New to SNG's, question on pre-flop play.

[Koss]

After about a year of playing poker I've decided to learn the SnG game starting at the Party $11's, which I find to be incredibly soft. I feel like I've got a pretty good understanding of NL Hold'em, and I've been reading posts here trying to get a feel for some of the concepts exclusive to SnG's. The one thing I've noticed is some people being criticized for limping with some speculative hands.

I've always followed the 5-10% rule, where it's ok to play any speculative hand for less than 5% of your stack, never more than 10%, and inbetween is at your discretion. I've been calling 60 chip raises in the early going with some small pairs hoping to stack an overpair. Is this something people do in these things, or is it best to play ultra-conservative early on to save chips?