The Business Times, Singapore, Sept 13, 2004
By CHEN HUIFEN
IMAGINE you are 45 years old. You have just ended a 20-year career with a major bank, where you've enjoyed the perks of the high life and foreign postings. New job offers are flowing in. Would you have opted to return to a familiar corporate setting in Singapore, or a riskier path of entrepreneurship - in a third-world country?
At such a fork in the road two years ago, Mohan Coomaraswamy chose the path less travelled.
'I saw the (banking) industry changing,' he told BT recently. 'I didn't see it as the driver of the economy like during the 1980s and 1970s. And so, I think it was just an opportune time to look at what I want to do the next 20 years. At 45, it was easier to make a change.... Can you imagine making changes at 55?'
And thus, not only did Mr Coomaraswamy take a shot at self-employment, he chose to start his maiden venture in the difficult market of Vietnam and in a sector he had no prior experience in - education.
'Vietnam, mainly because that was a country where I had spent extended periods of time,' he said. 'My learning curve is less steep in being self-employed in Vietnam because I've worked there before.
'And this is an intangible. For example, there are regulations that are sometimes enforced and sometimes not. And you need to be able to gauge which are those. And that only comes with having lived and worked there.'
On the choice of business, he said it was largely because it was a sector encouraged by the Vietnam government and 'a lot of the skills I had could be transferred to education'.
Mr Coomaraswamy's last taste of the corporate life was as the country manager for Bank of America's Vietnam operations. He had previously worked for the bank in Singapore and in Los Angeles, where he supervised the credit department for its Asian multinational business in North America.
Early last year, he set up Cetana Vietnam Company in Ho Chi Minh City with $1 million as initial capital. The company has sealed a partnership with PSB Corp to start the Cetana PSB International College. The school, which started its certificate and diploma courses last month, now has about 100 students enrolled in business administration, human resources, hospitality, tourism, and English proficiency programmes.
Being in full control is probably the best part about being an entrepreneur to Mr Coomaraswamy. 'It's entirely your baby, and it's in your hands to make it work or not.'
And while Vietnam is criticised for its endless red-tape and unclear laws, Mr Coomaraswamy has only kind words for it.
'The bureaucracy is bad but half the frustration is not understanding the language, as you might find in China or places where English is not the first language,' he said. And even then, he said he survives with just knowing how to count and about 30 words in Vietnamese!
