From a creative childhood to a social entrepreneur, Yap Sue Yii shares her journey of resilience and innovation in empowering women through Komuniti Tukang Jahit
It is said that right-brained people benefit from traits such as creativity, intuition and holistic thinking. They tend to see the big picture, envision future possibilities and excel at finding innovative solutions to challenges. Social entrepreneur Yap Sue Yii considers herself to fall into this category of people.
Founder and CEO of Malaysia-based social enterprise Komuniti Tukang Jahit (KTJ), which translates to “Community of Seamstresses” in English, she harnesses her creativity to provide sustainable livelihoods for underprivileged women, particularly single mothers and those from low-income backgrounds.
KTJ provides them with job opportunities in corporate gift creation and customisation services. It also receives orders for handmade business items, uniforms, tags, and notebooks, which are assigned to its beneficiaries to work on.
The organisation also provides the women with comprehensive sewing training and leverages its sales and marketing expertise to connect them with customers, to ensure they have a steady stream of orders.
To date, KTJ has supported close to 300 women and generated nearly $90,000 in income for them.
Yap shares why she chose to start her social enterprise and the importance of balancing social impact with business viability.
Read more: Starting up: how these entrepreneurs launched their ventures
Turning passion into business
Growing up in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Yap recalls how she spent countless hours drawing, painting and sculpting in her free time. She drew inspiration from watching Art Attack, a popular British children’s television programme focused on arts and crafts, and would collect discarded materials around her home to create her works.
Her interest in art grew in high school, where she was vice president of the art club for two years. The role boosted her confidence in her creative abilities and taught her valuable lessons in budgeting and sourcing materials. “I took pride in scouring Kuala Lumpur for the best art supplies at the lowest prices. I travelled from Pudu market to Petaling Street in search of budget-friendly items that I could turn into beautiful decorations,” she recalls.
Read more: Draco Evolution’s Steve Chen and Jack Fu on building legacy and the future of finance
When she was 13, Yap started offering to customise her classmates’ shoes. Her rates would go from RM15 (US$3) for simple designs to RM25 (US$5) for more complex requests. Her parents supported her side hustle, even giving tips on how to manage orders and costs. “My mom taught me how to create measurement sheets so I could take orders from my classmates based on their footprints while my dad taught me how to calculate costs. This was my first taste of running a business.”
In college, Yap sold her art on platforms such as Etsy, Facebook and Instagram. “I created custom pieces for buyers in the US, progressing from selling RM15 coloured feathers to RM500 (US$107) art pieces,” she says. The experience fuelled her interest in running her own business.
