Corporate Profile - English Version

Beijing Qingdao Shanghai Guangzhou Shenzhen

Shenyang Korea Philippines Vietnam

Penang USA

Kuala Lumpur Johor Bahru

SINGAPORE

Local Childcare Centres Enrichment Centres Overseas International Kindergartens Student Care Centres Tuition Centres Edutainment College & Training Centres Children Products & Merchandise

Indonesia

CORPORATE PROFILE

Harbin Qiqihar Tianjin

新源教育投资控股

Experience does not come from continuous success. It’s through failure, hardship and the decision of not surrendering that resulted in experience and true success.

新源教育投资控股

Contents Introduction History Strategic Directions Corporate Identity Our Human Resources Our Premises Revenue Models Local Childcare Enrichment Arm Overseas International Kindergartens Tuition Centres Other Business Units Awards & Accolades Corporate Social Responsibility

1 2 2 3 3 14 15 16 22 25 35 37 40 45

Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.

- Neil Postman

新 源 教育 投 资 控 股

Childhood education is like a print on wet cement —it stays for life.

- Dr Sam Yap

Introduction Htwo Education Holdings Pte Ltd (“Htwo Holdings”) is a Singapore based, home-grown investment company, whose focus is on the construction and acquisition of various educational businesses and concerns, with an objective and design, to cultivate a holistic upbringing in the interest of children, both in Singapore and the Region.

Armed with a strong investment fund and a team, comprising of competent and professional individuals, Htwo Holdings has flourished, from being a provider of local infant & child care centres, enrichment programmes, training centres, overseas international kindergartens, to one that has grown and branched into student care centres, tuition centres, overseas infant & child care centres and International Schools. One of Htwo Holdings’ strategic directive and goals is the eventual acquirement of student hostels, a tertiary academy and international schools; through its constant effort, in the development and fostering of the growth, progression and evolvement of edutainment, alongside other educational products

and services.

Htwo Holdings is set to live out its vision, through the furnishing and provision of holistically designed curriculums and facilities; currently designed and successfully catering to children age 2 months to 16 years. In planning and designing the various programmes and services, allowance will be made for services to complement and enhance each other. Htwo Holdings’ objective is to present children with a platform; that yields positive development in Singapore and in the Region, to receive quality one-stop programmes and services that would enrich their entire childhood. After all, children within this age group, possessing the innate ability to pick things up quickly, are adept at absorbing multiple knowledge and skills. These in turn, develop into character and personality traits that children relate to, as they go on to apply these throughout the various stages of their life into adulthood.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

1

History of Founders & Team The founders of Htwo Holdings are the founders and former owners of Cherie Hearts Group (Singapore). They divested their local childcare operations in FY2010 and left behind a legacy built over 12 years. Over this stretch of 12 years, the founders and their team set-up some 70 local Cherie Hearts centres. Over this span of 12 years, they have bagged over more than 25 national and overseas awards, accolades and accreditations. They currently, continue to retain their overseas operations, enrichment arm and training centres at present, together with other subsidiaries that continue to specialize in both the infant and child-care areas, locally and regionally. The founders continuously diversify their business interests by providing an array of services to children in supporting their life-long learning.

In FY2010, a book was published by a National University of Singapore (NUS) Professor on the success story of Cherie Hearts.

Similarly in the same year, Cherie Hearts was recorded in the “Singapore Book of Records” for being the largest private childcare chain in Singapore.

Strategic Directions Vision

Asia’s Number One Holistic Educators and Affiliate Services.

Mission

Make provisions for a diverse range of Quality Academic Commodities and Facilities, to promote life-long learning in Singapore and the Region, armed with a strong investment fund and professional manpower support.

Core Values • • • • •

Children our Priority Recruit Attitude, Train Competencies Creative & Innovative Programmes & Services Investors & Customers at Heart Accountability & Results

5 Pillars of Focus

• Programmes & Services Development Working systems to ensure for the provisions that meet the highest quality and standards. Programmes and Services must undergo constant Research and Development, enabling the adoption of latest trends, as they evolve to incorporate world class standards and practices. This allows for effective duplication and expansion of our working models into the Region.

• Human Resource Development People are our greatest assets. Through the recruitment of people possessing the correct attitude, it enables

2

us to conduct accurate ‘gap analysis’ so as to identify and close competency gaps through training and learning programmes. People need to know their career progression plans, training plans and be tested on various job competencies so as to maximise people potential, improve people productivity and promote people long term performance, as the business grows and requires people adaptation.

• Investors Fund Development Investors provide us with the avenue to uniquely earmark for both the acquirement of new ventures and expansion of our current concerns. We provide investors with transparent and timely updates of our expansion status and details.

• Expansion Plan Development Through proper manpower support and strategic financial planning, we will continue to expand into and acquire all categories of educational products and services over the next 3 to 5 years..

• System Development As we continue to develop and improve a myriad of systems to control work quality, business development, manpower development and other business related activities, so as to sustain the Group’s growth and adaptability model at every level.

Htwo Education Holdings

Corporate Identity Our Logo

“Htwo” represents Water. This symbolizes the flow and circulation of knowledge that leads to higher wisdom. Just as water takes on the form in which it is held, and flows naturally without resistance; Htwo Holdings objective is to spread the Standards of Excellence that make up Singapore’s Educational System into the region.

新源教育投资控股

“Htwo Education Holdings” reflect the ability of the group to procure funds, so as to earmark for the growth of its current concerns, new acquisitions and diversification into a myriad of world class educational products and services.

Gold represents completeness, excellence and prosperity.

Our Human Resources Management

Our entire company is headed by the Board of Directors, Group Executive Chairman and Group President. It is also supported

by Advisors, with various appointed Presidents, each heading a Business or Support Unit:

Board of Directors

Audit Committee

Group Executive Chairman

Group President

Advisors

Presidents (Business Units)

Presidents (Support Units)

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

CFO

3

Dr. Sam Yap is the Group Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Htwo Education Holdings. At 40 years of age, he was one of the youngest Singapore’s Deputy Registrars of Marriages (Solemniser) with the Registry of Marriages, Singapore. He holds a BSc (Hon.) in Economics. Prior to starting Htwo Holdings and Cherie Hearts, Dr. Yap worked for over ten years in both the public, as well as private sectors such as the Police Force, SBS and SMRT. During this period, he built up a great wealth of experience in areas of management and operations, incorporated with the highest standards of integrity, morality and respect for the system. His passion and love for children eventually saw him realising his dream of setting up his own business which actualised in the founding of Cherie Hearts and Htwo Education Holdings.

Dr Sam Yap

Group Executive Chairman Board of Directors

With his dynamic sense of leadership and his vision, Dr. Yap managed to bring Cherie Hearts to be a key player in Singapore’s childcare industry. From just a humble single centre in 2001, Dr. Yap built up the Cherie Hearts’ brand name, expanding the business island-wide. Dr. Yap was also the driving force behind building Cherie Hearts into an award-winning childcare organization. Over the years, Cherie Hearts has been the proud recipient of several quality awards – Singapore Promising Brand Award (2005 to 2009), Singapore Promising Franchisor Award, Work-Life Excellence Award (2006, 2008 and 2010), Singapore Prestige Brand Award (Established) (2007 to 2009), and Singapore Prestige Brand Award (CitiBusiness Regional Brand) in 2008.

Business-wise, Dr. Yap has built and designed a unique and excellent franchise model, which has played a crucial role in the rapid expansion of the business. For his acute business acumen and his able leadership, Dr. Yap was conferred Doctorate (PhD in Entrepreneurship) by Wisconsin International University (WIU), United States of America (USA) in 2007. He is the youngest ever recipient of this honour from WIU, which has also conferred similar PhDs to well-known figures like Bill Gates.

Dr. Yap was the Champion of the Shell Livewire Young Business Start-up Award 2005, jointly organized by Shell, SPH and ITE and was one of two finalists for the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2006 (Emergent Category). He was also one of the Top Entrepreneurs for the prestigious Annual ASME (Association of Small & Medium Enterprise)-Rotary Club Entrepreneur of The Year Award 2007. Dr. Yap led his companies to win the top honours in the Professional Enterprise Award 2007 (Regional Award) and Significance in Corporate Vision Award. In 2009, the Group was conferred the ASEAN Business Award 2008, as the Most Admired ASEAN Enterprise in the SME category, under Dr. Yap’s strong leadership and keen guidance.

Dr. Yap is a member of the Singapore Young Business Group headed by Minister of State Mr. Teo Ser Luck. As a Young Business Leader, Dr. Yap meets with the team regularly, and also exhibits keen involvement in YBL’s events and initiatives such as “Beat the Recession”.

In due recognition of Dr. Sam Yap’s potential as well as involvement and contributions to the YBL, he was officially invited by Mr. Teo Ser Luck, who is also Mayor of Northeast Community Development Council (CDC), to be the Deputy Chairman of the Northeast CDC. Dr. Yap is also a member of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (SME Committee). In November 2008, Dr. Yap received the very prestigious invitation to be a Presidential International Visiting Scholar of Wheelock College, Boston, USA. As a strong advocate for the youth, he is also the Vice Chairman of “Long Tien Pugilistic Association of Singapore”, who were Champions in the 14th Ngee Ann City Lion Dance Competition for the last 3 years.

More recently in June 2014, Dr Yap was invited to be one of the speakers at the “Tianjin Eco-City: A Gateway to North China Market” in China. The recognition given to Dr Yap reflects his capability and leadership in the business world.

4

Htwo Education Holdings

Dr. Gurchran Jit Singh is the Group President and co-founder of Htwo Holdings. His passion and zeal for children saw him leaving the civil service, in which he served for nearly ten years, to start the Cherie Hearts Group. Having played a vital role with regards to operational matters while in the civil service, Dr. Singh played an imperative role in overseeing the entire operations of Htwo Holdings, including day-to-day operations; parent involvement initiatives and implementation of various programmes for the children, amongst other matters.

With fine interpersonal skills, Dr. Singh is an able and motivational leader, who leads his team with much panache. Leading from the ground up, Dr. Singh’s approachable demeanor ensures an open working relationship between management and staff, creating an open and trusting working environment that has proven to motivate staff to achieve greater heights. His view on the importance of work-life balance has seen him spearheading many staff welfare initiatives and benefits. This has resulted in a unified and satisfied workforce with an extremely low staff turnover rate. Our emphasis and active stance in ensuring balance between work-life and family commitments, has led to the organization being the recipient of the Singapore Family Friendly Employer Award 2004 and the Work-Life Excellence Award 2006, 2008 and 2010. Dr. Singh received the inaugural Work-Life Leadership Award 2008 awarded by the Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy (TriCom). This prestigious national award honours individuals who have demonstrated commitment and made significant contribution to developing and implementing innovative Work-Life solutions in their own workplaces.

Dr Gurchran Singh Group President Board of Directors

Dr. Singh is also credited for spearheading various initiatives that have allowed parents to get directly involved in the centre operations such as the Parents’ Committees, Meet-theParents Sessions (termly), Visits by Directors and performing at the Annual Teacher’s Day events by various organisations. His initiatives were also the reason that many parents ended up investing into the Group’s franchise model and setting up their own centres.

Again, this highlighted the close links that Dr. Singh has with the customers, prompting the Ministry to recognize his efforts as excellent in the area of “Parental Involvement” in running of child care centres.

Having won the inaugural Work-Life Leadership Award 2008, Dr. Singh continued to make significant contribution to many organizations via his participation in sharing sessions, workshops and forums, through which he contributed his vision, philosophy and implementation of Work-Life practices in the Company. Dr. Singh sat on the panel of judges for the Biennial Work-Life Leadership Award 2010, which he had won in the year 2008. The Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy had selected Dr. Singh to take on this very prestigious role, as his perspective and experience as a Work-Life Champion for Cherie Hearts proved to be truly valuable to the panel, in assessing the leadership qualities of potential Work-Life Leadership Award recipients. Dr. Gurchran Jit Singh was invited by the Chairman of the Employer Alliance (EA), Ms. Claire Chiang, to be inducted into the ExCo (Executive Committee), which included prominent leaders such as Ms. Teresa Lim, Managing Director of IBM Singapore and Mr. Liak Teng Lit, the former Chief Executive Officer of Alexandra Hospital. Of late, Dr. Singh has been interviewed by several magazines such as HRM and Human Resources, to contribute his thoughts on managing Work-Life Balance. Dr. Singh recently sat in a forum at the invitation of Employer Alliance, to have an open discussion with the leaders of Scandinavian countries who were visiting Singapore, so as to conduct studies on various work-life practices.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

5

Mr. James Lee, a veteran in China, armed with more than 28 years of experience, half of which in Singapore and the other half in China, has built up extensive networks and resources in the corporate world and investment communities both in Singapore and China. With his connections, he has also assisted many Chinese companies in their fund raising exercises and served as Advisor to many of them. James is currently the Managing Director of Sinolion Capital Group Pte. Ltd., a Boutique Investment and Consultancy Company that focuses on direct investments and properties investments in China. Previously, James was an Investment Consultant (China) to the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and China Chief Representative of Singapore Economic Development Board which is based in Beijing. He assisted Chinese companies to internationalise their businesses through their Singapore establishments. He was the Vice President and General Manager of Vertex Investment Venture and was ranked the 3rd top investment Vice Chairman for that year.

Mr James Lee Puay Khng Board of Director

From 1994 to 2000, James was with the Motorola Joint Venture Strategy in Beijing. He was ranked as one of the top 10 most active Vice Chairmen in China. He was also with the Singapore Telecoms and became Country Director (China). James graduated from the then University of Singapore, with a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering.

Mr. Jaspal Singh is an all-rounder; having excelled both in Academics and in Sports. A perfectionist by nature; with disposition and exemplary conduct.

Starting in his teens as a Partner in Victor Sports (Singapore) and a Director in J. J. Chain Marketing Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia), today Mr. Jaspal holds a diverse portfolio of ventures under his name. Mr. Jaspal’s entrepreneurial skills are recognized all over the world; from Asia to America to Europe; with his most recent venture being in South Africa. Having represented Singapore at the Combined Schools in Athletics, at the National Level, Mr. Jaspal was most fondly known as ‘The Flying Singh’ by his peers at his ‘running meets’. An excellent orator having served as Distinguished President of the LDDS, Mr. Jaspal also represented Saint Joseph’s Institution in National Level Debates. Having served his National Service with pride and honor in the Special Constabulary for twelve years, receiving the ‘Sharp Shooter’ Award, Mr. Jaspal was in the first batch of trainees to be promoted to the rank of Inspector.

Mr Jaspal Singh

Director Deputy Group President CEO (Uptrend College)

A pioneer in the sporting industry, both in Singapore and Malaysia, his companies were one of the first to bring in branded sports apparel and gear into this region more than 45 years ago. With vast business experiences, his companies also host for a chain of retail outlets in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Mr. Jaspal have experience in a diverse range of business interests that range from restaurants, billiard saloons, gold trade, money exchange and remittance, detailing in scrap metal, commodities trading, pharmaceuticals and child care & education, to name a few. Currently sitting as a Director on the Boards of various companies, Mr. Jaspal engages in mediation in Singapore, Asia, UK and the US specialising in behavioral & social sciences and international law.

Recognized in the community as one of strong faith and high virtue, Mr. Jaspal currently sits as a representative for the minority Sikh Community in Religious Organizations in the IRCC (Inter-Religious Confidence Circle). As Chairman of the MCST of the Association Building at No. 9, Lor. 29 Geylang, Mr. Jaspal is currently serving his 8th year as the President of a Sikh temple; Gurdwara Pardesi Khalsa Dharmak Diwan, and is also a Member of SIWEC (Sikh Welfare Council). He is also an active member of the Central Sikh Gurdwara Board.

Mr. Jaspal maintains, “This is my way of giving back to society and playing a part in maintaining multi-racial harmony amongst the various religions and racial population of Singapore”. Mr. Jaspal continues to serve as an inspiration to many with his notable personality, gentle nature and humble personage.

6

Htwo Education Holdings

Mr. Gan Chin Huat is a veteran educator, having served more than 28 years in the public and private education sectors in Singapore. He is the Founder and Managing Director of Olive Education Consultancy and the Founding President of the Association for Cultural and Educational Exchange as well as a Life Associate Member of the Singapore Academy of Principals. He concurrently serves as Senior Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Touchstone Education Holdings and Director/Principal of Touchstone International Institute, Singapore. He is also Advisor to Uptrend College and Coleman College as well as FZL Investment Consultancy in Singapore, and IBOBI Family Interactive Centre in Shenzhen, China. He chairs the Board of Advisors of Htwo Education Holdings, Singapore and sits on the Editorial Committee of EDUCARE, an international journal of the National University of Costa Rica. He is also Associate Trainer at the Singapore Civil Service.

Mr Gan graduated with a Master of Education from Harvard University, USA under the Singapore MOE Post-Graduate Scholarship. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree and an Honors Degree in Economics from the National University of Singapore and a Diploma-inEducation from the Institute of Education. He had held various positions in the Singapore MOE, including School Principal, Cluster Superintendent and Deputy Director of Schools, overseeing more than 90 schools in Singapore, including the Singapore International School in Hong Kong. He attended the Executive Global Public Policy Program in Peking University, PRC conducted jointly by Columbia University, London School of Economics, France’s Sciences Po and Peking University. He also attended the Senior Management Programme at the Singapore Civil Service College. He also represented MOE on the Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council. In MOE, he oversaw the Professional Development of School Leaders, Schools Division Strategic Planning, and was involved in major Review Committees in Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment, Innovation and Enterprise, Niche Schools and Centers of Excellence.

Mr Gan Chin Huat

Chairman Advisory Board Htwo Education Holdings

After leaving MOE, Mr Gan joined Raffles Education Corporation as Director, Special Projects, helping it to set up the Raffles University Iskandar and Raffles American School in Johor, Malaysia. He was concurrently the Vice-President of the University and Director of the American School. He had also served as Senior Principal Specialist for Educare International Consultancy, a subsidiary of the Singapore Teacher’s Union and trained school leaders and teachers in the Republic of Tatarstan, Federation of Russia. He was also a Consultant to Virtu Design Institute, an Australian-based online provider of design education, serving as its Vice-President and Provost. He had also been the Chairman of the Academic Board and Deputy CEO of IDY Academy, and had provided consultancy to the National University of Singapore Enterprise and Sin-Zhong Global Holdings. Besides providing training to Senior Officers from various provinces in China, Mr Gan has also been invited to conduct training for senior officers of the MOE of United Arab Emirates, Public Service Institute of Brunei, Surabaya Education Department, Indonesia, the National University of Costa Rica and the Moscow Metropolitan Governance University in the Federation of Russia.

Mr Gan had served as a Council Member of the National Police Cadet Corps and sat on the Boards of Governors of the Singapore Sports School and Temasek Polytechnic. He had also been involved in various grassroots organizations including Community Development Council, Citizens’ Consultative Committee, Community Club Management Committee and Residents’ Committee. He had been an Adjunct Faculty with the National Community Leadership Institute and a Member of the Panel of Advisors, People’s Association Central Youth Council.

For his contributions to the education service and the community, Mr Gan was conferred the Commendation Medal (PK), Public Administration Medal (Silver) (PPA[P]) and Public Service Medal (PBM) by His Excellency, the President of Singapore.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

7

Ms. Wenda Ng graduated with a Degree in Economics and Accountancy at the City University in London and also holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. She worked as an accountant for four years in London before moving to Asia where she built up her own business, to conduct seminars and workshops on Accelerated Learning Systems, for students and teachers in mainstream secondary schools.

Ms. Ng has held positions such as Branch Director of childcare centres, Vice President and Senior Vice President of the Service Quality, as well as President for Overseas Operations.

As the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Finance, Ms. Ng oversees Mergers and Acquisitions, legal and financial departments, whilst working on various other major projects.

Ms Wenda Ng

Senior Vice President Corporate Development & Finance

Mrs. Ismail Ellias first joined MCYS in 1977. She has worked in several Divisions in her over 32 year career in MCYS, contributing in areas like the Children and Young Persons Service, Residential Care for Children and Youth and Voluntary Sector Development and Co-ordination to name a few. Mrs. Ismail was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) in 2004 for her dedicated service and outstanding work.

Mrs Ismail Ellias

Vice-Chairwoman Advisory Board Htwo Education Holdings

Mrs. Ismail’s most noted contribution was in the area of child care, in which she spent 18 years. She had been in the forefront of the developments in the child care sector since the 1990s. Having overseen child care operations including licensing, Mrs. Ismail is a walking encyclopedia of how to run and operate a child care centre. She had overseen the licensing of over 280 centres and the creation of nearly 27,000 new child care places since 1998. Her most notable legacy was organising 10 years of Child Care Seminars from 1999 to 2008, with each seminar growing from strength to strength, so much so, that today it is one of the must attend annual events for child care practitioners. She was often invited to share at overseas conferences, as well as represents Singapore in ASEAN conferences in Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. In 2002, Mrs. Ismail was invited by UNESCO to share the Singapore experience in the administration, management and governance of child care centres with the Cambodian Government. In 2009, she was invited by UNICEF (Asia Pacific) to be a Resource Person in the planning and preparation workshops for the organisation of the International Conference on Early Childhood Education in Malaysia.

Mrs. Ismail sat in committees like the MOE-MCYS Pre-school Qualification and Accreditation Committee (PQAC), Health Promotion Board’s Childhood Injury Prevention Committee (CHIPP) and the Advisory Board of the Ngee Ann Polytechnic - Wheelock College Early Childhood Programme to name a few. She has had her fair share of combating outbreak of diseases like SARS, HFMD and H1N1, contributing to the drawing up of SOPs shared within MCYS on managing such outbreaks. Mrs. Ismail also led pilot projects like the Launch of Tamil Language Programme in child care centres, the Recycling of Early Childhood Materials Project and the Art for the Heart Project. Her extensive contributions to the early childhood industry and the immeasurable influence that she has had in the lives of many early childhood professionals, coupled with her inspiring qualities and leadership skills, will definitely go a long way in elevating the Htwo Holdings name.

8

Htwo Education Holdings

Mr. Oswald Wong is family oriented fellow with 2 kids in secondary schools and he enjoys new challenges and working with people from different backgrounds. Education industry is what he sees as being example to next generation where he will say ‘I go before you’.

He is in the workforce for 18 years in both industries as well as in civil service. As a professional international consultant, he has over 6 years of experience in international businesses, marketing and distribution, ecological project planning, consumer electronic research and development, product strategies, business development and finance.

Mr. Wong has successfully held various executive and managements positions in SMEs and listed companies, including Executive Director, Vice President, Business Director, Finance & Administrative Director in various Asian countries. Mr Wong served the Singapore Air Force under a CONUS program for ground operations and maintenance.

He has considerable experience in business vertical integration and spent considerable amount of time in US, Korea, China and Hong Kong on international projects for financial, commercial and manufacturing operations. He is passionate about corporate social responsibility, social enterprise and ecology initiations for the common good.

Mr Oswald Wong COO Overseas Operations

Mr. Wong is a Singapore citizen, born and raised in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and finished his post-graduate study in Australia. He holds a Masters of Business Administrations, Masters in Accounting and a Diploma in Mechanical engineering. He is registered member of the Chartered Public Accountants Association in Australia.

Yeoh Cheik How (CH) is the Regional Director of Nasdaq Listed Multi-National Company (MNC). He brought with him more than 17 years of Corporate Management and Workforce Development experience.

In 1994, CH graduated from University Technology of Malaysia with a First Class Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering. He started his career in Data Storage MNC, located in Penang as clean room photolithography engineer. In this company gained the basic knowhow of hi-tech manufacturing and a fast pace business environment. In 1996, he moved to Singapore, joined another Semiconductor MNC and kick started his Corporate Management experience.

During his 13 years in this company, CH has gone through all departments of Facilities Management, from Engineering, Operations, Maintenance, Project Management, Program Management, Real Estate, EHS&S and so on. CH has managed more than 100 employees, consisting of technicians, engineers, managers and IFM outsourced team over more than 2 millions square feet of space, consisting of clean room space, manufacturing lines, data centers, offices and warehouses. He has participated and led numerous company strategic planning; example, 5 years plant roadmap, headcount to service outsourcing strategy, Workplace Transformation, etc. He has transformed labor intensive facilities equipment capacity and capability tracking to online tracking. Through maturity matrix, CH also built a knowledge based in-house and outsourced force. CH is also active in Corporate Leaders development, specifically training upcoming Facilities Management leaders from statutory boards and private sectors. He was invited to speak in numerous international conferences.

Mr Yeoh Cheik How

Senior Vice President D’ Growing Hands

CH is active in community work and led numerous President Challenge activities at company level. Currently, he is a Jalan Kayu Community Centre Management Committee member. He has also volunteered in Autistic Resource Centre and set up children’s religious classes. Lastly, CH is also active in sports. He has average skills in volleyball, basketball, soccer and completed several half marathon runs as well.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

9

Mr Kevin Seah has an inherent passion for children and education, nurtured from a tender age of 15 when he first started out as a children’s catechist at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. Inspired by his English HOD at his Secondary School at that time, he believed in creating a positive learning experience in his classes, helping the children to understand their religion in a fun and interactive way. This establishment of a creative, positive and fun learning environment has been the mainstay of his 7-year classroom teaching experience in a mainstream school.

Mr Kevin Seah

Senior Vice President Kip McGrath Worldwide Tuition Centres

Kevin has a wide range of work experience in many fields. He started out in as an account manager in advertising as a young Polytechnic graduate, building on his talent of communication to build bridges between his clients and the designers of the artwork for the advertisements. Learning all the ins and outs of designing advertisements stood him in good stead when he made the decision to return to his first passion, education, by pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Diploma in Education at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), where many instances of project work needed to incorporate attractive visuals and succinct text.

Kevin has a special affinity and ability to handle children with learning or behavioural needs. This was carefully honed during the 7 years where he taught in Opera Estate Primary School. His belief in the potential of each child to overcome their individual challenges to achieve their aspirations has garnered many success stories among his exstudents. Kevin’s other passion for all things IT, has enabled him to keep in touch with these students and their parents through various social media.

Kevin embarked on a new career as a business owner of a tuition centre in 2013 in pursuit of his belief that he could devote more time and energy to nurturing students to reach their potential, without the administrative stress of the local school system. In the process of building the business, he gained many valuable insights into the world of running an education-based business, chief of which are ensuring smooth and efficient operational procedures and having in place a comprehensive curriculum that meets the needs of the students. Kevin’s wealth of experience in many fields of work, his talent in IT and his passion for children, music and education stand him in good stead to face the challenges of the future, bonded with a strong belief in that the success of any organisation hinges on honesty and integrity, trust and loyalty.

Ms. Tan, an individual with great experience and dedication, holds a friendly disposition.

Ms. Tan will undoubtedly see to your every need and prove as an asset to our Kip McGrath Franchisees and Group alike.

Ms. Tan’s personalized introductory greeting to each of you speaks of her dedication, commitment and values.

Quoting Mr. Ray Kroc; Founder of McDonald’s Hamburger Restaurants: ‘People are the most important ingredients in any businesses’. Having spent 15 wonderful years with them, she had learned that she must always be willing to dirty her hands and get down to the floor, to work hand-in-hand with her team. She is most appreciative for the training they’ve provided her over the years, with her proudest moment being her attendance at the Hamburger University; from which she graduated with a Degree in Hamburgerology.

Ms Ann Tan

COO Kip McGrath Worldwide Tuition Centres

10

Thereafter, she moved on to the retail segment as a Trainer, before moving back to the F&B industry, so as to explore more on the back-end side of the operations.

With her wide experience, Ms. Tan will be able to contribute much to the operations of the Kip McGrath Tuition Centres in Singapore.

Htwo Education Holdings

Mr. Liu started as the General Manager of a real estate company in Heilongjiang after graduating from Heilongjiang University with a major in Economic Management in 1986. With his sound business acumen and foresight, he soon set up Shenzhen Gaofa Investment Holding Ltd., collaborating with Shenzhen City of Highway Construction Headquarter, being a joint investment, and was later governed by Shenzhen Binji Enterprise (Group) Ltd., where Mr. Liu led as the Company Chairman. Mr. Liu obtained his EMBA from Tsinghua University and his Doctorate in Management from China University of Science and Technology.

Under his leadership, Gaofa Education Holdings has completed the task of land expropriation along Shenzhen Guanshen Highway which led to the successful construction of Gaofa Science and Technology Industrial Park, Gaofa Jiayuan Condo., Gaofa Single Apartment within the vicinity. The experience in developing all these projects has given Gaofa a boost in the local industry, so much so that it has passed the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System Certification, and has since established a name in the local real estate industry.

Presently, Binji Group has a total staff of 70 which include management, administration, the sales and marketing team and so on, of which 90% have obtained at least a bachelor degree or above, while other staff with an intermediate certification of technology grade account for 70% of the total number of employees. Under the supervision of Mr. Liu., the company has achieved a total turnover of RMB 1.77 billion in 2011.

Mr Liu Yu Bin

Director Leo Kidz International (China Markets)

Mrs. Sonia Lim was a school teacher, before proceeding on to a career in the airlines industry. Being the eldest daughter in a big family, she has been helping her parents in bringing and nurturing her younger siblings. To a large extent her experience in children includes her own experiences, of bringing up her own children now in their teens, way back in her hometown in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. As a dedicated mother to a pair of a boy and a girl, Mrs. Sonia Lim painstakingly invested her time in bringing up her children in Singapore.

Being very involved in her children’s early childhood development and their pre-school activities, Mrs. Lim developed greater awareness and understanding on child psychology and how to nurture young children during their early formative years of development.

Mrs. Lim is the Master Franchisee of Cherie Hearts (Overseas) in Johor, West Malaysia. With her dedication and adherence to her core values of providing Safety, Security, Healthy and Best Nurturing Programmes in her centres, it is no surprise that Mrs. Lim’s venture into handling the Cherie Hearts franchise blossomed instantly.

Embracing the motto, “Treating every child just like your own”, Mrs. Lim was able to expand her single-centre franchise business into a group of centres under her charge and management and now, she is South East Asia’s Regional Master Franchisee. Her centres in Johor today are filled with children of expatriates, royalty, Singaporeans living in Johor and Johoreans, all keen to give their children a head-start in a progressive educational system to prepare them for formal school locally and overseas, including enrolment in International Schools.

Mrs Sonia Lim

Director Cherie Hearts South East Asia Markets

As a Master Franchisee, Mrs. Lim offers investment opportunities for potential franchisee partners in the provision of child care services. Mrs. Lim is married to a top corporate executive, with her 5 years of successful business experience in managing and operating multiple centres in Johor, and her natural fondness for young children Mrs. Lim will undoubtedly be able to bring Cherie Hearts (S. E. Asia) to a higher level.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

11

Mr. Paul Yap joins Htwo as the Principal for Uptrend College. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree (Computer Science) from NUS and also possess a Graduate Diploma in Marketing from MIS. In 1998, Paul was awarded the “Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors Award”.

Mr. Yap has more than 28 years of working experiences in diverse scope of activities – from managing Education Institutions and Management Consultancy Companies, to Engineering Product Development, Production and Inventions.

He had also held many senior management appointments in other PEIs prior to joining Uptrend. His illustrious track records include working as a General Manager (Operations) for a PEI presently awarded with a 4-Year EduTrust Certification status; and was the CEO/ Principal of other PEIs. He had personally participated and gone through 4 full life-cycle of the EduTrust Certification Processes with CPE.

Mr Paul Yap

Principal Uptrend College

Mr. Yap also possesses the experiences in executing the duties and responsibilities as Management Representative (MR), member of the Academic Board and Chairman of the Examination Board – adhering closely to the guidelines and regulations of CPE in achieving ERF and EduTrust Certifications.

Mr. Yap is very self-driven, and believes strongly in: “Together, we can do it and do it WELL!”.

The first five years have so much to do with how the next 80 turns out.

- Bill Gates

12

Htwo Education Holdings

Board of Advisors As Htwo Holdings expands and moves to greater heights, a group of well-known and highly respected professionals in the field of education and business were identified, based on their track proven record and reputation in their respective arenas, as the organization’s Board of Advisors.

Mr Gan Chin Huat, Chairman of the Advisory Board, is a veteran educator, having served more than 28 years in the public and private education sectors in Singapore.

He had held various leadership positions in MOE such as School Principal, Cluster Superintendent and Deputy Director (Schools). Mr Gan holds a Masters of Education from Harvard University. He is currently the Senior Deputy CEO of Touchstone Education Holdings and Director/Principal of Touchstone International Institute. He concurrently serves as the Managing Director of Olive Education Consultancy and the President of the Association for Cultural & Educational Exchange. He is also Advisor to several organisations including FZL Investment Consultancy, Coleman College and IBOBI Family Inteactive Centre (Shenzhen).

Mrs Ismail Ellias is our Vice-chairman of the Advisory Board for Htwo Holdings. A highly-respected professional in the early childhood area, Mrs. Ismail, who had paved a 32-year career in the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), has been in the forefront of the developments in the child care sector since the 1990s.

She has overseen the licensing of over 280 centres and the creation of nearly 27,000 new child care places since 1998.

Dr David Fernie, Professor of Education at Wheelock College, will offer his expertise in the administration of early childhood programmes as well as curriculum and professional development in the early childhood field.

Professor Xu Zhuoya hails from the Preschool Education Research Institute and Preschool Education Department at Nanjing Normal University. Htwo Holdings will be consulting Professor Xu for research and development on our Chinese curriculum as well as in her expert and specialised fields of Music and Movement and Parenting.

Associate Professor Chua Chee Lay is a Linguist, Educational Technology Researcher, award-winning poet and a dedicated educator. He received an overseas scholarship to pursue his MA and Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. He has been invited as keynote speaker at many international conferences. He is also the Chief Editor for several books and series, including Keeping My Mandarin Alive: Lee Kuan Yew’s Language Learning Experiences.

Ms Kate Bucknall holds a Master of Education Degree in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University, USA. In addition she has a First Class Bachelor of Education Degree from Manchester University, England where she was awarded the Elizabeth Gaskell Memorial Prize. Ms Bucknall has taught students in every grade level from preschool to university level. In addition to her teaching credentials, she holds a Massachusetts Principal Certification (USA). Over her 29 year career in education, Ms Bucknall has worked in England, USA, Nigeria, Tanzania, Australia and Singapore.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

13

Our Premises Our Regional Head Office is located at 697 East Coast Road. The premises is equipped with five floors that house the board room, training room, resource room, operations room and the various departmental offices; also housing the offices of both the Group Executive Chairman and the Group President, with a ‘roof top’ staff recreational area.

Other than our HQ facilities, we have Local Infant & Childcare Centres, Enrichment Centres, Training Centres, Tuition Centres, Student Care Centres, Childcare Centres and International Kindergartens and International Schools, in successful operation and expansion, in Singapore and the Region.

The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.

- Plutarch

14

Htwo Education Holdings

Revenue Models Htwo Holdings believes in nurturing and investing into educational programmes and establishments in Singapore and in the Region. We have the following existing business units and up and coming businesses as follows: Overview of Our Current & Future Business Units

新源教育投资控股

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

15

Local Childcare SINGAPORE CHILDCARE The Singapore Childcare Pte Ltd (SCC) is a Singapore-brand childcare provider overseeing a group of child care brands providing child care and pre-school educational and enrichment programmes to suit each child’s needs. Parents seeking child care and educational services for their young children will have choices to match their children’s needs and interests and can look forward to seeing their children grow and realise their potentials. The SCC will strive to provide families with joyful and enriching experience in their young children’s pre-school education and journey for life-long learning.

With vast experience providing child care services in Singapore and in the region, and having worked and be part of the largest private childcare provider in Singapore, the pioneers of the SCC formed the company to reach out to families requiring child care and pre-school education. We believe in efforts promoted by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) on the importance of making pre-school education an “enjoyable” period in the lives of our young children. We agree with the policies and thinking behind this progressive movement and are geared towards supporting the Government’s call by giving parents choices in the care and overall development of their children.

Acknowledging the competitiveness and healthy business markets in the pre-school sector and understanding parents’ high expectations in this area of child development, the SCC will add to the local market a spectrum of quality and interesting programmes for parents to choose from. To ensure that there is a variety of programmes to meet the varying needs of children, the SCC will set up centres under different brands each specialising in its domain field in various residential zones facilitating the accessibility of these services to parents. Our centres will complement the services offered by the public and non-profit organisations giving diversity and choices to parents for their pre-school education.

Being strong believers in high quality pre-school education and services to families, the SCC will collaborate with suitable established service providers to provide a progressive and dedicated pre-school education experience to young children.

Motto “No child left behind” Every child is an important asset to the country. Every child should be given access to available resources to support and facilitate their overall development. In a developed country like Singapore which places value on social and human capital, this aligns with the recent call by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) [formerly under the auspices of the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Ministry of Education (MOE)] in the importance of quality preschool education to our young children. Recognising that each child is unique and may need different strategies, experiences and approaches to realise their potentials, the SCC will endeavour to provide a spectrum of educational and enrichment programmes and services to meet each child’s needs and match their individual developmental stages and interests. This approach strongly supports provisions in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which Singapore has ratified to.

[Kids] don’t remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.

- Jim Henson

16

Htwo Education Holdings

Vision “One Singapore Childcare centre in each estate” This relates to the accessibility and availability of the SCC services to the mass population in Singapore. Parents with young children will have a network of SCC services to choose programmes that match their needs best. In special cases, where a child requires a service beyond that offered by the SCC, a proper referral and introduction to a specialised agency will be done by professional practitioners in the SCC through its own professional and advisory network.

At a later and appropriate stage in the SCC’s development journey, the aspiration is to duplicate SCC’s network of services in countries outside Singapore. Partnering promising and established stakeholders, an SCC-styled centre will be set up in other countries meeting the niche market of the respective country. Potential focus for expansion: China, the Philippines, the Middle East, Myanmar, Indonesia.

Mission To provide parents with choices and access, to place their young children in a pre-school learning environment that suits their child’s individual needs, so as to support their total development.

The mission is being achieved through the following broad strategies: a) Working and business planning with stakeholders in determining demand areas for child care and enrichment programmes for young children and addressing these with the setting up of appropriate service centres in choice locations. b) Building a pool of expertise in various areas of child and family development, pedagogy and enrichment programmes to serve as a resource network for the professional services to be offered. c) Provision of a broad and diverse spectrum of programmes that allows the expansion of the child’s learning not only through educational activities but also through “play” programmes. These would include ballet and dance classes, gymnastics and sports and fitness sessions and others that would enhance the children’s physical development, softskills and value system for them to be happy and well-balanced children. d) Regular research and development in the field to ensure that services are always current and relevant.

Philosophy SCC strongly believes and upholds the values of working with the children’s interests and the well-being of their families at heart. Programmes and activities are focused in developing and nurturing the children’s holistic and total development, through our locally ‘in-house’ cultivated programme that we refer to as the Heart, Hands and Mind Curriculum Model.

This model incorporates 3 essential aspects of early childhood education, namely, “Positive Learning Dispositions”, “Emphasis On Personal Creativity” and “Nurturing Intellect” encompassing “PRAISE”: MOE’s Key Stage Outcomes of Pre-school Education –nurturing children into curious, active and competent learners.

The SCC spectrum of care, together with their educational and enrichment programmes, continue to embrace, develop and improve on the following principles: • • • •

The children deserve excellent care, educational and enrichment experiences to support their total development Our service providers (teachers, edu-carers, coaches and trainers) will be suitably qualified for respective service and would be supported with continuing professional and career development Programmes will be designed to be challenging, creative and interesting, appropriate to children’s developmental stages Working in partnership and teamwork with parents, experts, stakeholders and the community.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

17

AMAR KIDZ AMAR meaning “to love” in Spanish and “eternal” in Greek, stands firm in its commitment of providing a holistic platform to nurture and mould children, while recognizing that children possess the inherent ability of picking up languages.

The color Yellow relates to acquired knowledge. It is the color which resonates with the left or logic side of the brain, stimulating our mental faculties and creating mental agility and perception; symbolizing joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

The color Blue signifies trust, honesty and loyalty. It exhibits inner security and confidence.

In ancient Egypt, the color blue symbolizes the heavens.

The color Purple being very rare in nature, symbolizes magic, mystery, spirituality, the sub-conscious, creativity, dignity and royalty.

The color White being the back drop of our centres, representing perfection, innocence, completion and purity.

Our motto, “Doctrina Vim Promovet” is an ancient Latin phrase which translates to “Learning Promotes Strength”, a value shared by many renowned institutions around the world.

AMAR Philosophy At Amar Kidz, we aim to nurture each child’s heart, hands and mind through purposeful play, stimulating learning environments and character building experiences.

Our progressive learning structure builds the foundation for children to engage in content-based exploration. Through indepth investigation and independent discovery, we inculcate moral values, communication and problem-solving skills. Our programme works with the intention to develop in children an appreciation of music and the arts.

We offer children a well-rounded programme that encourages children to be highly involved in the community. This way, children will be aware of diverse cultures, societal issues and world phenomena.

AMAR Vision To provide the most unique early childhood bilingual experience in both the local and international markets.

AMAR Mission • • • • •

To evolve into an international bilingual childcare brand that is globally recognised and respected.

To inculcate moral values and understanding of cultures in our children through bilingualism.

To maintain a close relationship with parents and the community to drive our goal to mould the child’s holistic development.

To engage in constant research and development to ensure that our children maximize their educational potential and remain in the forefront of global educational initiatives.

To infuse in all our people the importance of Teamwork and in the process constantly engage and provide positive learning experiences, not just for the children, but families and staff too.

AMAR Core Values • • • • •

18

Children First Nurturing & Growing Staff Unique Experience for Parents & Stakeholders Community & Values Growth & Measurement

Htwo Education Holdings

AMAR Dream Dream big, set goals, get motivated and take action. The AMAR D.R.E.A.M. hopes to provide the tools and opportunities for children to achieve their goals. The Heart, Hands and Mind model of The AMAR D.R.E.A.M. incorporates 3 essential aspects of early childhood education.

These 3 aspects are: Positive learning dispositions, an emphasis on personal creativity and nurturing intellect. The model is an overarching umbrella that encompasses PRAISE, which stands for Perseverance, Reflectiveness, Appreciation, Inventiveness, Sense of Wonder, and Curiosity Engagement (Nurturing positive learning dispositions) and MOE’s Key Stage Outcomes of Preschool Education – nurturing children into curious, active and competent learners.

Heart Firstly, every child requires a moral compass, empathy and positive values to guide their behavior and actions. Thus, the concept of ‘Heart’ comprise moral values and empathy that will be inculcated by education and upbringing. Further, the ‘Heart’ parallels the PRAISE framework that encourages the aforementioned positive learning dispositions.

Hands Within the concept of ‘Hands’, children are expected to meet their respective developmental milestone for their age group. The term ‘Hands’ refers broadly to physical aspect of a child’s development.

These developmental milestones include fine motor skills and gross motor skills.

Mind Finally, AMAR D.R.E.A.M. hopes to stretch the ‘Mind’s of children through their discovery of the world. Our lesson plans are structured to teach through purposeful play and the teachers of AMAR KIDZ encourage independent exploration. We believe in acquiring knowledge through thought, experiences and the senses.

Hearty Harold Harold Bear represents humanity – compassion, empathy and benevolence. We believe that every child requires a moral compass, empathy and positive values to guide their behavior and actions.

Hearty Harold reminds all teachers, parents and children to grow up to understand and apply moral dimensions and positive learning dispositions that can be inculcated by education and upbringing.

Handy Henry Henry Bear represents the beauty in life that can be materialized through the appreciation of the arts and the capability to produce aesthetic articles. Handy Henry promotes developmental milestones that include fine motor skills and gross motor skills.

Mindful Mindy Mindful Mindy personifies the intellectual capabilities that we hope all children will possess.

Mindful Mindy champions learning through discovery of the world, purposeful play and independent exploration.

She represents knowledge acquisition through thought, experience and the senses.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

19

BIBS & MITTS INFANT CARE Bibs & Mitts is Singapore Childcare Pte Ltd (SCC)’s premium infant care service. It is a new venture and a new brand under SCC’s latest expansion plans. Bibs and Mitts is our answer to the Government’s call for more support to young families with babies. In line with Singapore’s effort to enhance its fertility rate under the new population policy, provision of child care services including infant care set-ups would be an added incentive for young couples to have children. There are already a healthy number of child care centres but number of dedicated infant care centres can be improved. In some areas, there is a high demand for such services.

Singapore Childcare Pte Ltd made plans forward to work with families and support family development and education. Traditionally, centre-based infant care services are not so popular with parents as most would prefer home-based care or family daycare. What SCC would do in its new service provision would be to specially design and assimilate its centre-based care as homely, comfortable and conducive as possible for the young infants and toddlers. We acknowledge that parents today want quality centre-based programmes that provide more than just custodial care even for the very young ones. Bibs and Mitts is born just to answer this call for quality infant care services that will meet the needs and expectation of young parents.

As an organisation pioneering in early childhood care and education, SCC continues to show its commitment to its mission of building a pool of expertise in various areas of child and family development, to serve as a resource network for the professional services to be offered.

Bibs and Mitts serves as the brainchild of SCC’s Founders, Dr Sam Yap and Dr Gurchran Jit Singh who have accumulated vast experience in the local and overseas childcare business field. The Founders have envisioned expansion of the infant care business in the local scene and also in potential areas in the region such as China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Countries like China for one continue to open its doors to foreign investment opportunities and have a long history of various industries bringing their expertise to the country. Recently, China revised its one-child policy and the country now prepares for a greater demand for child-minding facilities such as infant/ childcare and enrichment centres. This now encourages a bigger pool of like-minded professionals expanding their education-related ideas and SCC aspires to be one of the leading organisations in this arena.

Our Vision To provide premium infant care services by incorporating innovative strategies which support children’s learning and optimal growth. Innovation will be the forefront of our infant care establishment. We recognise that the population is currently more technologically savvy and information is now shared at amazing speeds with the use of social media and other forms of wireless communication.

We envision that Bibs and Mitts will be a pioneer infant care facility which will serve our families as a one-stop avenue for young families. We strive to incorporate a spectrum of services offered by medical professionals offering advice on child-health and medical issues to the support and education of young parents by specialists in the field of Early Childhood, Family Life and Family Development.

The focus on the young child will be further put in place by a specially-designed curriculum which is build on developing the curious minds of our infants and toddlers. With activities which are carefully planned and implemented by qualified and experienced professionals and educarers, infants and toddlers will receive optimal mental stimulation. The environment is structured to complement the curriculum, which primarily focuses on accelerating our infants’ holistic development development from milestone to milestone.

20

Htwo Education Holdings

Our Mission To provide parents with a high quality programme which supports the multitude levels of learning that their young children go through. Our mission will be achieved by: 1. Maximising cumulative years of expertise and knowledge in Early Childhood Care and Family Education. Professionals from various areas of expertise will be engaged to assist to develop a premium programme. This programme will support young families and provide the pillars to which healthy relationships are formed between parent - child, parent - school, and ultimately, parent - child - community.

2. Endeavouring to grow into an innovative infant care and education provider which is progressive and current in practices.

The various models present in the Early Childhood field dictates much of the programmes which are currently provided.

Programmes will be guided by best practices adopted worldwide with regular research and development and high standards of care and developmental practices with emphasis on partnerships with the family and community.

3. Partnering with stakeholders in building a reputable brand locally and internationally, which exudes professionalism and service excellence.

Our Integrated Programme At Bibs & Mitts, we believe in catering to the individual needs of the infant. Regular teacher-child interactions will act as the spark of a child’s inquisitive nature and social development. Play and experiences which enhance their intellectual and loco motor development of the young child are put in place. Age appropriate materials and resources boost knowledge acquisition and further help children achieve developmental milestones. Regular informative teacher-family connections are made through daily face to face communications and notes sent home to keep parents connected to the school. Our daily programme brings with it a balanced experience, where children are exposed to routine, structured and non-structured learning. Children are given time and space to develop their skills, whilst trained educarers record their progress using developmental portfolios.

The foundations of a trusting relationship are laid to perfect how a child connects with the individuals in his environment.

The child is encouraged to learn through sensorial experiences to discover the environment. Our educarers will provide opportunities for the child to explore cause and effect, trial and error and object permanence through various activities and materials.

To support the young parents, regular workshops and sharing sessions will be conducted as part of the service to parents where specialists and experts will facilitate such sessions to help parents in their better understanding of relevant issues in their raising challenges and general family life.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

21

Enrichment Arm D’ GROWING HANDS D’ Growing Hands is made up of a team of dedicated individuals who seek to provide the most wholesome enrichment programmes for the inquisitive minds of our children, developing each child holistically to their maximum potential.

We truly believe that our children are the keystones to the future, and nurturing them to exemplarity will ignite a greater tomorrow. Thus, we hope to use our programmes as a channel to expose the unpolished talent within each child to their fullest potential.

Our services consist of the following 2 models:

Mobile Services Bringing enrichment programmes to childcare centres, primary Schools & other Institutions.

Centre Services Opening of centres in strategic locations for children from the neighbourhood.

Through extensive research and survey done on parents, we developed a model of 5 fingers of enrichment services under the D’ Growing Hands as follows: • Performing Arts • Visual Arts • Liberal Arts • Sports & Gym • Computer & Robotics First in Singapore, 6 established and multi awarded groups teamed together to realize and unfold our children’s natural talents and magnify their individual unique strengths.

The enrichment programmes represented by the fingers are now presented under one roof by D’ Growing Hands: • • • •

22

Robotics Programme Creative Movements, Ballet & Modern Dance Sports Lifestyle Speech and Drama

Htwo Education Holdings

ROBOTICS PROGRAMME D’ Growing Hands (DGH) Robotics Programme designed to mentor children from age 3 years to 16 years. We believe that children’s early exposure to different learning methodologies, will aid the child in accepting the different approaches to learning, as they progress academically.

Our programmes, use the “EnHANCe” approach, together with our own materials, to guide the children.

- Engage - Hands-on - Ascertain - New Project - Compete & Continuous Improvement is the five-steps framework to suit the next generation of learners.

Every model allows the children to, think in line with real-life situations, to oppugn, to reason about and to find the rationale to provide the answers to the questions asked. There are worksheets for different levels of children.

Most importantly, the Senior Robotics Programme evolves children in the art of Creative Writing. It is a hands-on experiential learning programme that uses Lego® to spring start children’s love for writing and storytelling.

CREATIVE MOVEMENT, BALLET & MODERN DANCE Through our Creative Movement, Ballet & Modern Dance programmes, we provide great sessions for children from age 3 years to 16 years, to explore movement through music, dance and interaction with peers. These programmes help the children develop their gross motor skills, social skills, creativity and at the same time, allows them to learn and understand their bodies. In addition, students learn the importance of mind, balance and body coordination. The child develops aesthetic experiences through learning as a dancer, observer and creator. We are an Affiliated Member of The Commonwealth Society of Teachers of Dancing (CSTD) and our Ballet teachers are CSTD Certified. All Ballet students are sent for grading examination twice a year.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

23

SPORTS LIFESTYLE Researches and personal observations can tell us that children are living a more sedentary lifestyle and exercising less than ever before. High density living, extra academic pressures, and the enticement of electronics games with cool IT gadgets are a few of the contributing reasons. There is also a direct relationship between children who do not exercise regularly and obesity in their adulthood. So we owe it to our children, to encourage them to live an active healthy lifestyle, while they are still young. We have kicked off this sport initiative with the “Singapore Gymnastic (SG) National Programme”, a structured programme to develop on ABCS (Agility, Balance, Coordination & Strength) of children from age 4 years to 12 years. We are Associate Members of Singapore Gymnastic (SG) and our coaches are SG Certified. This curriculum is, painstakingly structured and carefully planned, by SG Certified coaches with plenty of fun and variety in every session.

SPEECH AND DRAMA This is a liberal arts cum performing arts programme. Our lessons are written around the VAK (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic) learning style model. We use graphics to reinforce learning, use tunes & rhymes as mnemonic devices, use storytelling to engage the students and use role play to physically experience learning. Children from age 4 years to 12 years, will develop better self and social awareness, improvements in speech, be able to learn creatively and think analytically.

Every term, students in the Speech & Drama Programme will learn through modules such as, “Introduction” (Imagination & Communication), “Movement & Rhythms”, “Pantomime”, “Improvisations”, “Role Play”, “Poetry”, “Choral Reading”, “Story Telling”, and “Stage Directions and Preparation of Presentations”. This programme will advance the level of self esteem and further build confidence in the children.

The DGH team is in the midst of developing more Enrichment Programmes like Chinese & Arts, Money & Sense, Modern Dance and other stimulating and engaging courses.

24

Htwo Education Holdings

Overseas International Kindergartens Htwo Holdings holds all the IP and systems rights to operate infant and childcare centres, as well as Kindergarten programmes in the Region, under the name of Leo Kidz International and Cherie Hearts Asia. Currently, Htwo Holdings has more than 30 overseas international infant care centres, childcare centres and kindergartens successfully operational at full capacity in the Region (China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Korea), with more centres scheduled to open in the 4th quarter of this year.

CHERIE HEARTS ASIA Under the Cherie Hearts programmes, which we operated since 2001, we developed our unique P³E Business Model that we replicate in all our Centres. The objective is to bring consistency and quality across our Centres. This model also acts as a foundation for our franchise & overseas operations.

Our P³E Model comprises of the ‘Essential 4’: Programme Excellence, People Excellence, Parents as Partners and Environment Excellence.

Founders: Dr Sam Yap – Group Executive Chairman Dr Gurchran J Singh – Group President

Programme Excellence •

Comprehensive curriculum & programmes • Enrichment programmes • Authentic documentation of children’s progress • Curriculum R&D Team

People Excellence • • • • •

Parents as Partners

Attitude first, competency next Comprehensive staff development & training Staff monitoring system Service excellence Family-friendly environment

The P3E Model

• • • • •

Parents as Trainers (PAT) Parent-Teacher Conference (PTC) Family Service Corner (FSC) Parents Committee Parents Feedback & Satisfaction Survey

Environment Excellence •

Learning Centre-oriented environment, in line with Singapore’s primary school curriculum • Excellence in hygiene management

Our Objectives The Cherie Hearts Asia believes that every aspect of a child’s development should be recognised, nurtured and developed holistically.

Children’s learning at every level is focused on knowledge, skills, abilities, dispositions and feelings. Intellectual dispositions help children as they learn to think and think to learn. Such dispositions can be observed when children are engaged meaningfully in the investigation of things around them, trying to find answers to their questions and solutions to problems that they may encounter in the process of progressive intellect development. These opportunities are catered for in The Cherie Hearts Asia Curriculum.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

25

Children’s Learning Journey Cherie Hearts Asia, with its team of in-house specialists in Early Childhood, Child Development and Child Psychology, has developed an active and interactive curriculum.

The Cherie Hearts Curriculum gives children the autonomy of learning through a uniquely designed approach – The CHILD Approach – Children Holistically Inquire to Learn and Develop. Crafted with the local context in mind, this approach enhances children’s learning through concrete, attention-grabbing and meaningful experiences. At the same time children also learn to understand and appreciate their learning environment in the Centre as well as the environment around them. They are also exposed to multi-cultural elements and values that are incorporated in our curriculum.

Cherie Hearts offers an excellent bilingual infant care and preschool programme in English and Mandarin for children from 2 months to 6 years old. Our team of professional and dedicated staff is trained to carry out our unique curriculum.

The CHILD Approach Curriculum The CHILD Approach Curriculum focuses on promoting the growth of the child in all areas of development - Physical, Social, Emotional, Cognitive and Language. Therefore, the curriculum’s focal point is to develop a whole child.

Lessons are planned in progression over the various age levels from Playgroup 1 to Kindergarten 2. This facilitates continuous learning because each lesson is customized and built upon the previous lesson and the children’s prior knowledge. Our teachers are guided and trained to use the prescribed lessons to ensure that the quality of the curriculum is adhered to in all the Cherie Hearts centres.

There are three curricula designed – My First Journey Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers, Jump Start Years Curriculum for the Playgroup children and the Bridging Years Curriculum for Nursery, Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2.

History of the Childcare Franchise Formerly fellow colleagues in the public service sector for seven years, Dr Yap and Dr Singh joined forces to strike out on their own path. Although the pair had considered getting their start in the food and beverage (F&B) industry, it was the potential to touch lives and make a difference which got the partners to decide on making their mark in the field of early childhood education.

Though neither partner had prior experience in the field, and many had predicted their venture would not last because of this, the organizational capabilities and derring-do of Dr Yap and Dr Singh was what drove them forward, overcoming challenges with funding and expansion plans to the acquisition of personnel with experience in the field to establish Cherie Hearts in 2001.

Even then, the rapid pace with which their new venture acquired success was beyond even their wildest dreams, leading to the partners opening a 2nd centre the following year due to highly positive responses from parents, and turning Cherie Hearts into a franchise in 2003. The franchise enjoyed explosive growth starting from 2006, culminating into the around 60 childcare centres under the Cherie Hearts name all over Singapore and 20 childcare centres in the Region.

26

Htwo Education Holdings

Future Directions For Dr Yap and Dr Singh, the next step for Cherie Hearts lies in the provision of enrichment programmes for children, in recognition of the high demand for such services by parents in Singapore today. Currently engaged in organising such activities like dance and gym classes that are undertaken in childcare centres, the partners open its first enrichment centre in 2013.

In addition, the franchise is building further on its overseas presence, with four more centres planned in China and the Philippines to further extend Cherie Hearts’ effective approach to early childhood education and care to parents all over the world.

CH Global Resources Sdn Bhd (Johor Bahru, Malaysia) Opened in March 2009, CH Global Resources is located in a new and prestigious development Setia Tropika. Nestled in a chic and contemporary residential area set within landscaped greenery spread across 740 acres of prime land in Johor Bahru, CH Global Resources offers a warm and conducive environment with state-of-the-art facilities and quality learning materials for children.

An attractive feature of the centre is a large play area alongside a library, planned exclusively to complement the curriculum and enhancing the development and pure enjoyment of children. With selected gated and guarded precincts with 24 hours security guard stations and patrolling, parents will have the added peace of mind, knowing that their children are in good hands.

Cherie Hearts Preschool Academy Sdn Bhd (Penang, Malaysia) On 1st February 2010, we officially started operations in our first centre at Tanjung Bungah, a suburb of Georgetown in Penang. Located in a high end residential area, the centre provides quality learning and care in a homely and cosy environment. Different from other teaching approaches used in Malaysia, this school introduces learning centres and progress reports presented in portfolio formats, which aids children in the transition process to primary schools by training them to be independent learners.

With the vast land space surrounding the centre, learning is taken outside the traditional four walls of a classroom. A unique learning environment, the outdoor classroom is a world filled with opportunities for learning, creating and exploring which allows teachers to conduct a range of different activities for the children to explore the outdoors, without noise as a limitation.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

27

PT Cherie Hearts International (Jakarta, Indonesia) Cherie Hearts proudly marked its inception in Indonesia with the opening of PT Cherie Hearts International in the capital city of Jakarta in June 2008. Located within the premier gated residences of Kelapa Gading in the North of Jakarta, parents are assured that the children’s learning takes place in a safe environment.

The school counts the Mall of Indonesia among its immediate neighbours and it is where the children often venture to for their Learning Journeys and have been invited to take part in events, building on their confidence and self-esteem. Characteristic of all our other branches is how the school continues to grow from strength to strength. Kudos from parents on the predominantly Bahasa Indonesia speaking country and the Parent Committee, a testament to our commitment to having our Parents as Partners.

Cherie Hearts Educare (Jakarta, Indonesia) Works on our second branch in Jakarta in the Sunter community are in progress with operations targeted to commence in June 2010.

Something new which the school will offer to parents in Sunter in addition to the Childcare Programme will be our Infant Care Programme.

The programme comes with its own specially formulised curriculum setting us clearly apart from other Infant Care providers in Singapore as well as across the region.

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.

- W. Streightiff 28

Htwo Education Holdings

Cherie Hearts Korea (Seoul, Korea) Our first centre outside Southeast Aisa, Cherie Hearts Korea was established in March 2010. It is located in 725-20 Yeoksam-dong, a ward of the affluent Gangnam-gu district in Seoul, South Korea. The school which caters to the business crowd firmly believes in providing professional educational services to the students they serve.

The school provides the first genuine English and Mandarin curriculum taught by native speakers, is made available to the children in Korea.

This not only exposes them to bilingualism but it also allows then an opportunity to comprehend the most influential languages and cultures, cultivating them into future global leaders. The school’s Learning Centres incorporates thematic integrated learning which encourages involvement of all students, allowing children to learn in a way that is most natural to them, addressing the diverse learning style of each individual child.

Cherie Hearts Group International Qingdao First Preschool (Qing Dao, China) Cherie Hearts Group First Experimental Learning Centre in Qing Dao is a joint education project with The City’s Government.

Since the 1984 inauguration of China’s open-door policy to foreign trade and investment, Qingdao has developed quickly as a modern port city.

Nestled within an educational hub - which provides education servcies ranging from Primary to Pre-University levels – this centre provides quality preschool programmes that make a significant difference in the children’s development. Cherie Hearts Qingdao currently has about 90 children.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

29

Cherie Hearts Setup

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

- Benjamin Franklin

30

Htwo Education Holdings

LEO KIDZ INTERNATIONAL We have also built a higher premier brand call Leo Kidz International (Leo Kidz), which carries a tag line of “Scientia Potentia Est” or ‘Knowledge is Power”. Leo Kidz is formed by industry experts with a combined total of more than 100 years of experience in the early childhood arena. With the Vision to provide a globally well-known brand of childcare and education services for the international markets, Leo Kidz is also collaborating with a few famous American institutions to bring across excellent programmes and curriculum to China, apart from using its existing curriculum. We provide a holistic curriculum which enhances the Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social and Literacy (PIESL) development in all children.

Collaborations with well-known establishments and institutions in early childhood education from the USA would include, having visiting professors to monitor the standards of teaching, conducting teacher training and workshops for staff professional development periodically, rolling out of the USA related & progressive curriculum framework and adoption of the best practices in the field.

Leo Kidz’ Structure Dr. Sam Yap and Dr. Gurchran Jit Singh, set up Leo Kidz in 2013 with the vision to bring quality childcare and kindergarten programmes outside Singapore. The pictorial structure is as follows:

PIESL Curriculum built over the last 12 years

Quality set-up and Environment Excellence Concepts

LEO KIDz Structure

Quality Operational Systems that were proven successful over the last 12 years

People Developer and Worklife Balance initiatives

Visiting Professors, Teachers’ training & practicum and best practices from the USA

Our aim is to bring our curriculum, operations know-how, people developer standards from across Singapore to the Region.

We also believe that over the years, Singapore has built a brand in the world for the provision of quality education systems.

That itself is a solid BRAND for us already.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

31

Leo Kidz’ Curriculum Is Designed To Fit The Leo Kidz curriculum in each community will meet all national guidelines set up for that particular community.

Over and above the curriculum framework or guideline set for each market served, the Leo Kidz curriculum will be so designed that it will offer progammes of higher standards in the early childhood care and education developed by professionals from Leo Kidz, in consultation with the local authorities and experts. Our curriculum for each group of pre-school children will be drawn from the best practices and research development in the field and supported by experts, resource persons and members of the Advisory Board from renowned educational and professional institutions and agencies.

The learning environments in our Leo Kidz school will consider factors on how children develop and learn and this will be facilitated through the provision of a well-balanced and up-to-date teaching materials, resources and teaching strategies to nurture them and maximise their potentials in their learning journey giving them a head start for elementary school and their future education.

The Leo Kidz care and education programmes embrace the following principles: • All children deserve to receive excellent early care and education experiences.

• Our trainers, practitioners and care providers are of the highest professional standing, and are supported with continuous professional and career training and development.

• Programmes are designed to be challenging and appropriate for young children of all ages, catering to both individual needs and cultural diversity.

• Working in partnership and teamwork with parents, experts, stakeholders and the community.

Leo Kidz Projects in FY2014 Tianjin Province Leo Kidz set up its first flagship International Kindergarten in Tianjin China in March 2014.

Leo Kidz, having secured strategic locations and partners in both Shenyang and Dandong, will showcase the opening of both Infant and Childcare Centres, in the second half of 2014, with negotiation in the final stage for 7 more cities across China.

32

Htwo Education Holdings

Leo Kidz International Preschool Mascots The Leo Kidz International Preschool approach aims to provide, through various ways, a complete form of early childhood education. In addition to the Bilingual Learning Environment that facilitates comprehensive language learning, it emphasizes the nurturing of the Hands, Heart and Mind through Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social and Literacy (PIESL) developments.

Our curriculum mascots represent the aspects of children that we hope to nurture.

PETER LION (Physical) Peter Lion represents the Physical aspects of a child’s development. During a child’s growth, every child is required to attain various determinative milestones in their motor skill development.

IRIS LIONESS (Intellectual) Iris Lion represents the Intellectual aspect of a child’s development. The intellectual growth of a child encompasses all the learning domains of early childhood development, namely, the concepts of Numeracy, Discovery of the World (Science), Language and Literacy.

EMMA LIONESS (Emotional) Emma Lion represents the Emotional aspect of a child’s development. Emotional development is an essential component of school readiness, as it circumscribes Attention Span, Self-Regulation and Emotional Intelligence.

SHAWN LION (Social) Shawn Lion represents the Social aspect of a child’s development. Healthy social development is vital in a child’s engagement and exploration of his or her environment.

It is also crucial for a child to be able to form, sustain and manage relationships with his or her peers.

LUKE LION (Literacy) Luke Lion represents the Literacy skills acquired during a child’s development.

Literacy skills, circumscribes those essential for reading and writing. These include the understanding of the nuances in languages, awareness of print, relationship between letters and sounds, and the communication and expression of thoughts.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

33

Leo Kidz Infant Care Centres & Consultancy In the entire of China, there are few providers for infant care, especially for children ranging from 2 to 18 months of age. Following the implementation of the 2-child policy in China from 1 January 2014, Leo Kidz sees a potential surge in the demand for such specialized services.

A specialized infant care service shall offer a nurturing, caring and safe environment for the provision of quality child care for infants between two and eighteen months of age. The infant care service is developed to meet the infant’s physical, cognitive and psychosocial needs by embracing a philosophical model of a needs-based programme. The attachment relationships, the care-giver’s sensitivity in response to the infant’s needs and cues, and the staff’s specialised training forms the foundations of the specialized infant/toddler care programme.

Leo Kidz has been planning, researching, developing and working on a specialized infant programme, that is set to be introduced into the educational sphere of the Chinese markets in the last Quarter of 2014. The aim is to set up such specialized care services in the heart of major commercial properties and residential estates. Such a model can be quickly scaled to few hundred centres in a short 2 to 3 year time span.

Quality care is of vital importance to the growth and development of infants who spend a substantial portion of their early years in centre-based care. The increasing trend in infants attending infant care centres warrants the need to ensure that provision of infant care services meets the maximum standards of holistic care and development.

Leo Kidz, strongly advocates that a partnership between the centre and family is essential for the infant’s/toddler’s sense of stability and continuity of care. As such, through inclusive participation, we foster continuity of care and provide stability & security for developing infants/toddlers, with regular exchange of information/communication with families on their infants’/ toddlers’ development and routines.

An educated people can be easily governed.

- Frederick the Great

34

Htwo Education Holdings

Tuition Centres KIP MCGRATH EDUCATION CENTRES The founders of the Company, Kip and Dugnija McGrath, opened their first Kip McGrath Education Centre in 1974 with the founding principle; “any child can learn if they are taught properly”. Today Kip Mcgrath is the largest international provider of face to face tuition, taking pride in the fact that all teachers need to be qualified, experienced and trained.

With a 40 year history of helping children and an international reputation as a trusted and innovative provider of quality supplementary education; with professional and affordable tutoring programmes in the areas of Math and English, catering to students of all ages in more than 650 centres over 20 countries globally.

Htwo Holdings is proud to have acquired the Master Franchisee license earlier this year, of the LARGEST Tuition Centre Chain here in Singapore. Kip McGrath offers a wide range of tutoring programs suited to Singaporean students. They offer Primary English, Primary Math, Secondary English and Secondary Elementary Math and Additional Math. With the recent implementation of Science Tuition into the local curricular range to better suits the growing needs of students in Singapore, we take pride in staying true to motto of constantly improving our services for the betterment of every child.

Staying true to this commitment of developing successful strategies to tailor education materials to best suit the needs of specific markets, the management team and business founders having practiced and perfected the art of growing the business globally, through constant interaction with their Master Franchisees, always willing to aid and complement the curricula to best suit the different educational requirements and market demands. It is with their support only, that Htwo Holdings is putting forward proposals to further integrate Chinese Tuition services into the local centres here in Singapore.

To quote the Kip McGrath mission of being a trusted international organisation whose mission is to provide quality educational opportunities to children around the world, to help them reach their full learning potential, which ties in perfectly with the heart of Htwo Holding’s Vision of being the Number One Holistic Educator, where we are more concerned with or relate to a complete system, rather than with individual parts.

In Singapore, Kip McGrath is a known “premier” and “specialist” tuition services provider. Students are given a diagnostic assessment to identify their learning gaps in a particular subject. Trained tutors then work towards closing these gaps through good instruction and supervision, so that the students understand the concepts and do well in examinations.

One of the areas that has made Kip McGrath so effective in ensuring that students get the most out of their learning experience, is its system of assessing students for their actual academic proficiency level in the given subject. At Kip McGrath, we cultivate a student’s strengths through ‘Attitude Motivation’ and ‘Multi-Sensory Stimulatory Learning’.

Kip McGrath Tuition Centres in Singapore insists on employing only trained and qualified teachers to ensure their tutors have the right experience to assist their students. A high majority of our tutors are NIE trained teachers, and upon their assignment with the company, are required to be trained on the Kip McGrath Teaching Methodology. Our tutors are passionate about helping students improve their results through tuition and remain committed to this goal. The tutor’s enthusiastic approach helps to make sure students enjoy their tutoring sessions at Kip McGrath.

Kip McGrath Education Centres Singapore: • • • • • • • •

have been helping children succeed for over many years, believe all children can reach their full potential with the right support, help children in a way that builds their confidence and self-esteem, use innovative learning tools that make learning fun by engaging all of the student’s senses, apply individualized attention to each student in small class settings, provide an affordable alternative to private tuition. institute customised curriculum to suit each student’s needs. provide a flexible learning platform for each child to learn at their own pace.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

35

We recognise that kids very often require tuition because they cannot keep up with lessons in the school environment which has one teacher to a class of students. At Kip McGrath, a lot of the actual teaching is conducted individually while the rest do exercises based on their own individualized learning plans, in a small group setting, usually of about three to five students per class, to ensure that every student receives sufficient attention from the teacher. This allows room for each individual student to learn at their own pace.

Kip McGrath also adopts the use multi-media sensory learning for the students receiving tuition instruction from the tutors.

Reason for this is simple. We understand that children have short attention spans. As such, by engaging all their senses in turn, allows for them not to get bored, whilst learning through different mediums that engage different senses.

With 30 tuition centres around Singapore in successful operation, and a few more coming up in the pipe-line in the second half of this year, we take pride in the quality and excellence of service that we offer. With the Promising SME 500 2014 recently awarded to the Kip McGrath Education Centres, other upcoming implementations to further complement the entire learning experience include Online Resources that will provide both students and parents with a digital learning platform, for a more conducive and inclusive learning experience.

The exclusive Kip McGrath online database management programme, INTUITION, combined with INSIGHT, an interactive online tutoring programme, means that lesson preparation is kept to a minimum, and reports on students’ progress can be printed off to give to parents at the touch of a button. The new management tool, Intuition, and teaching program, Insight, makes effective use of Social Media to encourage even greater interaction with students and parents.

The message to our parents is that all our work in a Kip McGrath centre is child centred and technology just makes the whole business of education just that little bit easier to identify what a child is struggling with, identify it quicker and have a range or work that’s just at the right level to turn a “can’t do” into a “can do”.

After all, as cited by Dr. Sam Yap, the Group Executive Chairman and founder of Htwo Education Holdings, in a recent interview with The New Paper, “We endorse the saying that, the whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”

36

Htwo Education Holdings

Other Business Units UPTREND COLLEGE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL Htwo Holdings takes pride in the successful acquisition of Uptrend College, a renowned International School in Singapore accredited with the EduTrust mark by the Council of Private Education, a statutory board under the Ministry of Education. The College offers a multitude of parttime and full-time degree, diploma and advanced diploma courses.

Through this acquisition, Htwo Holdings takes over 3 Uptrend Colleges in Singapore under its corporate wings.

Uptrend College was established in 1986 with a mission of providing lifelong learning opportunities for those who desire to learn. Uptrend College specializes in providing accounting and business management courses that lead to internationally recognized qualifications.

With numerous accolades to its name, UPTREND College remains a forerunner in private higher education in Singapore. From an array of preparatory courses, it hosts courses leading to both diploma and higher diploma levels, together with degree courses and those that lead to a master’s accreditation.

With bridging courses through the Admissions Exercise for International Students (AEIS) to assist a student looking for admission into the mainstream Government Schools. These cover a range of classes for students from Primary 1 to Primary 5, along with the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). It also caters to the provision classes for Secondary 1 to Secondary 3 students, as well as the GCE O’ Levels courses, for those looking for admission into the local Secondary Schools, Junior Colleges and Polytechnics; all provided for at the Jurong Campus, where all classes for International Students are held by the tutors at Uptrend College, who possess a deep rooted understanding of the local educational standards and requirements.

Uptrend College blends the best of the local curriculum with those provided by its overseas counterparts. Providing the best of both worlds to each and every student, Uptrend College takes pride in the local education system with all approved tutors relating theories studied to the local context, enabling students to apply this knowledge and skills at their workplace.

Fifty-nine courses are being currently offered, of both local and internationally recognized accreditation, including programmes from Heriot Watt University, catering to an enrolment of more than 1,100 students; both local and overseas.

Uptrend College’s vision “to provide lifelong learning opportunities for those desiring to learn” perfectly complements Htwo Holdings’ vision to become “Asia’s Number One Holistic Educators & Affiliate Services”.

Further, Uptrend College’s mission “by delivering courses that lead to relevant and recognized qualifications, effectively and efficiently,” ties in with that of Htwo Holdings of “provisions for a diverse range of Quality Academic Commodities and Facilities to promote life-long learning in Singapore and the Region”.

Regionally, Singapore is viewed as the go-to education hub that provides quality learning for its neighboring Asian countries.

Uptrend College caters to and capitalizes on this proximity and reputation to promote an influx of foreign students from China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

37

Uptrend College’s shared values being Urgency, Positive-Thinking, Trust, Respect, Excellence, Novelty and Diligence; provide for an all embracing philosophy guiding thinking, behavior and actions. In short, a ‘holistically inclined’ approach that forms its corporate culture, very much like those forming Htwo Holdings’ core values.

With the College’s culture epitomized by the acronym ‘UPTREND’, meaning ‘Using Positive-Thinking to Realise Every New Dream’, with the ‘can-do’ and ‘can-be’ attitude of every individual; staff, lecturers and students alike, that further evolves into, not just positive outlook at the institution, but one for life.

Uptrend College’s commitment to provide for the best educational service of the highest quality; with its teaching academy comprising of professionals and dedicated tutors, backed by high qualifications and vast teaching experience, practices employing of only the best academic staff who possess not only qualifications but a passionate disposition towards their work.

With world-class facilities to furnish students with a favorable environment to enrich every individual’s learning experience, while providing for an extensive variety of facilities, for both work and play. Providing students with an array of learning, sports and recreational facilities, Uptrend College also hosts hostel accommodation within the compound of its Jurong Campus.

Comprising of 99 units that cater to more than 300 students, all rooms provide with individual privacy, being tastefully furnished, with the hostel further providing for student recreational activities as well.

As Htwo Holdings has advanced forward in its corporate reach and success, it will perseveringly stay rooted to its motto of constantly improving its services for the betterment of every individual, educational institution and subsidiary. Through constant interaction with our subsidiaries, the Group will continue to include research and development in its activity to ensure programmes offered stay relevant.

The Group will remain committed to the development of successful strategies to adapt to the unique educational services so as to best suit the needs of niche markets. Singapore being demographically and strategically located in South-East Asia and Asia, is today cited as one of the world’s leading trading, commercial, and industrial hubs. With its high standard of education, and students who rank amongst the top in the world in their knowledge of science and mathematics, Singapore is globally considered as a regional hub for high quality and value-added education.

The business founders and management team are prepared to accommodate and complement the academic syllabus to befit the different educational requirements and market demands. Htwo Holdings, keeping true to its promise, will continue to support its subsidiaries in every way, as it continues to flourish and refine the quality of education that we offer.

As Dr. Yap fondly puts it, “At Htwo Holdings, when we say we, it means you come before me”.

The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.

- Plato

38

Htwo Education Holdings

CHERISH PRODUCTS AND MERCHANDISE We planned to launch our products and merchandise in FY2014.

Working diligently, our team plans, designs and looks at the manufacture of our various products which include soft toys, exercise books, bags, and our “Cherish” baby hair wash and baby bath gel.

UP AND COMING BUSINESSES Htwo Holdings will be also expanding its interest by starting its Edutainment business. This will bring Htwo’s branding to the next level, as we grow and acquire complementing services on a local, regional and possibly on a global scale.

HOW CAN OUR FRANCHISE MODEL BE SUCCESSFUL?

Our various business units will expand through corporate owned centres, franchising, outsource to other childcare centres and bringing our programmes to primary schools.

• • • • • •

Excellent and best franchise track records.

Tried and tested franchising system.

Go the extra mile to guide our franchisees in their venture.

Assist franchisees from the set-up till profits are generated.

Extend full support to all our franchisees.

Various Franchise Awards by Franchise & Licensing Association of Singapore.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

39

Awards & Accolades

Singapore Promising Brand Award 2005

Singapore Promising Franchisor Award 2005

SHELL LiveWIRE Young Business Start Up Award 2005 (Champion)

Awarded by Franchise & Licensing Association (FLA) of Singapore to promising Franchisors that have a systematic & promising franchising track record

Awarded by Shell & ITE to young entrepreneurs who have established an excellent business start-up

MCYS Family Day Care Services (FDCS) Centres

People Developer Standard (PDS)

Singapore Family Friendly Employer Award 2004

Awarded by Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS); One of the 6 out of 700 childcare centres selected to pilot the FDCS

Awarded by SPRING Singapore to organisations that adopt a comprehensive approach in staff training & development

Awarded by Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS) & Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to organisations that adopt excellent family life balance

Singapore Family Life Ambassador

Singapore Work Alliance for Work & Family

‘COOL’ Childcare Centres

Awarded by Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS) to organisations that are active in promoting family life balance

Awarded by Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS) to organisations who work together to share best practices in promoting family life balance

Awarded by SPRING Singapore to childcare centres that adopt best practices in hygiene management

Deputy Registrar of Marriages

Work-Life Excellence Award 2006 & 2008

Work-Life Leadership Award 2008

Awarded by the Registry of Marriages (ROM) & Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS) to individuals who contribute extensively in family & community activities

Awarded by Tripartite Committee on WorkLife Strategy

Awarded by Tripartite Committee on WorkLife Strategy

Awarded by Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (ASME) & Lianhe Zao Bao to organisations that have established a good brand in Singapore

40

Htwo Education Holdings

Healthy Eating Award

Franchising and Licensing Association (Singapore)

Singapore Promising Franchisor Award 2006

Awarded by Health Promotion Board, Ministry of Health, to childcare centres for providing healthier food and promoting healthy eating

Organised by the Franchising & Licensing Association (Singapore)

Awarded by Franchise & Licensing Association (FLA) of Singapore to promising Franchisors that have a systematic & promising franchising track record

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2006

Pro-Family Business Mark 2007

The Entrepreneur of the Year 2007

Awarded by Ernst & Young to individuals to recognise their exceptional entrepreneurial achievements

Awarded by Singapore Productivity Association (SPA). Supported by Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS)

Organised by Association of Small & Medium Enterprise (ASME) and the Rotary Club of Singapore (RCOS)

Singapore Prestige Brand Award 2007

Singapore Prestige Brand Award 2008

Singapore Prestige Brand Award 2008

Awarded by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) and Lianhe Zaobao for Established Brands

Awarded by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) and Lianhe Zaobao for Established Brands

Awarded by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), Lianhe Zaobao and CitiBank for CitiBusiness Regional Brands

Singapore Prestige Brand Award 2009

Professional Enterprise Award 2007 Significance in Corporate Vision

Professional Enterprise Award 2007

Awarded by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), Lianhe Zaobao and CitiBank for CitiBusiness Regional Brands

Awarded by Asian Management Association (A.M.A.)

Awarded by Asian Management Association (A.M.A.)

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

41

ASEAN Business Award 2008

HRM Award 2009

TAFEP Exemplary Employer Award 2010

“Most Admired ASEAN Enterprise” – Growth, SME Awarded by ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC)

Finalist for “Best Work-Life Harmony”

Awarded by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP)

Franchise Star Achiever (Silver)

Singapore Prestige Brand Award 2010 (SPBA- Hall of Fame)

Singapore Health Award

Awarded by Franchise & Licensing Association (FLA) of Singapore to promising Franchisors that have a systematic & promising franchising track record

Awarded by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), Lianhe Zaobao and CitiBank for CitiBusiness Regional Brands

Awarded by the Health Promotion Board (HPB)

The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.

- C.S. Lewis

42

Htwo Education Holdings

WINNING THE NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT

BY THE TRIPARTITE COMMITTEE ON WORK-LIFE STRATEGY The Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy was set up in September 2000 to drive the promotion of Work-Life Harmony in Singapore. The committee drives and facilitates the implementation of Work-Life strategies in all industry sectors. It organises programmes and activities, at national level, to increase the practice of Work-Life Harmony in establishments. The committee also reviews the progress of the national Work-Life Strategy and its implementation in Singapore. From the five original members (Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore Workforce Development Agency, Singapore National Employers Federation and National Trades Union Congress), the Committee today comprises more than 10 member organisations from the government, unions, employer, employee and business association representatives.

The TriCom honoured, after rejecting hundreds others, 60 organisations at the Work-Life Excellence Award 2008. The biennial award pays tribute to employers for their successful implementation of Work-Life strategies in Singapore workplaces.

This year, a total of 20 companies were named winners of the Work-Life Excellence Award, while 40 companies received the Work-Life Achiever Award, evaluated based on criteria such as depth of implementation, employee engagement, effectiveness of initiatives and leaders’ commitment.

Dr Sam Yap receiving the WORK-LIFE EXCELLENCE AWARD 2008 and Dr Singh receiving the inaugural WORK-LIFE LEADERSHIP AWARD 2008 from Mr Gan Kim Yong, Acting Minister for Manpower

Mr Gan Kim Yong, the then Acting Minister for Manpower, Guest-of-Honour at the by-invitation only gala event said: “A sound Work-Life strategy enables employers to not only attract and retain the right talent for the job, but also benefit from a more positive relationship with the employees. For employees, good WorkLife practices allow them to manage their work responsibilities alongside personal and family commitments.”

WINNING THE ASEAN BUSINESS AWARD 2008 FOR THE MOST ADMIRED ENTERPRISE UNDER GROWTH The ASEAN Business Awards (ABA) is organized yearly by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) with the aim of recognising ASEAN companies which have contributed to the growth of the ASEAN economy as well as to profile promising ASEAN SMEs which could be global players. ABA 2008 was initiated to coincide with the annual ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN-BIS) which ASEAN-BAC organizes in conjunction with the annual ASEAN Summit.

Dr Sam Yap receiving the ASEAN MOST ADMIRED ENTERPRISE AWARD FOR GROWTH from His Excellency Anand Panyarachun, Former Prime Minister of Thailand

For 2008, ABA recognized the “Most Admired ASEAN Enterprise” across four categories: Growth, Employment, Innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility, for two areas of nominations: Larger Size Companies and SMEs. Out of the five Singaporean companies that had been selected as finalists for the 2008 ASEAN Business Awards, Cherie Hearts was conferred the “Most Admired ASEAN Enterprise” for the domain of Growth, in the SMEs category. During the award ceremony, Dr Sam Yap, our Group Executive Chairman, was presented with the award by Guest-of-Honour His Excellency Anand Panyarachun, Former Prime Minister of Thailand.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

43

WINNING THE TAFEP EXEMPLARY EMPLOYER AWARD 2010

Dr Sam Yap receiving the inaugural TAFEP Exemplary Employer Award from DPM Teo Chee Hean.

On 7th April 2010, we were honoured with yet another award, the TAFEP Exemplary Employer Award, during the opening ceremony of this year’s Conference on Fair Employment Practices. The Deputy Prime Minister presented this prestigious award to our Group Executive Chairman Dr Sam Yap and Minister for Defence Mr Teo Chee Hean in a grand ceremony held at the St Regis Hotel in the presence of Minister for Manpower Mr Gan Kim Yong and many prominent HR leaders and practitioners.

WINNING THE ASIA PACIFIC BRANDS AWARD 2013 ASIA PACIFIC BRANDS AWARD 2013 is a nation-wide initiative conferred to the finest commercial and consumers brands and organisations in Singapore. With the increasing number of finest local brands, achieving this esteemed hallmark of success is certainly a significant milestone in the branding journey of any local home-grown brands. The Award is created in 2011 by ASIA BUSINESS JOURNAL and supported by TRADE AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (SINGAPORE) TIAS to recognise and acknowledge promising brands and the entrepreneurs behind the brands. A salute to their achievements, professionalism in their business practise, ethics and contributions to the economy of Singapore.

SME ONE ASIA AWARD 2013 Htwo Education Holdings is also proud to announce that on 24 Oct 2013, the Company was given recognition in a star-studded event organised by the APF Group at the SME One Asia Awards held at the Marina Bay Sands to recognise and award small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Htwo Education Holdings was one of the 5 Top Winners in the “Emerging Award” category. This Award recognises startup SMEs that have achieved the rare and remarkable milestone in annual revenue during their formative years of operation. This Award is an achievement for the Company through a team effort of all Directors, colleagues and partners.

PROMISING SME 500 AWARD 2014 Htwo Education Holdings and Kip McGrath bagged the Promising SME500 ‘Business Luminary Award’ in 2014. An award that recognizes the exceptional achievements of business men and women, highlighting their commercial success and also recognizes their contributions to the economy and the community at large.

The award ceremony was held in Marina Bay Sands on 10 Sept 2014, with Guest-ofhonour Dr Amy Khor.

44

Htwo Education Holdings

Corporate Social Responsibility Community Involvement and Community Service has always been a value adopted by the Founders in their business activities.

This value is well-ingrained among the company’s employees.

Htwo Holdings commits to integrate CSR into our decision-making process to achieve wider economic, community and environmental impact in which we operate and through recognising positive developments in society. We sincerely hope that by embracing and implementing this concept we will be able to enhance our ability to pursue our business successfully in the long term.

As part of its CSR efforts, Htwo Holdings implements: • Enviromentally-Friendly Practices in our business processes and activities • Fair Labour-Management and Employment Practices • Employee Volunteerism and Community Service to the Disadvantaged and Needy • Family-Friendly Practices

MCDONALD’S CHILDREN CHARITY FUND We work with Ronald Macdonald’s Fund to established various Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) initiatives with them. Some of the initiatives are as follows: • • • •

Percentage of profits will be donated to them on an annual basis.

Joint events for the poorer children under their scheme.

Visits by our children to the less privileged homes of children.

Lunch and dinner sponsorships for less privileged children.

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY (NEA) ANNUAL DANCE COMPETITION We take part in the annual NEA dance competition for children. Such events brought about numerous participate from schools. The objective of such events is to create an awareness for children to understand the need of recycling and as such, our environment. Such programmes are also incorporated into our curriculum.

RECYCLE BINS IN ALL CHILDCARE CENTRES Each of our centre are equipped with a recycle bin made by teachers and children. On every Friday, we encourage the parents and children to bring in recycled materials to be thrown inside our recycle bin. We will then dispose off for recycling.

FREE CHILDCARE FOR LESS PRIVILEGED CHILDREN We are working closely with CDC to provide less privileged children with FREE quality childcare centres. As a Vice-Chairperson of CDC, our Director Alice is working with CDC to provide data of families who needs such services. We provide ONE free CHILDCARE service for EVERY 30 children per centre. We believe that children from the poorer homes shall not be deprived from good education.

www.htwoholdings.com.sg

45

GARDEN IN CHILDCARE CENTRES Most of our centres are equipped with a small spice/vegetables/fruis garden to allow children to appreciate nature. Allowing the children time slots to plant their own vegetables and fruits give them the ownership of nature. This also allows them to love and treasure the nature.

INCORPORATION OF INTEGRATED PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Htwo Holdings recognizes that a good and progressive childcare service provider should include services for all children with and without disabilities. For now, our services are devoted more for mainstream children.

It is in our drawing board to incorporate early childhood inclusion programme among the many services currently offered. We embrace the notion that young children with disabilities and their families are full members of the community. Hence, we believed in promoting opportunities for development and learning, and a sense of belonging for every child. However, we recognized that the provision of such specialized programmes and its implementation is much influenced by several factors. It is with this understanding that we will study and plan carefully the incorporation of such early childhood inclusion programme in our centres. Plans are already underway to form a core group of specialists in the field of special needs for young children to work towards the provision of inclusive and integrated programme for such children within the current childcare framework operating in our centres. Recruitment of Professional Staff has been in the process.

This core group of specialists will train qualified teachers to manage small groups of special needs children in centres should there be a demand for such services in the particular location. We will follow current guidelines provided by ECDA and adopt good standards and practices to ensure quality programmes. Link ups with experts, local and from abroad, to act as mentors and advisers will be undertaken. This programme will be piloted in one or two centres for a start and evaluated to study the outcomes before it is replicated in more centres.

ONE ASIA EDUCATION ALLIANCE GROUP SCC takes the lead in forming Asia first education alliance. This platform allows parents, teachers and children from various childcare centres/ enrichment centres/tuition centres/training centres to network and exchange best practices around Asia. The first initiative this year is to arrange a children exchange programmes between SCC and Dream Wings children in Shenzhen. Dream Wing is an organisation in Shenzhen with 20 dance and arts centres.

ASIA ONE EDUCATION ALLIANCE

Contacts & Governance For enquiries on Franchise and Business-related matters, please contact:

Ms Wenda Ng

Tel: +65 91883555 Email : wenda@htwoholdings.com.sg

46

For enquiries on corporate-related matters, please contact:

Mrs Ismail Ellias

Tel: +65 97601109 Email: ismail.ellias@htwoholdings.com.sg

Htwo Education Holdings

HTWO EDUCATION HOLDINGS PTE LTD Head Office: 697 East Coast Road, Singapore 459066 Tel: 6448 2680 Fax: 6448 2620 www.htwoholdings.com.sg © Htwo Education Holdings Pte Ltd Co. Reg.No.: 201106066G