It was 7:30am on a Saturday. Most of Singapore’s secondary school students would have been comfortably sleeping in their beds. However, our young trailblazers were not average secondary school students that day. 51 Scotts Road was stirring – some of our finalists were already doing their final rehearsals at Prudential @ Scotts. 

24^th August 2019 was a remarkable, extraordinary day. Our finalists gave their best pitches to our panel of established judges as the audience were absorbed in the superb performances.  

Prudential Young Traiblazers 2019 Finalists:

•	Healthbear from Broadrick Secondary School
•	Lepark Corner from Broadrick Secondary School
•	Jalan-Jalan from Cedar Girls Secondary School
•	XJX from Dunman High School
•	Team Humility from Evergreen Secondary School
•	WhyNotYou from Mayflower Secondary School
•	PL-ace from Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary)
•	Pasithea from Naval Base Secondary School
•	Better Than Plastics from Temasek Secondary School
•	We Care from Temasek Secondary School
•	NATA from Temasek Secondary School
•	Sugar-Away from Victoria School

Here are the highlights from the event:

The Final Rehearsals: it all boils down to this 

Many of our finalists were visibly nervous – who could blame them? For most of them, it would be their first time doing a real business pitch. On stage, they would be facing a panel of judges with incredible entrepreneurship portfolios as well as the other participants who have journeyed with them for 3 months. We could feel the tension as the teams spread out over the venue to find spaces to practice, with their teachers and industry mentors at hand! 

Storyboard Gallery: journeying with our participants

Shortlisted storyboards from our teams were put up on a feature wall. Each poster contained a carefully thought out business plan. The contents told stories of societal pains that they wanted to soothe, and how they went about researching, innovating, projecting profits, and ultimately come up with a one-of-a-kind solution for the peoples. 

The Business Pitches: how our finalists kept us on the edge of our seats

No one was prepared for some of the outstanding performances our finalists put up. There were dynamic performances as presenters staged different styles of their performances. A team entered from the backdoor while narrating stories that stirred our hearts and interests. Another created a working prototype to demonstrate the effectiveness of their solution. The art of persuasion was at hand and boy did our participants show off their craft! 

Our Judges: going beyond their roles

Everyone could tell that our judges were present. We don’t mean physically present, but mentally and emotionally present. They treated each team with high regard and gave incredible insight and advice on what each team did well and could have done better. To the audience, it felt like we were eavesdropping on consultations between established coaches and an aspiring team of entrepreneurs. It was delightful to see the expressions on their faces: wonder, deliberative, quizzical… The organisers and participants of Prudential Young Trailblazers have indeed been graced by top-tier wisdom and guidance! 

The Prize Presentations: Surprises and delight!

The people in the entire event hall collectively held their breath. The judges had finally emerged from an intensive discussion in Prudential@Scotts’ Gandhi Room and had just returned to their seats. The winners were about to be announced. While every team performed exceptionally well and deserved the highest praise, we wanted to honour the teams who displayed the strongest entrepreneurial spirit and skill that was beyond and above. 

Gasps could be heard when XJX from Dunman High School snagged not one, not two, but three out of five awards! Indeed, their quality of work and innovative minds stood out above the rest! We Care from Temasek Secondary School was deservingly awarded Best Business Pitch while WhyNotYou from Mayflower Secondary School snagged Best Storyboard!

Overall Winner: XJX From Dunman High School

Best Innovation: XJX from Dunman High School

Best Business Plan: Better Than Plastic from Temasek Secondary School

Best Business Pitch: We Care From Temasek Secondary School

Best Storyboard: ‘WhyNotYou’ from Mayflower Secondary School

As this year’s Prudential Young Trailblazers comes to a close, we would like to honour every single one who contributed to this immense competition. Indeed, without the support of our judges, industry mentors, team mentors, helpers and partnership with Prudential Asia, this competition would not have achieved its success. Thank you for making our vision come true: to create an entrepreneurial dare in our youth by bringing them into real, industrial conditions.