Open For Business

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are essential to protect doctors and nurses. They are our frontline “soldiers” against the ongoing battle with the Covid-19 infection. Most of us have seen videos of different hospitals needing to DIY their own PPEs due to a sudden shortage of supplies. CZipLee made the decision to start DIYing face shields for some local frontliners, and it wasn’t long before the project grew to encompass a bigger goal. Project Shields On was born.

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Now this might not be an easy topic to discuss, or hear, but here’s the truth: The coronavirus is not only affecting the way that we live, it’s also dramatically affecting the way we die. Many countries around the world have changed the way in which funerals are organised and attended, and online memorials are now a part of this very different type of world in which we live.

We managed to speak with Walter Gschliesser, the CEO of Rest With Dignity on how this relatively new industry is helping to change one of humanity's oldest industries.

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With the MCO in place, lots of people are binging on TV shows, watching old movies, and spending more time with their respective streaming services. And now that everyone’s stuck at home with nowhere to go, it makes sense for gamers to game more than they normally would.

This got us thinking about some of our local videogame retail stores like Gamer’s Hideout - those rare brick and mortar setups that sell physical copies of games to a very passionate community of gamers. While they’re not allowed to operate their stores during the MCO, we noticed that, like many other stores, Gamer’s Hideout has switched to a completely online business model for the time-being. 

So we got in touch with Eddy Yap, founder of Gamer’s Hideout, to expand on what he’s doing to keep business going amidst the MCO.

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For large scale F&B manufacturers like Etika, which is Malaysia’s largest halal beverage manufacturing company,  the Movement Control Order has affected critical supply chains from functioning effectively. The company has been working to ensure that supermarket shelves are always well stocked while also working with a 50% capacity. Plus, they need to maintain social distancing protocols at work. This basically means they’ve had to take a closer look at their existing supply chains while setting new transport and logistics related protocols - all within a matter of hours after the MCO was announced.

To expand on this, we got in touch with Khalid Alvi, CEO of Etika, to weigh in on how they’re keeping the supply chain steady, while also keeping employees happy and doing their part for the community. 

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Jobbie Peanut Butter has become somewhat of a local favorite over the last few years with their crunchy and creamy lineup. The famous peanut butter recipe was created by Joseph and Debbie, while the company is led by Victor Chin. However, like all other startups, Jobbie is on the verge of serious financial issues and were very open about it via a post on Facebook, in which they explained their situation and the need to take pre-orders for AFTER the MCO period. 

We got in touch with Victor Chin, CEO of Jobbie Nut Butter, to expand on their situation, as well as weigh in on the MCO, the supply chain, as well as the stimulus package that’s supposed to help SMEs survive this pandemic.

Grub Cycle is part of Alliance Bank's #SupportLokal campaign.

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While traditional brick-and-mortar retail suffers under the Movement Control Order, those who have been quick to shift online are beginning to bear the fruits of their labor. We speak to cross-border ecommerce specialists Everpeaks about forced digital adoption by business owners and consumers alike following the onset of Covid-19, how to pivot to direct-to-consumer commerce, and how to position your brand for global supply.

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For medical professionals, treating COVID-19 induced complications is tricky because of how new the virus is. There isn’t enough data to refer to in order to treat patients at risk of developing pneumonia or other breathing issues. Or is there? We speak to Eduardo Gonzalez, Vice President of Skymind Neurobionix, about using AI to assist doctors and nurses in proactively treating patients for complications even before they begin. Technology is a tool we’ve always had at our disposal, and controversial concepts like Artificial Intelligence might just be the key to stopping COVID-19 once and for all.

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While traditional brick & mortar businesses suffer during this pandemic, many agile retailers have found a lifeline by taking their businesses online. We’ve heard how online sales are booming in certain segments, like healthcare and supplements, as well as hygiene products, but there are merchants that are still struggling during this extended lockdown as their products are not what we would consider essential items at this time.

Now this poses a unique problem for Lamboplace. Founded by in 2018, Lamboplace is a fairly new online marketplace that offers trusted quality products in the lifestyle categories such as fashion, beauty, gadgets and home. And this is the stuff no one’s really looking to purchase right now, because of the economic and financial uncertainty that’s plaguing every other segment of the population. So we caught up with CEO of Lamboplace, Dato Jason Yap to get some insights into how the ecommerce space has been affected by Covid-19 and what Lamboplace is doing to help merchants on the platform weather this storm.

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There’s been a huge emphasis on hygiene and sanitization lately thanks to COVID-19, with lots of employers sanitizing their workspaces and people keeping their homes cleaner than ever before in hopes of warding off the virus. Jes Min - she’s the CEO and Co-founder of the Recommend Group, has dealt with these areas of expertise for a very long time. Recommend is a platform that helps customers look for home-related services like home maintenance, sanitization, aircon cleaning, as well as interior design. They basically connect customers to the few thousand service providers in Malaysia who are on their app. Jes Min speaks on what business has been like for the past few weeks. 

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It goes without saying that the Movement Control Order has been affecting businesses everywhere. The situation isn’t good and a lot of SMEs may be on the verge of bankruptcy soon if they don’t pivot or find other ways to make money. But according to Raymond Miranda, entrepreneurs could turn that sense of fear into creative solutions to save their business. 

Raymond is the CEO and Founder of a coaching consultancy called Labora[s]tory and was recently featured in an article on THE EDGE MARKETS titled ‘Ditching The Loop of Panic and Fear’ for local SMEs. We got in touch with Raymond to expand on this, as a slightly more positive way to start the week.

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