Singapore industry to honor top factories, stores
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 13, 2003
Singapore — International Furniture Fair organizers here have announced finalists in the inaugural Singapore Furniture Industry Awards competition. Winners will be named at the fair in March 2004.
The competition is designed to honor "outstanding individuals and enterprises who have made significant contributions to the furniture industry in Singapore," according to the Shermaine Tan, executive director of the Singapore Furniture Inds. Council, the show's organizer and Singapore's primary furniture trade association.
The awards are supported by International Enterprise Singapore and the Standards, Productivity & Innovation Board. The competition is part of the Furniture Industry Capability Upgrading Program launched by SFIC in February.
Finalists include, for the Furniture Manufacturer Award: HTL International, Design Studio Furniture Manufacturer and Koda. For the Furniture Retailer Award, the three finalists, all in Asia, are Novena Holdings, Supreme Furnishing Centre and Air Division.
For the Young Designer Award, winners were announced at the March fair this year. They were Goh Ray Vees in the Young Designers category and Han Kiang Siew in the Students category.
Finalists for four additional award categories will be announced later this year.
The Furniture Industry Capability Upgrading Program is an industry response to the challenges it faces. With ICAP, the SFIC aims to "facilitate the transformation of the furniture industry and assist local businesses and exporters (to) stay relevant in an increasingly competitive world," according to Tan. "These objectives are in line with SFIC's ultimate aim of positioning Singapore as a vibrant and dynamic global furniture and design hub."
To become a finalist, entrants had to survive a first round of written submissions and a second round of interviews. Judging was based on rankings in overall performance, leadership qualities, management philosophy and financial growth of the company.
A total of 258 submissions were received in the five award categories.
"In the face of increasing global and regional competition, we recognize there are outstanding individuals and companies who have performed exceedingly well and, in the process, made very significant contributions to the furniture industry and (to) the economy of Singapore, " said James Koh, president of the SFIC and of Koda Woodcraft. "The high degree of interest in this contest is a clear indication of the desire of award recognition in this industry."
