They don’t do anything dramatic – just walk, chat, play checkers – but that connection? It means the world to him.
In another home, a wife eagerly awaits the Temanion – not for herself, but for the companion who’ll take her husband out for a stroll. With them gone for a while, she can run errands or change the bedsheets.
These small moments capture what Teman Malaysia, a care companion services provider, is all about.
Founded in 2020 by Nurul Ezzati Mohamed Nasir, the social enterprise pairs seniors with trained companions – Temanions – who run errands, attend doctor’s appointments, or just spend time together with the elderly.
“You know how elderly are different with their own children and with other people? They act differently when they are around their Temanions. They are livelier, they are bubblier. So, it’s a good thing to see,” Ezzati, a dietetics graduate, shared with FMT Lifestyle.
Teman Malaysia started with just health appointments, errands, and home visits. Now, it also offers “Teman Dialysis” for hospital trips, “Teman at Home” for longer stays, and “Teman Customised” for flexible tasks like grocery runs or phone setups.
“As long as we are able to do it, we’ll try to accommodate,” Ezzati, a mother of two, said.
While seniors are the main focus, pregnant mothers and people with disabilities also use their services.
But the heart of the mission still lies with the elderly who need company and care every day. Interestingly, most bookings don’t come from the elderly themselves.
“Our main customers are the children of the elderly actually,” Ezzati said, explaining that elderly people seldom book the service themselves. “We’re here to give families peace of mind.”
That sense of care – for both the elderly and their loved ones – has been at the heart of Teman Malaysia from the very beginning. But the journey didn’t start with a business pitch. It started with a cream puff.
Back in 2019, Ezzati and her sister ran a small bakery from home. As demand grew, they enlisted the help of nearby housewives to bake. That led her to SEEd.Lab, a social enterprise incubator by Petronas, the country’s multinational oil and gas company. Then the pandemic hit.
During the lockdown, her team noticed a problem: elderly parents left alone in kampungs while their children worked in the city. One teammate had to travel monthly to Kedah just to take his grandparents to hospital – because they wouldn’t trust anyone else.
“We realised many elderly people were isolated, and many people – especially women – had lost their jobs,” said Ezzati. “So we coupled the problems together.”
The result was Teman Malaysia. At the heart of it all are the Temanions – warm, capable individuals, often mothers or caregivers, seeking flexible income. They’re not nurses, but everyday heroes who make the service work.
“We don’t really look at their education level. We look at their passion and interest in actually caring for the elderly,” said Ezzati, adding that more than 350 Temanions are part of Teman Malaysia’s system.
With such a dedicated team in place, it’s no surprise that feedback has been encouraging. Clients appreciate the flexibility – no long contracts, just pay for what you use.
“We’re positioning ourselves as the service in between,” Ezzati said. “Sometimes all that’s needed is someone to help around the house or make sure the elderly don’t fall.”
Not everyone is receptive at first. Ezzati shared how one woman, suspicious of a Temanion sent by her daughter, initially refused to let her in – asking her to sweep the lawn instead.
“The mak cik eventually asked her to come in and offered her some water. And slowly the Temanion managed to make some conversation with her. So the next time she came, the mak cik actually asked her to come again,” Ezzati shared.
It’s in these quiet breakthroughs that Teman Malaysia finds its purpose. What began as a small response to isolation is now a lifeline for families – restoring dignity, building trust, and proving the power of human connection.
Find out more about Teman Malaysia here and follow them on Instagram.