Story of Five Micro Indian Business People, Creating wealth from the bottom

By Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria

On Sunday morning I rushed from a meeting in KL to Kapar to meet up with a number of micro Indian business people who had gathered in a school to hear a micro credit briefing from different financial institutions organized by the Taskforce. The crowd was impressive close to about 70 people, all involved in some business and also in need of credit.

As I chatted with various people and a number of stories impressed me. Often we hear of negative images and stories but like the group of women I met in Hutang Merlintang I was really impressed with these five people as they strive in the market place using their skills and abilities in creating wealth.

Sankaran SJYTS Verra Enterprise

Sankaran is a farmer for the past six years. He set up SJYTS Verra Enterprise doing farming namely rearing kampong (village) chickens, turkey and fish. He operates in a three acres land and has two foreign workers. In the past he tried applying for a Tekun loan but failed. However recently he secured a RM100, 000 loan from Agro Bank to enlarge his business. He is active in MIC, RT and Credit Union Cooperative.

His long term vision is crab rearing in mangrove swamp area. He has done some studies on this and is confident that this will be a money spinner for him in creating wealth. He came to hear thoughts as well as make the contacts. His request was introductions to Ministry of Agriculture for advice and support on crab rearing in mangrove swaps.

Tamilarasan is also a farmer based in Kuala Selangor near Built Rotan area. He set up Sancare Enterprise in 1995 and has been operating since. He rears locals cows, goats, kampong chicken & ducks for meat. Although he has a five acres piece of land he operates on two for the farm and the remaining three are planted with oil palm. He has got five workers of whom one is a foreign worker. He said thus far he has not taken a loan but has operated from family resources.

He too is exploring how to enlarge his business through purchase of foreign cows and goats for meat sale. He is another great example of one creating wealth at the bottom through agriculture

Mrs Sagunthallah, optimist for the future

Mrs Sagunthallah is doing direct sales for the past 12 years. She buys and sells clothes and sarees in estates and low income house areas. She had secured an earlier loan from BSN for RM30, 000 a number of years ago but has defaulted. She still has an outstanding debt of RM8, 000. She came to seek advice on this loan and how to proceed with a new loan to revive her business. She said due to various reasons she has had financial difficulties which has affected her business. However she still is able to earn about RM2, 000 from her sales as she goes around selling in the neighborhoods. She stated that she does not have a separate account for her business and therefore faced difficulties in keeping a balance between personal funds and business investments. She plans to change her management of business and the business talk has inspired her.

People face success in micro business as well as hurdles and difficulties. Therefore business advice and consul including support is necessary. She too is a good example of hard work and industry. Her study is typical of many people who need encouragement but they survive in the market. With a little support for business related agencies people like Sagunthallah will also become sustainable models at the bottom.

Chandrasegran is a farmer operating in two acres of land planting vegetables. His farm is Diya Agro Farm. As he has bought up the land recently he needs funds for planting and therefore is seeking a RM50,000 loan from Agro bank. He has been successfully running this vegetable farm for the past two years. He made a switch from his manufacturing employment to pursue this new career.

Here is a risk taker. Making a shift from a previous employment to take on a new field, investing his life saving on a piece of land and learning a new trade is outstanding. He also seems very confident and has been operating his farm for the past 2 years without securing a loan. He now feels the need now for the additional cash to enlarge and expand.

Arumugam runs a transport business for the past eight years with his wife. His business is entitled Mithra Trading. They operate a van to transport workers to nearby factories. He is seeking a loan to enlarge his business too and was happy to participate in the financial talk and speak with bank officers about his loan prospects.

Very often in micro business families are involved to keep operating cost low and therefore Arumugan is seeking to do that is running his transport business. He too is hard working managing his time and asserts well.

Lessons learnt

 



Datuk Denison together with local leaders like
Mr Ganesan & Mr Kalai who organised the micro credit program



These five real life stories  are stories of ordinary people creating wealth in the market place. They need the support and encourage to grow bigger from informal to formal, from micro to small and upwards. There is tremendous potential in self help and self reliance. The Taskforce will play an enabling role linking people with agencies like BSN & Agro Bank for micro credit  and AKPK of Bank Negara for financial counseling and advice.