To mark Malaysia Day, we salute some local products and inventions that have made an impact.
GRAB
ORIGINALLY established in 2012 as MyTeksi in Malaysia, Grab is a technology company that offers a wide range of ride-hailing and logistics services through its app. Besides Malaysia, Grab is present in six countries across the region – Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. Heavy traffic jams in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia have prompted for the GrabBike's motorcycle service rides.
MUDAH.MY
MUDAH.MY is an online classified-ads website that caters primarily to the Malaysian market. Stemming from the Malay word "mudah" that means "easy", it refers to the ease in which members may find, buy, and sell almost anything near where they are in a very simple manner. Over the past decade, the platform has become a comprehensive marketplace for everyday needs and wants, from automobiles and electronics to home appliances, toys and collectibles.
JOBSTREET.COM
REMEMBER when you were looking for a job and Jobstreet.com was the preferred site? The company was founded in Malaysia in 1997, the job portal offers a comprehensive suite of interactive recruitment services. It now has a team of 800 individuals, and a strong local presence in every country in which it operates. Jobstreet.com's success in Malaysia is accentuated by the many awards and accolades at the national and regional level. The company is listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia.
UPIN & IPIN
UPIN & Ipin is a Malaysian television series of animated shorts produced by Les' Copaque Production. It features the adventures of 5-year-old twins in a fictional Malaysian village. Originally a side project for the blockbuster animated film Geng: The Adventure Begins, Upin & Ipin was introduced in 2007 as a six-episode Ramadan/Eid special. As of this year, the series has reached its 11th season, and bagged numerous awards and recognitions locally and internationally.
FASHIONVALET
VIVY Sofinas Yusof and her husband, Fadzarudin Shah Anuar, founded the first Malaysian multi-label fashion e-commerce site which stocks products from over 500 Southeast Asian designers. It ships all around the world. The company has offices and warehouses in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. It has also expanded its physical reach by launching retail stores in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
PENDRIVE
USB (universal serial bus) storage devices like pendrives, thumb drives or flash drives are a common item these days. But did you know that the inventor of the pendrive is a Malaysian? Pua Khein Seng hails from Sekinchan, Selangor and is even regarded as the "father of pendrive". After founding Phison Electronics Corp in Taiwan in 2000, he made his mark by creating the world's first single chip USB flash drive when he was 27 years old.
ALIEN HIVE
THIS is a cute match-three game made by Appxplore Sdn Bhd, a mobile game development studio based in Kuala Lumpur. The main purpose of the game is to swipe tiles to make matches, combine eggs to hatch cute baby aliens, and then help them evolve into Supreme Aliens. The game has won the Indie Showcase Top 10 Award & Best Art Award by Casual Connect Asia 2013. This addictive game has also surpassed three million downloads since its debut in 2013.
PENSONIC
FOUNDED in 1965 by Datuk Chew Weng Khak, he started his business as a small shop in Penang, selling electrical appliances and trading under the name Keat Radio Co. Only in 1982, did the Pensonic Group begin importing and assembling the first batch of audio and visual products under the Pensonic brand. The brand name "Pensonic" was invented by combining "Pen" and "sonic" to mean "Sound of Penang". It also entered history as the nation's first "Made in Malaysia" electrical home appliances brand and stands among established brands from Japan, Europe and the United States.