then that his mother had endured many hardships to bring up the family as well as she could. He resolved then to endure whatever hardships that would come his way.

A poignant moment in George's life occurred when he was in Primary Three. A teacher had questioned why George had worn a pair of black socks to school and had refused to believe his explanation that he could only afford one pair of white socks. She subsequently made him walk around the school field without his shoes, and he was thus subjected to humiliation in front of his schoolmates. Looking back, George recounted passionately that his self-worth suffered a tremendous beating that day, when "my dignity, ego and self-confidence were completely shattered". George said the emotioinal wound that was inflicted that day took many years to heal, and that it was only 16 years later, after many small successes in life, that he managed to finally break free from that childhood pain. "No one should ever be made to feel that it is a crime to be poor," he said.

Explaining to NYC Times the reason why he chose to write this book, George observed that there are many young people in Singapore who have not experienced the abhect poverty of the country's early days, with occurrences such as water rationing, racial riots and curfews as everday happenings. "Singaporean youths have to learn to create their own successes; to learn how to overcome the odds no matter what comes their way," he shared. George also noted that the higher the expectations, the higher the fall. He thus advised Singaporean youths to aim for smaller successes and to gradually build up their self-confidence. This strengthening of one's inward resilience would eventually make the difference between success and failure."

INWRITING, 20 February 2006

Kenny Yap is a prominent Singapore entrepreneur who built Qian Hu Corporation into a leading world supplier of ornamental tropical fish. Mr Yap has written a review of Soulprints I – BreakThrough. His review was published in the 20 February issue of Inwriting, which forms part of the Singapore Ministry of Education’s efforts to encourage reading among young people. Click here to read Kenny Yap’s review.

Best sellers!

Soulprints I – BreakThrough and Benjamin Franklin - A bright spark! have made it to the ST Life! Best Sellers list compiled and published by the Life! Section of The Straits Times, Singapore’s largest English language daily newspaper with a circulation of close to 400,000.

BreakThrough was #9 on the non-fiction list in mid-December 2005, #8 at end-December and again #9 in mid-January. The list, published every Thursday, is compiled from book sales figures provided by leading bookstores in Singapore, including MPH, Borders, Kinokuniya, Times the Bookshop and Popular.

On January 19, the Top 10 non-fiction books were:

1. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
2. The Rules of Life by Richard Templar
3. Winning by Jack Welch
4. The 8th Habit by Stephen Covey
5. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
6. Happinesee Now by Andrew Matthews
7. Singapore Urban Legends by The Straits Times Life!
8. Future Think by Edie Weiner and Arnold Brown
9. BreakThrough by George Tan
10. Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

Benjamin Franklin - A bright sprak! was #7 on the non-fiction list in end-January 2006

On January 26, the Top 10 non-fiction books were:

1. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
2. Winning by Jack Welch
3. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
4. The Rules of Life by Richard Templar
5. The 8th Habit by Stephen Covey
6. The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
7. Benjamin Franklin by George Tan
8. Singapore Urban Legends by The Straits Times Life!
9. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
10. FutureThink by Edie Weiner and Arnold Brown

Shin Min Daily News

An article published on 20 Feb 2006.

8 years old – Gambling King
Now – Entrepreneur

He grew up very poor. His family was so poor that his parents could not even afford to buy him a pair of slippers.

Today, he is an entrepreneur managing an international recruitment and headhunting business. He has written and published his two best-selling books – Soulprints I – BreakThrough and Benjamin Franklin – A bright spark!

Lian He Zao Bao

An article published on 31 Jan 06.

Hwa Chong Literary Fund

Hwa Chong has established a Hwa Chong Literary Fund’to promote creativity in literature amongst alumni members. This foundation has been established by Hwa Chong Alumni and Hwa Chong Institution. The fund will be utilised to sponsor literary activities such as writing competitions and the publication of individual articles, poems, books etc.

Hwa Chong Alumni has purchased 100 copies of Soulprints I - BreakThrough, a new book by its alumni, Mr. George Tan, and donated S$2,500 as the initial funding for the ‘Hwa Chong Literary Fund’.

Be inspired by Singaporean author and his subject.

This was the headline of a letter in The Straits Times Forum, published on 27 Janaury 2006.

The letter was written by Prof Steven Miller, Dean, School of Information Systems at the Singapore Management University.

He wrote: “I hope this letter will motivate people to reflect on the remarkable achievements and legacies of franklin… as well as the unique contributions of Singapore’s own George Tan, who is teaching us all how people have the potential to overcome troubled or humble beginnings and achieve significant things in life.”

Bookends Column

Author George Tan was featured in the Bookends column of The Sunday Times, Singapore’s largest circulation English language newspaper, on 27 Nov 2005.

Bookends is a weekly column, in Question & Answer format, that feature personalities about the books they read and the books that are dear to them.

LIVE Radio 93.8 Interviews

George was also twice interviewed on LIVE Radio 93.8, a popular morning radio show, in December 2005 and January 2006.

Franklin Gazette, Volume 15, Number 4, Winter 2005

A good read!

Benjamin Franklin – A bright spark! has been featured as “a good read” in The Gazette, a newsletter published by the US-based Friends of Franklin, Inc.

Tan, George, Benjamin Franklin: A Bright Spark, (BOOKSOUL, 10 Anson Rd.#29-11, International Plaza, Singapore 079903. ISBN - 981-05-4077-9) offers a model for developing personal life skills and analyzes Franklin's achievements light of that model. "Change, creativity, passion, fulfillment, learning and excellence are the principles for lifetime success offered to the readers."