One couple with close ties to the Orang Asli, were particularly distressed when they discovered that the main reason behind most school dropouts was the inability of parents to buy essential back-to-school materials for their kids.

So, Jason Wee, 34, and Lim Xin Yu, 36, decided to do something about it.

They founded The Asli Co. in 2019 to provide earning opportunities for indigenous mothers to boost their household incomes, which averaged between RM800- RM1,000 only.

Wee and Lim have been working closely with indigenous peoples for the past 10 years, building homes for them through Epic Homes and so knew exactly what to do to help the community for the long-term.

Lim tells FMT that the business idea struck when the couple needed cement pots for the many succulents they were collecting.

“We looked up some YouTube tutorials and decided to ask the Orang Asli mums if they would like to make these pots,” says Lim.

While Wee and Lim came up with the general guidelines and design, the mothers chipped in with their ideas on technique and materials.

“A couple of months later, Jason and I took these pots to a bazaar and we sold out. We made about RM4,000, and we knew we were on to something,” exclaims Lim, adding that they quickly set up a website to rope in more mothers.

The Asli Co. currently works with 42 mothers from seven Orang Asli kampungs in Selangor, Perak and Pahang who craft over 10 types of products.

“When we first started, the mums were extremely enthusiastic. They would teach their neighbours and friends before we could train them.

“They pulled in their friends and that’s how we grew,” says Wee, adding that this is something one doesn’t often see in the city. Typically, when city folk find a way to make money, they keep it to themselves,” he quips.

To date, Wee and Lim have channelled RM550,000 back to the Orang Asli community through training, equipment and raw materials.

Wee and Lim now run The Asli Co. on a full-time basis alongside two other Orang Asli employees.

Hamidah, 24, lives in Kampung Orang Asli Serendah and has worked for the company for about a year now sewing face masks and making hand sanitisers.

The multi-lingual mother of two girls says she enjoys learning new skills, and although production has been temporarily halted, she is eager to resume work once the Covid-19 situation improves.

Ayu, 26, lives in Kampung Orang Asli Kuang and started sewing face masks for the company in August last year. She previously worked in a factory far from her village.

The mother of two boys now spends her early mornings and nights sewing, and the time in between caring for her kids. She hopes to buy a house someday when she’s saved enough money.

Due to movement restrictions, Wee and Lim can no longer visit the villagers themselves to conduct training. So, materials and equipment are sent via e-hailing services to the mothers.

“We were lucky to survive the first wave of the pandemic as we chose to focus on hand sanitisers and face masks and they were very well received,” says Wee, adding that they launched eye pillows and linen sprays earlier this year.

Wee and Lim say many of the women became sole breadwinners after their husbands, who were either factory workers or daily wage earners, were laid off due to the pandemic.

Education for their kids during the past one and half years has also been rough as most don’t own laptops or tablets, making accessing online lessons an impossibility.

The couple are appealing to the public to donate their old mobile phones, tablets or laptops as some families only have one mobile phone per household of five people.

What about business plans for the near future? The couple plan to introduce the neck pillow to complement the eye pillow. They have also found a partner willing to train the mothers to make dishwashing soap using recycled oil.

“We’ve been postponing it for almost a year now because of the pandemic, but I think it’s time we gave it a try over Zoom,” says Lim.

The couple are passionate about breaking the cycle of poverty among the Orang Asli and say they will continue widening the network of indigenous mothers in The Asli Co.

To purchase The Asli Co. products, head to their website or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.