“Fledgling entrepreneurs can do with a CGC kickstart in this very competitive MSME market.”

Leong Kin Pun, an independent Malaysian publisher, produces and publishes a wide range of educational pre-school workbooks and learning material. These are for sale in Malaysia and around the world.

Deemed a high-risk industry applicant, he was rejected in his first attempt at procuring a loan from a renowned bank. However, he was redirected to apply for a MyKNP@CGC facility through imSME. CGC’s Financial Advisory Team was enlisted to support him, making his application the second MyKNP@CGC success since its launch.

In November 2019, Leong was pleased to receive the BizSME loan that helped him pay his supplier to ship books to Australia and to launch eight new titles. “CGC comes in very handy, especially for small enterprises. Fledgling entrepreneurs can do with a CGC kickstart in this very competitive MSME market.”

However, with the Covid-19 pandemic he feels that small and medium enterprises are taking the biggest hits. “We all need funds to keep going, it is not the time to pack up,” Leong contends. So, he is very appreciative of CGC Prai branch that has already forwarded him information about the relief schemes.

Leong has worked for more than 30 years in the media, paper and printing industries. Almost 70% of his business is conducted abroad, with his biggest markets in the Pacific region and Ireland. “One of my major customers is Singapore and now, with restricted movement in place everywhere, I have begun to worry.”

A New Zealand client of his informed Leong that books, paper, stationery products and education material there are considered essential goods. “We talk about going digital all the time, but there needs to be a balance.” He hopes to persevere, with his ambition to publish more new books targeted at pre-school children. At the same time, he plans to penetrate new markets in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.

8/19