Abstract

I once sat across from two individuals who had just been offered a VSS from a local airline and overheard this conversation. One said to the other, ‘I think I’ll go into business”. The other asked, “What business will you do?” “Not sure, but I heard that the food business is good”. “Oh so, you are going to be an entrepreneur?” “Yeah, time to make some money, you know”. Such conversations, in one form or another are taking place all around Malaysia, and also the world.

The ‘entrepreneurship’ buzzword has reached a crescendo as never before. Politicians, academicians and even the man-in-the-street do not hesitate to use the term. It’s de rigueur to use it; seemingly an emphasis of ‘up-to-datedness’. And most interestingly, it has become a blanket panacea for a host of ills; from graduate unemployment to national prosperity. It’s a word that today is much maligned, twisted and stretched to suit different needs. A pedantic approach needs to be taken to realign it to its true pedigree.