Singapore's self-made 'Crystal King'

SINGAPORE'S homegrown "Crystal King" David Chan received numerous warnings from friends and family when he started Garden Home Gifts and Souvenirs in 2006.

After all, this was a completely different industry from his previous maid agency business where he had a 20,000-strong customer base. Despite those warnings, Mr Chan pushed on with his ambitions, eventually branching out to build his own crystal empire.

Under the "Garden Home" brand, Mr Chan started three companies, namely his now-defunct Garden Home maid agency, Garden Home Gifts and Souvenirs, as well as Garden Home Crystal Palace.