“So, in my early teens; I learned what it means to be independent because my mother wasn’t healthy and she is sometimes ‘emotionally disturbed’. I took up odd jobs, from wearing mascots to a lot of promoter jobs, ensuring that the my younger brother and mother has food on the table.
I was an ‘extreme’ student when it comes to result. I scored highly in science subjects but I was bad in language and subjects like history. Memorizing was not my strength, and so is language. For instance, I have lived in Kuala Lumpur for the last ten years but I still can’t speak Cantonese well! In Johor Bahru, we speak Mandarin because we watch Singaporean television programmes.
Because I got the best marks in Chemistry, I decided to study Chemistry for my degree. University Malaya was my first choice. I got in with 3As and 1B from my STPM, and you can guess the B I got was Pengajian Am (General Knowledge). Then I was lucky to continue with my phD because i received first class honours for my degree.
Again during my phD studies, I was looking to earn extra pocket money, so I tutored A-level Chemistry students. It was during this time I learned that tutors have to pay a high commission to agencies to get students.
I thought, why not connect teachers and students on a platform without going through a third party human? I watched one hour of YouTube video and created a wordpress site, serving as a website to link teachers and students without an agency. The demand grew, with a focus on education and different types of lesson. Then I hired freelance developers to kickstart the development of the platform you see today – AOne.
MaGIC taught me how to be an entrepreneur after my studies. The MaGIC Accelerator Program was intense and well-rounded, helping me to set the right track in my business. Fast-forward today, we have about 3,000 lesson providers in the span of two years.
This year we launched a software aimed to ease the management of learning centres known as AOne School. We hope to reduce the paperwork and processes learning centres go through in keeping track of their students.
If I could change something back in time, maybe, just a minor thought, I could have studied business instead of chemistry. However, this is after I knew I would be going into entrepreneurship, but I wouldn’t change anything major in my life because what has happened made me who I am today!”
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Humans of Kuala Lumpur is partnering withMalaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre(MaGIC) in featuring inspiring and impact-driven entrepreneurs, problem-solvers and startups in their mission to solve Malaysia’s problems!
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Photostory by Christine Cheah
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(This post was first published on September 21st 2018)
