In a commentary, SMU School of Economics Associate Dean (Faculty Research) and Professor of Economics Hoon Hian Teck said that multinational corporations played a major role in Singapore’s transition from a Third World to a First World country. As Singapore reaches the status of a mature economy, it must find new sources of growth – for example, start-ups by entrepreneurs in the SME sector. Citing Stanford University Professor Edward Lazear’s research, it was suggested that a well-rounded person, that is, a generalist is more likely to become an entrepreneur. Applying Professor Lazear’s findings to Singapore, Prof Hoon suggested that our education system should create the flexibility to allow people to have breadth in their curriculum.