Success Stories

Persons With Disabilities

afiq

Afiq

Income Before: RM 3,000 – Income After: RM 20,000

Afiq was a marketing executive before he met with a horrible accident that left him paralysed from the waist down. Because of that, he was laid off and was in depression. However, after the RISE program, he discovered his true passion for cars and started creating automotive parts for people with disabilities. Today, he’s running a successful workshop with 4 other people with disabilities and can afford taking his family out on holidays overseas.

Afiq had a good stable job working as a marketing executive at a property agency for 5 years. In 2013, on his way to work, he met in a terrible accident which caused him to be paralyzed below the waist. He suffered from spinal cord injury and was not able to use both his legs.

Eventually, Afiq decided to start his own business. He started off by selling mixed rice and western food at a food stall in order to sustain himself, but he had difficulty trying to sell his products and earn a decent income. After attending the R.I.S.E. training, he realised what and where he needed to improve in his business. It opened his eyes to newer perspectives. 

While successfully running his food business, Afiq realised that he had always been more interested in the automobile industry. By using what he learned from the Business Profiling Module, he realised that he could turn his interest into a business. As a result of that, he started to design his own automobile parts for his car, which is specially designed for PWDs. He designed the part, created the part and installed it in his own car. He noticed that his design was excellent and useful. From there, he decided to bring his design to Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) to get the approval to sell. The JPJ officers were so impressed with his design, they approved it on the first inspection itself.

From there he found a business opportunity. Together with a friend, who is also his partner now, they managed to rent a workshop to produce specialized parts that could help PWDs to drive, improving their mobility. Afiq is the brains behind the design of the parts and his partner, who is also disabled (Khairul Anuar) is in charge of operations. 

Together, they created automobile parts that are catered for all kinds of PWDs, including those who suffer from dwarfism, specialized accelerator pads for those with leg disabilities, parts for those with spinal cord injury, portable hand drives, which can be used on any car and side cars for motorbikes. All these items are of his own design. 

Using the Sales Strategy that was taught by R.I.S.E, Afiq would target the PWD community by meeting up with doctors from different hospitals, various disabled agencies, rehab centres and gave out flyers. Besides that, he also created a Facebook page after implementing the leanings from the Social Media Marketing module to promote his automotive parts business using Facebook ad. As a result of all his efforts, he now has customers all over Malaysia, including Sabah & Sarawak. He even has customers over at Indonesia, where he travels there to fix the car parts for them. 

Because of his new-found success after the R.I.S.E training, Afiq managed to create job opportunities for his parents as he handed over the food business to them. Previously his father was only a grab driver but today, he is fully dedicated to the food business. They are really glad that they have something to do now. Besides his family, he has also created job opportunities for other people with disabilities where he hired 3 wheelchair bound people to work at his workshop.

He is more confident now. He realised that he can use his interest to not only generate income but to help others as well. On top of that, he is proud to be able to afford to take his entire family out for holidays overseas such as Thailand & Indonesia.

fakri

Fakri

Income Before: RM 3,000 – Income After: RM 20,000

As an active young man, Fakri’s life changed when he was involved in an accident in 2008, where he had to have his left leg amputated below the knee. Since then, he went on to start a graphic design and printing shop, but business became stagnant. After the program, he became eager to face new challenges. Today, he’s now working on huge projects and is able to buy his parents a house.

Fakri was involved in a road accident at 18 when he lost control of his motorcycle and hit a road divider. From that accident, his left leg was badly injured, and the doctors have no choice but to amputate his left leg up to the knee to save his life.

During his recovery period, Fakri was unable to continue his studies for a while and he fell into depression as he could no longer do the things he used to do when he was abled. The only support he had at that time was his long-time sweetheart and eventually they decided to get married. Now, Fakri is blessed with two beautiful children. In order to support him and his family, he started a printing business at a small scale. 

In the past, business was slow because Fakri used to wait for customers to come to his shop because he didn’t know how to target the right audience or market his services. Furthermore, he only offered limited services such as printing and scanning and didn’t know how to stand out from the competition.

During the R.I.S.E training, Fakri learned the proper way to market his business through the Sales Strategy module by opening a Facebook account to promote on social media, as well as giving out flyers and targeting specific customers, and this has further elevated his income. Furthermore, by implementing the Customer Analysis module, he started to look for customers who can provide him mass sales like the government agencies, corporate bodies and local businesses for printing services. 

On top of that, by using the learnings from the Customer Value Preposition module, he further enhanced his business by providing designing services for his customers. This approach helped him to increase his income. As a young father of two, Fakri also realised the importance of managing his finances from the R.I.S.E training in order to care for the welfare of his family. With that, he started budgeting and tracking his finances both for his personal expenses and business.

Today, Fakri is earning a comfortable salary for his family. The proudest moment for Fakri was when he was able to purchase a house for his parents. Besides that, he has been providing sponsorship for his able-bodied siblings by paying for their education and study materials. He is thankful for the chance to be able to attend the R.I.S.E program as it has truly changed his life for the better.

anis

Anis

Income Before: RM 2,000 – Income After: RM 7,000

Anis, who was born with dwarfism, was often a very reserved and shy individual as she was mostly ashamed of her disabilities. While running her food business, business was slow as she was afraid of approaching customers. Today, she stands tall as a proud entrepreneur and is currently running both a successful restaurant and food truck business. 

Anis, who is married and has 4 children was in the beginning of her venture when she joined the R.I.S.E. programme not long after the pilot phase was launched. Although she had a food truck business that was up and running, income was becoming stagnant at that point. She usually starts her operations in the evening until slightly pass midnight, 7 days a week. However, she only earns about RM 2,000 a month. This is almost hard to cater for the living expenses of a family of 6, especially in the city. 

Anis, who was a reserved person in nature, tends to shy away from opportunities due to her disabilities. She felt uncomfortable being in the forefront due to society’s stigmatization and had many negative stereotypes thrown her way, especially about her short-statured condition. These effects were evident during her childhood and continued into adulthood, and it severed her confidence.

Nevertheless, everything changed for the better at the R.I.S.E. programme. Through the Awareness and Change module that she learnt from the R.I.S.E programme, Anis learned how to change her perception about herself and she became determined find ways to maneuver herself through the odds. Having faced discrimination over the years, she wanted to elevate herself from her current economic situation, not solely for herself but for the sake of her family. 

3 years later, Anis is now standing tall as an entrepreneur and recently took over a restaurant that was suffering losses from a relative. She did not depend on financial aid or loans, but she used what she learned from the R.I.S.E Financial Management module and saved her down-payment from the profits she made from her food truck business. 

Not only did her food truck business bring a steady income after she targeted the right customers using the Customer Analysis module, she also incorporated new business strategies to create awareness for her business using what she learned from the Sales Strategy module. She also used the learnings from the Social Media Marketing module and  managed to use the power of social media to promote her business. Today, people would flock to her truck even before they began operating, and some would wait for hours during peak times. “All of these would not have materialized if I had not joined the Maybank R.I.S.E. programme and used what I learnt.”, said Anis.

Now that the food truck business is established and sustains a good income, Anis has shifted her concentration towards her new venture- the restaurant. With that, she and her children shifted to a small town in north Kedah to develop the business there. She took over a restaurant in December 2017, and today she is already seeing potential. Using the strategies and techniques that were taught by R.I.S.E, she decided to turn the business into a Fusion Food restaurant as per the Blue Ocean module, and it managed to make a significant profit margin over the last few months. 

She also admits that the programme helped her to stay grounded. “With all the extra money we make, one can demand many things in life. The R.I.S.E. programme also helped me to stay on my finances and kept check on my lifestyle. I constantly remind myself to budget and track my expenses to avoid wastage. Moving to a smaller town helped me and my family cope the rising cost of living in the city”, she added. 

With the growing business both in the restaurant and food truck business, Anis was able to provide jobs for able bodied people to help operate the business. She now looks forward to seeing her restaurant grow the way her food truck business did. With the support of her family members and with determination, she aspires to be inspiring other people around her- especially from the disabled community, to also breakaway from the common stereotypes and strive for income increase and above all, dismiss the belief that disability is a barrier to achieving success in life.

Luluk

Luluk

Income Before: IDR 1,000,000 – Income After: IDR 5,500,000

Luluk, who suffers from Polio at a very young age, have always been conscious about her condition and eventually became shy and reserved. Despite being qualified, she often faced discrimination due to her disabilities and it has affected her self-confidence. After attending the program, she became motivated to work harder and grew her business. Today, she is proud to afford her daughter’s education and her physical disability no longer hinders her from achieving success.

Luluk Indrawati is the youngest daughter of the family. Since a very young age, she suffers from Polio and this has affected her ability to walk. Since her youth, it has always been difficult for her to understand how her life is different from most children; from being able to run around freely to being imprisoned by a numb leg. Growing up, she became conscious about her condition and chose to hide herself at home. Her friends and families, out of fear of accidentally injuring her, avoided her, and it significantly left a deep scar in her childhood.

As strong and capable as she was, the world seemed to only see her physical limitations. She could not find any company that would take a chance on hiring her even though she has a Diploma in Electro-Telematics. She felt discriminated by people’s prejudice and was severely disappointed. One day, Luluk decided to stop fighting against the current and decided to create her own opportunity.

With the support of her husband, she opened a shop called Prasadam that focuses on selling cakes and breads. She was confident in finding the right recipes as well as baking the cakes and bread, but for her to run a business, it was way beyond her comfort zone. She did everything that she could to grow her business. For her and her small family, Prasadam is proof of her capabilities and their only source of income. 

As time went on, it became devastating for her to see fewer and fewer people coming to the bakery, and it was even more frustrating not knowing what to do about it. At one point, she hit rock bottom with Prasadam and with almost no income, her daughter’s education was at risk. Her perseverance and confidence to move forward was at its lowest – until she attended the R.I.S.E programme.

It was during the 3-day R.I.S.E training that she found her calling, through the Awareness and Change module, and she had experienced a significant mind-set change. She felt motivated to grow her business and was excited to apply the strategies she learned for her business. She even went the extra mile by approaching the trainers to get more in-depth consultation on her business situation and all the while, passionately taking notes. She shared, “After attending many trainings out there, this is the first time the modules that were taught are so clear and easy to understand, and most importantly, it can be directly applied to the business.”

Among the learnings she implemented from the Maybank R.I.S.E training was the Customer Analysis module, where she learned to identify and target big clients. Besides that, she also made use of the Sales Strategy module by promoting her business to the village as well as to those living outside the village to increase sales. She also implemented the learnings from the Blue Ocean module by creating themed cakes and bread according to the event or occasion to stand out more. In just 3 months after the training, she managed to grow her business tremendously. 

Today, Luluk is proud to be able to enroll her daughter to the middle school in her village. She no longer fears having to risk her daughter’s education. Instead, she uses it as her cause to push herself harder. She could even afford small luxuries such as a scooter for her daughter. Luluk hopes to be able to continue providing a comfortable life for her family as well as quality education for her daughter, thanks to the R.I.S.E training by Maybank.

Sopian

Sopian

Income Before: IDR 1,500,000 – Income After: IDR 15,000,000

During his childhood days, Sopian was met with the unfortunate Polio virus that affected his left eye and leg. Because of that, he made it a mission to help fellow PWDs, but was unable to realize this dream due to his struggling business. After attending the program, he learned how to properly market his business and is now employing other people with disabilities.

Sopian lost his left eye and left leg to the polio virus infection during his childhood days. Fortunately, his family has always supported and encouraged him to be the best version of himself. Because of that, Sopian grew up to be a cheerful man full of positivity. Despite his family’s support, he still has to face the prejudice of the outside world, the underestimating looks, and the insulting comments from the people around him. He went through it all and understands how difficult it is to be a PWD and how precious it is to have a support system. It is his dream to be able to create that support system within the PWD community.

In 2016, he started crafting and selling doormats. Sopian did not have any business plan and was unaware of the importance of having a good business strategy. For 2 years his business was barely surviving, and his income was just enough to feed his wife and child. There were days where he even had to go to bed starving. At this point in life, his dream of helping the PWD community seemed beyond his reach. More than offering help, he was in urgent need of a helping hand. He was eager to move forward, but he felt lost not knowing which way to go. 

In 2018, he attended the R.I.S.E training programme that transformed his life. During the training, Sopian found the answers that he was looking for to revive his business. His knowledge had been broadened and he felt unstoppable – he was excited to apply all the new strategies that he learned during the 3-day training. 

Sopian began by implementing the Customer Analysis module by targeting supermarkets and local stores to sell his doormats. This has significantly increased his sales from IDR 1,500,000 to IDR 15,000,000. Besides that, he utilized what he learnt from the Blue Ocean module by reducing the number of designs of his doormats and focused more on those with basic designs, which is more popular among the customers. He would also diligently approach customers via door-to-door and use the strategies he learnt from the Sales Personalities module to approach customers more effectively. 

Using his income increase, the first thing Sopian did was to realize his dream – empowering the PWDs. With that in mind, he created jobs and started recruiting PWDs to help him with his doormat production. He taught the PWDs the proper way to craft a doormat and made sure they produce quality products. He treated them like family and created a strong support system among his team. Besides that, he also rented a bigger house that has enough space for his family to live comfortably and for his production activities to be conducted. Sopian never thought of having all that he has now, and he is thankful for being given this chance by Maybank’s R.I.S.E programme.

Jonathan

Jonathan

Income Before: Income Before: PHP9,000 – Income After: PHP30,000

Having gone through a tragic accident that caused him to walk with a limp, Jonathan and his siblings lost their parents at a young age, leaving him the breadwinner of the family. Despite his efforts to make a living along with his other siblings, their combined income weren’t enough to feed the family. After attending the program, Jonathan used the learnings that were taught and his business flourished. Today, he can afford to buy his younger siblings school supplies and see that they have a good education.

In 2013, Jonathan borrowed his friend’s motorcycle, not knowing that the foot brake was not working. It crashed, cutting across the biggest vein underneath his right foot. While it was saved from being amputated, he could no longer walk straight, and started limping with his injured foot. 

As if that wasn’t enough, Jonathan lost both of his parents. His father died in 2008 due to excessive smoking, while his mother died in 2015 due to cancer, leaving their 6 children behind to fend for themselves. He, together with his other siblings, felt abandoned, hopeless, and lost. Jonathan thought to himself: “How are 6 children going to survive without their parents? Where am I going to find any money for us when I have a disability?”

Being the eldest child, Jonathan took up the responsibility of being the breadwinner for his siblings, as they were all left behind. He has always been a businessman selling watches, but his income, even when combined with his two other siblings, was always not enough for their family’s needs. He did not know how to expand his business back then, nor did he know any strategies on how to make his business more profitable. He had a lot of competitors too and did not know how to effectively compete with them. He thought that customers just come and go, that getting sales was just pure luck, not putting much thought into his business. He was also shy towards his customers and did not know how to properly approach them.  

When he attended the RISE program, he was enlightened by the modules, and felt motivated to improve his business. To effectively compete with his business competitors, he started applying the Blue Ocean strategy. He ventured into other business products that his competitors did not have.  After attending the training, he also became more confident in dealing with customers, as he already knew how to approach them.  He is now more focused on his business and knows how to manage it well. Three months after attending the RISE program, his monthly income went from PHP9,000 to a whopping PHP30,000. He was overjoyed, as his additional income has become a big help for their family. 

Because of his new income, he is now able to support the needs of their family. Apart from being able to afford enough food for everyone, he can now also pay their electricity and water bills regularly.

His siblings are very thankful for his efforts to help their family.  In fact, he can now also support the studies of his youngest brother, who is only 15 years old.  Apart from school fees, his brother was very happy when Jonathan was able to buy him new sets of school uniforms and school materials.  Jonathan hopes to see his brother graduate from college, so he started saving part of his income for his future.

According to him, “the RISE program made me realize that in spite of my disability and in spite of losing my parents, I am still able to reach everything that I thought I could not.” 

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