They voiced out their complaints at a town hall session with Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Ahmad Maslan in Shah Alam on Thursday.
FMT interviewed one such man after he revealed that for 23 years, not a single SME agency in the country had helped him realise his dream of manufacturing and exporting custom-made tube amplifiers and effects pedals for guitars.
Hussaini Abdul Karim said he had been to nearly all the relevant agencies in the country, including those meant to help Bumiputeras, to try to get a loan to start his business.
“I’ve gone to SME Corporation Malaysia, Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad, Mara, Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera and MyCreative Ventures, just to name a few,” he said. “I was turned down by all of them, and none gave me a reason.
“I wanted a loan for my start-up company and went to one of the agencies. They told me I needed to show that I had been running the business for at least three months before they could give me a loan.
“But I argued, ‘That’s not what a start-up is.’
“They asked me to make a formal application. I did and was rejected. I was told I could appeal. So I appealed but was turned down, and appealed again and turned down again. No reason was ever given.”
He said he had similar experiences with all the other agencies that he went to.
He finally found help from a Singaporean agency that provided him a loan to start his business. So far he has succeeded in manufacturing, selling, and exporting guitar pedals even to the United States.
When asked why he still wanted to be based in Malaysia, Hussaini said he wanted to minimise production costs so that he would be able to expand his business, including manufacturing guitar amplifiers.
“It is expensive operating from Singapore, and one of the prerequisites imposed on foreign businessmen is that they must allow Singaporeans to own 30 per cent of their shares.
“So 30 per cent of my profits go to them. I don’t want to have to share my profits. My money should be my money.”
Hussaini voiced out his predicament at Thursday’s town hall meeting.
When Ahmad Maslan told him to keep trying, he yelled out from one of the back rows in the hall, “I’ve been trying for 23 years.” Ahmad repeated that he needed to continue trying.
Asked why he hadn’t given up even after being denied assistance for so long, Hussaini told FMT that it was because he had a passionate belief in his business.
“Music might change as time goes on, and even the technology or musical instruments may become different, but the electric guitar will always be relevant,” he said.