Innovation

“MADE BY MALAYSIA”. Why Not Just “Made In Malaysia”? And why is it a HUGE DEAL?  For 50+ years, Malaysia has been a manufacturing powerhouse – electronics, semiconductors, you name it. Thanks to MNCs setting up shop here, thousands of local suppliers have sprung up.  And thrived. The products? All “Made in Malaysia.” But design, development, and marketing? Mostly done elsewhere. By someone else. So what’s “Made BY Malaysia”? It means the whole shebang – design, development, and selling – is homegrown. And yes, that’s a BIG DEAL. Why? Because It’s HARD. It probably takes, at least, a few years to develop a product. So if it does not sell, you have lost a lot of time, money and effort. To reduce that kind of risk, you will need to ensure your product will sell. Let’s take a look at the overall product design cycle. 1️⃣ MARKET RESEARCH – You need to do market research. Survey customers. Buying preferences. Understand user needs. Compile user requirements. Translate them into product requirements. Really, will anyone even want this in 3 years when it comes out? (Better find out now!) 2️⃣ COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS – Is your product still going to be a winner by launch? (Or will rivals beat you to it?)  You need to do competitive analysis. Make sure your projections really show that your product is going to sell when it comes out. 3️⃣ R&D – Do the design and product development. (This is the part that will take 3 years!).  Build the prototype. Test it. Do focus groups. Redesign till it works.  You also need to qualify that it is reliable and do the regulatory hoops. 4️⃣ IC DESIGN – Perhaps your product also needs to have that special chip to incorporate that killer feature – cheaper or smaller or more functions for the same price, whatever. That also needs to be designed, fabricated and tested.  And may take 2+ years.  (Did we take that into account in the original schedule?) 5️⃣ MANUFACTURING – Finally it is ready for production. OK, this part we’re pros at, thanks to decades of supplying to multinational companies! 6️⃣ MARKETING & SALES – How to launch. How to market, how to sell (note the difference). Who to involve: retailers, distributors, etc. Support and service considerations,  and more. This is the real game-changer. Because if you build it… will they come? Only if you market it right. Made BY Malaysia means designing, developing AND manufacturing your own products – not just assembling for others.  Of course, include marketing it yourselves. 🚀 SCARY? Absolutely. 💰 RISKY? You bet. 🔥 WORTH IT? That’s where the big bucks live. Besides, if you don’t start, others like Vietnam, maybe India will soon be able to manufacture cheaper than you. Maybe even build & sell their own products. Then where will you be? Going up the value chain is the only way. That means developing new products. Are you ready to take the plunge?

The person who taught me to optimise AI was not an engineer or writer. 6 months ago, I stared at ChatGPT like a threat. After all, it could: * Write like a mid-level copywriter. * Do it 10x faster. * Never complain. For someone who had left corporate life to pursue writing, the advent of AI wasn’t just disruption. It was an identity crisis. What use am I in this world if my hard-earned skills become obsolete? But the world doesn’t stop for existential threats. So I did the only thing I could: I adapted. I went on Youtube, learned about AI and explored new tools. I had no idea if I’d catch up in time, but I knew doing nothing would be worse. 3 months later, I started using AI in unexpected ways. * When grief couldn’t wait: when I was asked to write a eulogy in under an hour, I panicked at the tight deadline. From my notes, AI helped me refine my final draft, but the family’s gratitude reminded me that the most impactful words come from a human, not a machine. * I can now draft copy for any format in half the time (or less) with AI doing the initial plan and research. But the strategy comes from human intuition. * For workshops and presentations, I generate slides using AI, but the real value comes from empathy – understanding the human pain points. Then there’s my friend Desonny Tuzan of Charlie’s Cafe in Taman Desa. When I first told him about AI, he hesitated. “Isn’t that for writers or engineers?” But he tried anyway. What happened next shocked me. With zero technical background, Sonny used his creativity and empathy to use AI to design marketing collaterals for his cafe. Two weeks later, he was teaching ME AI tricks! (Thanks Sonny!) Here’s what Sonny and I discovered: 💡AI mirrors our humanity. 💡It generates ideas, but can’t know which ones will resonate. 💡The magic happens at the intersection. When curious minds ask “What if we tried …?” instead of “What will we lose?” Your job title doesn’t matter. Writer, engineer, or entrepreneur. Your greatest asset isn’t your skill set – it’s your curiosity. So stay hungry. Keep asking questions. The future belongs to those who never stop learning.