#KiraDuluNantiAmbil: MY creative Lee Tak Shune extends help to small biz owners during MCO

Malaysian creative Lee Tak Shune is rallying the community to help small businesses during this trying period through the Kira Dulu initiative. Together with his colleagues Sher Mohamed and Denise Chuang at Your Maker, an agency Lee and Sher founded in 2018, the team is calling for consumers to pay for a meal or service offered by a small business and enjoy it once their stay-in ends. 

"This will help humble businesses without delivery app support stay afloat during the Restricted Movement Order (RMO)," Your Maker said in a Facebook post. The post requested for consumers to provide contact details of small business owners, such as their favourite nasi lemak seller, cobbler or garland maker, in the comments section or via direct message. Your Maker will verify the identity of the small business and its owner and help create and boost posts to promote their business for free.

https://www.facebook.com/392173768022357/posts/651574842082247/

In a statement to A+M, Lee said from the moment the RMO was implemented, the team knew that small businesses, especially those without the support of delivery apps, were in trouble. "There's no reason why the businesses cannot make money now just because they are not operational. We just figured out a simple way for them to do so," he explained. The Kira Dulu initiative is primarily run on Facebook and the trio is setting aside money from their own pockets to boost the posts that are gaining traction. Your Maker will continue to engage consumers and check in with business owners to keep track of their situation.

Since 31 March, the team has gotten in touch with eight businesses and at the time of writing, Your Maker has published three boosted posts targeted at consumers where the businesses are located at. The small businesses contacted by Your Maker so far include Aiman Santai Char Kway Teow and an individual from East Malaysia. That said, a few of them have declined help.

"We have gotten love from people in the industry. However, it is typical for them to say this is a great idea but they will not share it with their friends," Lee said. He added that this is not the time to be supportive only of one's agency, but also everyone who is looking to help out in big or small ways. The Kira Dulu initiative has also gotten attention from those outside the ad industry and Lee said they are appreciative of the simple idea to help those in need.

When asked if Lee is working with any logistical partners or even food delivery brands such as foodpanda and GrabFood to make this happen, Lee said he definitely foresees them stepping in to assist. "This idea was devised to help those whose businesses are so small they cannot afford to have delivery app support. It would be nice if they could step in and help those who are not on their app as well," Lee said.

He added that should brands want to get behind this, the team would be glad for their support. "If there's anyone out there who wants to implement this idea wherever they are, please do. We want everyone to own it," Lee said.

My hope is that agencies, big and small, will do their best to really help to the best of their abilities, and forget about coming up with stuff such as separated logos that really do not do anything.

Your Maker was founded in November 2018 after Lee left his ECD role at Publicis One Malaysia. Among its list of clients include Tohtonku's Nanowhite and Ubermen, KPJ Damansara, Ikano Power Centre, and MyTown.