Just like many of us, students have been left with a bit of extra time indoors during the ongoing Movement Control Order (MCO).
In addition to their online lessons, three enterprising QIU students are using their time and creative talent to set up socially-impactful business and charity ventures.
e-Q caught up with them to get the lowdown on their budding enterprises.
Chung Yee Kit (Bachelor of Special Needs Education)
Yee Kit has started producing bags and baskets made from recycled plastic food packaging – including biscuits, coffee and tea packets.
The Ipoh-born 29-year-old has assembled a small team of six to create these items, including her friends and her mother’s friends.
She plans to sell these packets during fundraising events for special needs centres, orphanages, or senior citizen homes when the MCO is lifted.
“We throw away a huge amount of plastic in our daily lives, and this has a terrible impact on the environment. We chose to make the bags from plastic packaging to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in a landfill while raising awareness about recycling,” said Yee Kit.
“This can be done by anyone, including senior citizens, so it can be a source of revenue for anyone who wants to contribute to charity,” she said, adding that she was also looking at possibly selling the baskets online.
The bags are made by cutting each plastic package into small pieces before washing them.
They are then separated by different brands to make sure they fit the bag’s design, before being moulded and then folded into rectangular pieces. The pieces are then woven into the bag shapes before a string is attached.
Yee Kit said her team sources the plastic packaging from local coffee shops and their circle of friends. It can take up to one week to complete one bag, as the process of folding the plastic into small rectangular pieces is quite complicated.
To get in touch with Yee Kit, contact 0164167882
Afiqah Syahira Mohd Zamri (Bachelor in Early Childhood Education)
The 23-year-old is creating a variety of childhood education activity products, including alphabet and numbers writing practice worksheets, flip cards, as well as tracing and colouring books which are sold online.
Afiqah started an online business named Kids’ Enrichment and Enhancement Programmes (KEEP) which offered personal reading and art classes for kids on the weekends.
But after the MCO, she realised that she needed to send the education to her students directly.
“I came up with the idea because I want to contribute something to the children during this MCO. At the same time, I want to help their parents to provide better education through KEEP’s enrichment classes,” she said.
“I did all the editing, art, laminating and copy myself. During the MCO, I’m able to produce the tracing and colouring books as well as the alphabet and number worksheets in digital and hardcopy,” she said.
“But I can’t produce the flip cards until after the MCO because they need to be printed at a print shop.”
Afiqah said that she was offering cheap prices to her customers, as her main objective was to contribute to society and the betterment of children’s educations.
To check out Afiqah’s educational materials, head to https://www.facebook.com/keepforchildren/
S. Premaawathy (Bachelor in Early Childhood Education)
Afiqah’s coursemate S.Premaawathy, meanwhile, has taken advantage of the MCO to sharpen her skills in an art form called quilling paper art.
The craft involves the coiling and shaping of narrow paper strips to create a design, which can be used to create beautiful decorations and heartfelt keepsakes.
“The idea came from my sister, who did this for the first time as a gift for her friend. We have 10 different products, and a few more in the pipeline including paper clips, hairbands, and pins,” said the 23-year-old.
“All the artwork is done and they have been ordered by the customers. However, we aren’t able to deliver them because of the MCO. In the future, we plan to create more samples and sell them online.”
You can check out the sisters’ art at artholic_ig
