For half-an-hour, Singapore presidential aspirant Dr Tony Tan sat under the spotlight, his glistening white mane emphasizing his 71 years of age and extensive experience in both the private and public sector.
Displaying the calm and measured demeanor of an elder statesman, he took in a barrage of questions from 30 odd entrepreneurs and investors regarding the state of innovation in Singapore. Held at The Pigeonhole Cafe on August 3, the question and answer session is part of a regular SGE event called Chillin’ With — which gathers innovators in a casual setting to connect with one another. The moderators were SGE chief editor Gwendolyn Regina Tan and lead developer Isaac Timothy Tay.
Photo: This is not the first time Dr Tony Tan (left) has engaged entrepreneurs like Gwendolyn (center) and Isaac, co-founder and lead developer of SGE respectively. Read more
Filed under Entrepreneurship & Enterprise, Featured, Funding, News Stop, Venture Capital & Private EquityTags: aileen sim, Butter Factory, Chillin' With, First Meta, gwendolyn tan, isaac tay, MOM, MTI, muvee, NRF TIS, nus business school, presidential election, presidential elections, Singapore Government, singapore president, temasek capital, the pigeonhole cafe, Tony Tan, Wong Poh Kam
The 3rd episode of the Geek Goddess show is out. Do take a look and send us your feedback on the Geek Goddess Show website. This episode centers on virtual worlds in China, with a little mention of the Singapore company, First Meta, and our friend, Bjorn Lee, co-founder of E27. We also have our friend, Daniel Cerventus, across the causeway to share with us what he thinks of the web 2.0 scene in Malaysia and the difference with Singapore. You can also check out my own production notes here. Of course, as usual, my thanks to Podfire for the support, and the hard work put in by the hosts: Estee and Peter and co-producer, Michael. Read more
Filed under Innovation & Technology, MediaTags: Asia, Blinklist, China, Daniel Cerventus Lim, First Meta, HiPiHi, Ideapreneur, Internet, Malaysia, Mind Valley, Novoking, Singapore, Tech, The Geek Goddess Show, UOneNet, Virtual World, Web 2.0


First Meta will continue to provide a full suite of financial services to the virtual world. 28 January 2008. First Meta(TM) will continue to offer both its MetaCard(TM) and MetaSavings(TM) products to customers in Second Life®. Effective today, we will make two changes to our MetaSavings(TM) accounts following our discussions with Linden Lab® regarding their new policy on in-world “banksâ€. Read more


Press release – First Meta CEO comments on Linden Lab’s New Policy Regarding In-World “Banks”. You have heard about Second Life’s new policy regarding in-world “banks” on their website. From their site, .. As of January 22, 2008, it will be prohibited to offer interest or any direct return on an investment (whether in L$ or other currency) from any object, such as an ATM, located in Second Life, without proof of an applicable government registration statement or financial institution charter. As a result, First Meta, one of our local start-ups are affected, they have issued a press release to comment on Linden Lab’s new policy. Read more

After winning the Red Herring Asia 100 Award a few months ago, local startup First Meta has just been name a Global Awards 2007 finalist. Congratulations to Douglas and Aileen! Read more

Overhyped or not, virtual worlds are growing in numbers, as are their users. Whether it turns out to be a fad or not remains to be seen, but here Gwen speaks to the lady behind First Meta, a startup offering you financial services in virtual worlds. First Meta has been featured on international sites and news like TechCrunch, WIRED, BBC, BusinessWeek, London Times Online etc. Also, it was was one of four Singapore companies to win a Red Herring 100 Asia award this year! Aileen gives us her story. Read more

Congratulations to First Meta, another of our Singaporean based company made it to the TechCrunch with the news, “MetaCard: The World’s First Virtual World Credit Card”. Of course, we look forward to hear more Singapore based web companies. For those who are into 2nd Life, you can check out this virtual world credit card for possible purchase. So far, Velvet Puffin and SharedCopy are the known Singaporean web 2.0 companies who have made it to the roll of honour as well.