The brand has been in the works for almost a year, and as of tomorrow, hosted by the good guys of The Third Culture, Malaya Co. will be officially launching their first ever product in Malaysia. But before that, we had the opportunity to have a little “digital” borak-borak session with Moe, one of the co-founders and creative director of Malaya Co. to get to know him better and also to get a bit of background about the brand itself. Enjoy!
Before we take this interview further, let’s get to know you better. What’s your name? What do you do? How old are you? What’s your favourite food? Which part of Malaysia are you from?
Tengku Muhammad Shah but call me Moe, 24.
I don’t think I can live without Nasi Lemak. I try to make it here in London once a month. Love that sambal! I’m actually not from Malaysia but from Singapore. Although I did spend a considerable amount of time in KL during a summer internship to fall in love with the city!
What was that light bulb moment for you that made you want to start Malaya Co.?
MALAYA started out as my Final Year Project with University of the Arts London sometime in August 2014. The project was to create a brand with the concept of being free. I did a little bit of research and found out that the word MALAYA actually associated with freedom in Tagalog. But it would have still been a concept if not for my partners, Joshua & Shahida who has made this a realization.
What is the hardest part about starting up something like this?
Well… It is hard starting up because there isn’t really a book to read that shows you a step by step module you can follow but you figure it out yourself along the way. Even my uni didn’t teach me that….. but Alhamdulillah I have been blessed with a lot of guidance and support from my family back home, especially my dad who he himself is an entrepreneur. But I think the hardest is yet to come.
Out of all the things to start up, why watches? Was it something that you’ve always been into?
Funny enough when the idea of MALAYA came up, I was thinking of the first product. I remembered sitting alone at this mamak stall in Singapore waiting for Joshua so we could lepak. We were supposed to meet at 4PM but I couldn’t remember how late josh was but I remember I didn’t have a watch on me to tell the time, and that was when we started conceptualizing for the [419120]. 419120 is actually the postcode of the mamak stall in Singapore.
What are your plans for the brand? Internationally and locally in Malaysia.
Well we have already begin prototyping our next product which we plan to get crowd-sourced. As much as we want to build a brand we rather build a community. I would be moving to Malaysia where I plan to work with other local creatives on this next project. As much as London is a wonderful city, I rather be somewhere I can get Nasi Lemak at 3am in the morning.
Personally, what is the cool factor about Malaya Co. and how do you think it stands out from the rest of the other watch brands?
Well MALAYA Co. is not a watch brand but we are a brand that provides the freedom of option drawing inspirations from military functionality and industrial minimalism. So yeah?
Tell us one fact about yourself that most people don’t know.
I rather keep that fact to the masses not knowing….(pun was very much intended)
Last question, and we ask this question to everyone we interview, if you were stopped by the police here in Malaysia for speeding, would you “Tolong or Saman?”
Take the saman. I don’t think anyone should be bought. Its degrading to their worth. But I know i will ‘forget’ to pay the saman.
