A GUNG-HO attitude, a desire to take on the world and the lofty ideal to make engineering - a discipline that has taken a back seat in recent years to the allure of finance and all things software-related - sexy again.

As a young accountant with working experience at a Big Four auditor back in 2003, Eric Lew was ready and raring to bring his family business to greater heights.

But now, 13 years on, he laughs ruefully when asked about how things went down.