New Breed of Young UM Entrepreneurs

by Ezuan Yaacob

Kuala Lumpur: Freshmen prove they could successfully become young entrepreneurs on the two-day event .

The two-day Entrepreneurship Day, which began on Wednesday (Oct 8), was held in the University of Malaya (UM) at the Kompleks Perdana Siswa (KPS) where freshmen sold a variety of items ranging from food and drinks to women’s accessories, was a success.

This event was part of their project assignments for the university’s compulsory Asas Pembudayan Keusahawanan (APK) or Basic Entrepreneurship Culture course.

The event was a success as big turnouts of visitors came to the event. According to the Vice Project Manager, Mohd Fuad Afifi bin Zahkar, who is a freshman himself, said “it is wonderful to see many people come to visit and spend on the booths. It is also a surprise for us”.

The young entrepreneurs, who are freshmen from the Academy of Malay Studies, the Science Faculty, and the Arts and Social Sciences Faculty, opened more than 20 booths selling many different varieties of food, drinks, women’s accessories, t-shirts and even digital dictionaries (e-kamus). They also had booths for henna art and medical checkup services.

Surprisingly, the freshman collected their own money which they used as funds for the event.

A premier doughnut company, ‘J & Co.’, also participated in the Entrepreneurship Day, selling doughnuts at a ‘student’ price and providing delivery to residential colleges in UM for free during the event.

Another freshman who is involved in the event said this event is a good way to gain experience in entrepreneurship. “I have never been involved in anything like this. These two days taught me many things that involve interaction with people,’ said Mohammad Faizal bin Abidin. ‘This (event) helps to build my soft skills, especially the ones needed in business management.”

A surprise was also in store for visitors when a traditional Chinese lion dance group showed up and entertained the visitors with their performance on the last day of the event.