WE HAVE all heard of big names like Poh Heng Jewellery, Scanteak and Ya Kun Kaya Toast - family businesses that proudly tell the tales of small beginnings.
Today they are household names, a legacy that decendants must continue, because their success is pride, joy and a livelihood that the entire family shares in.
I can relate.
I still remember when my enterprising grandfather, chairman of his father’s confectionary ingredient business, was perfecting a recipe for a konnyaku jelly powder mix some years ago.
For months, Sunday family lunches would end with variations of the jelly, and his 11 grandchildren would tell him if it was too hard, too chewy, or just right.
And then, like Taiwanese bubble tea and Rotiboy coffee buns, the konnyaku jelly craze hit Singapore, and I could proudly tell friends: "You know, my grandfather has a mix you should try."
Now a third-generation business, much of my family’s identity has become fused with the business - practically every uncle or auntie I have works there.
Yet among the fourth-generationers old enough to help out, we have chosen to join the ranks of teachers, lawyers and journalists instead.
In fact, joining the business is an option I have hardly considered, which leads me to wonder if any of us great-grandchildren will finally be in-charge 50 years from today.
But I must say that there is something alluring about having a legacy; the idea that generations down someone will be Googling a business, an issue or a movement, and find your name amongst its milestones.
It’s the idea that what you’ve done was so significant, others can’t help but talk about it, and when someone mentions your name, everyone responds with "ah"s of recognition.
Despite growing up in a family of businessmen, my preference for shopping rather than keeping shop probably means I’m unlikely to continue in the tradition of business.
But to have a legacy and know that I’ve made a difference -- that’s something else altogether.
I’ll let you know I’ve done something worth Googling.
Read about how family and small businesses are coping in today's Saturday Special Report.