Yap Sue Yii’s initial plan was to help designers see their sketches come to life, but after realising that factories required a minimum order of up to one hundred pieces per design, the 28-year-old reached out instead to a few women with sewing experience.

These women, who Yap fondly refers to as ‘akak-akak’, are predominantly from the B40 group and are struggling to make ends meet.

“I realised this was a gap that could be filled. All these home-based tailors, single mothers and stay-at-home mums need the side income. That’s how Komuniti Tukang Jahit (KTJ) came to be,” says Yap, who runs the social enterprise with her business partner, Gan Teck Hooi.

“We started looking at how we could close that gap between the manufacturers and our akak-akak, and began creating products to provide them with enough wages,” says 46-year-old Gan, who has experience in business consulting, coaching, retail and fashion.

Part of their ongoing plan was to approach B2Bs that were keen on purchasing a variety of corporate and hand-sewn premium gifts such as cardholders, recycled tote bags and neckties.

“If we receive bulk orders of up to 500 pieces, we are able to empower 10 families,” says Yap.

“That gives us something to work towards because we realise that if we get an order from a corporation, we don’t just help one woman but 20 of them.”

Before Yap and Gan knew it, this small group of talented women grew into a full-fledged community of tailors – all of whom are relying on KTJ for jobs and orders.

Unfortunately, things screeched to a halt when Covid-19 struck, as so many people were losing jobs.

For the tailors under KTJ, most of their husbands were let go, and those who worked on a daily wage basis received no salary at all during the Movement Control Order (MCO).

Yap shares an instance of one particular tailor whose husband was laid off from his job as a security guard.

To support her husband and five children, she tirelessly sewed product after product. Thanks to that order, she managed to feed her family for the next three weeks.

“These women really look forward to being the ones who can support the family and bring food home. They also hope that this can be something more long-term and sustainable for them,” says Gan.

“As KTJ isn’t their employer, they don’t have access to medical support, insurance, EPF and Socso. But we are currently working with several organisations to overcome these limitations and make things work for them.”

Pushed to the limits during the peak of the pandemic, KTJ had to think of other ways of operating.

They had to burn cash in many ways to understand what the new norm was going to be for them and the 50-odd mothers working with them, especially with regard to how the mothers were going to pick up the materials needed.

“It was a very good learning curve for us because we overcame every single challenge,” says Yap.

“Training has shifted online now, which is a good move for the future because we can empower women outside of the Klang Valley as well. That is our main goal.”

KTJ also collaborated with Gerakan Wawasan Malaysia to sew face shields and donated the whole batch when there was a huge demand for face masks and face shields.

“Although we donated the face shields and masks, we paid our akak-akak. It was a chance for us to show that regardless of status or background, the B40 group is still able to give back to the frontliners as well,” says Yap.

In light of Deepavali, KTJ is releasing its limited-edition face masks – not only in a bid to add a bit of cheer to an otherwise gloomy period but to also support the mothers working for their income.

“When we started KTJ, we wanted it to be very unique and not just another producer of a fashion brand. We wanted it to represent Malaysia, and Malaysia is full of colours,” says Gan.

KTJ, who was the first to start creating face masks with batik, has also incorporated various materials and patterns into their products. For example, they released pouches made with cheongsam material for Chinese New Year earlier this year.

For Deepavali, they made sure that things would be different and the most unique among all their creations so far.

“Saree colours are very vibrant and shiny, and we wanted to showcase this in our limited edition batches. Plus, Sue Yii also had the brilliant idea of bedazzling them to up the festive factor,” adds Gan.

As of the time of writing, the first batch was sold out and new orders are pouring in. If you would like to make an order for these limited-edition Deepavali masks, you can do so here or visit their Instagram page.

“By buying these items, you also know where it comes from and who is benefitting. There is an added value once you know that a particular item was sewn by a mother with three kids to support,” says Yap.

If you have purchased from KTJ, why not encourage your loved ones to make a purchase as well? Sales are key to KTJ; without orders, they cannot generate jobs for the women relying on them for income.

If you’re a struggling mother with sewing capabilities, KTJ also welcomes you to join the community via its website.