Special Session: Crafting Our Nation's New Collective Narrative

Shared prosperity as a driver of business.

PichaEats serves not just food but stories.

Through food business, PichaEats provide refugees the livelihood and platform to illustrate how they can add value to our economy and society. Although business was negatively affected during the pandemic, the company pivoted to freezer meals, subscription-based order and catering in a box business models to sustain the livelihoods of refugee chefs.

Farm Fresh emphasizes balanced growth.

Company’s core value is the well-being of customers, by producing high-quality dairy products with good ingredients and without preservatives. Conscious effort is made to develop local communities through micro-entrepreneurship opportunities (e.g., home dealers, stockists), especially for women homemakers.

Combining profitability and sustainability visions.

When there is an economic saving, what meets the eye takes the backseat.

The negative environment impacts of fossil fuels are visible, but it is cheaper than renewable fuels. We must resist the tendency to continue diesel’s usage, for example, despite its lower financial cost.

FatHopes Energy’s sustainability belief combines social, environmental and economic impacts.

They turn fats, oil and grease waste into biofuel, moving away from existing practice of repurposing used oil back into the food supply chain. Their native apps provide comprehensive support and fully integrated system which enhances business profitability and scalability for long-term success.

There is never a right person or time to take up challenges.

Finding solutions to challenges is difficult, e.g., FatHopes is a very logistics-intensive and chemistry-centred undertaking that may not be attractive. However, there should be no reluctance – one just has to courageously do it.

Technology, innovation and entrepreneurship as our collective narrative.

Malaysia already has the talent but needs execution strategies.

We need to strengthen our supply via improvements in patent filling, expenditure on R&D and talent development. Innovation must also be pushed out of the lab and into the real world via successful commercialization of research and the scaling of local innovation to global markets to improve GDP, create more jobs and attract investments.

Enablers need to be involved in this transformation.

Governments, public and private investors should provide funding and support. This must be done rapidly to enable changes.

The people are our country’s greatest asset.

Not only the talent, but also the commitment to do what is right, regardless of one’s background, is sufficient for each person to make a positive difference in the nation and the world. #KitaJagaKita and the #WhiteFlag movements are testaments to that.