Detail

Veteran street performer Huang Xunxi, 64, has spent nearly two decades entertaining audiences with juggling and balancing acts, and his son Huang Liangjun, whose efforts on social media recently helped bring his father's work to a much wider audience. A video produced by Liangjun, in which he shared his father's story while capturing his performances, quickly surpassed 100,000 views online. The project grew out of Liangjun's desire to help his father secure more performance opportunities after the family's income was severely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, when both his father's street performances and tour-guide work, as well as his mother's guiding career, came to a halt. To support the family, his mother turned her baking hobby into a small online business. After the family's situation improved, Liangjun, an alumnus of SP's School of Business with a specialisation in entrepreneurship, took over the baking business and applied the marketing and storytelling skills he learned in school to promote both the business and his father's performances through social media. Although the viral video has not yet translated into a large number of bookings, it has increased public awareness, and Liangjun hopes to continue growing his father's online presence so that he can rely less on physically demanding street performances and secure more event-based engagements. Separately, sisters Lin Enqi and Lin Enxin have also taken on the management of their family's household goods store while continuing their studies, drawing on entrepreneurial experience they gained from selling products at stalls as teenagers. Their parents encouraged them to try running the business, viewing any setbacks as valuable learning experiences. Through overseeing daily operations, marketing and customer service, the sisters have developed a deeper appreciation of the sacrifices their parents made as business owners. Enqi is studying Business Administration at the NUS, while Enxin is in her final year of the Diploma in Integrated Events and Project Management at SP and currently on internship. Balancing studies, work and business responsibilities has taught them the demands of entrepreneurship, while their younger siblings are also being introduced to business through small ventures in the family store.

[Lianhe Zaobao]