A kid who was already running a business
Long before I knew what "entrepreneurship" meant, I was practicing it. In primary school I was flipping in-game currency for hundreds of ringgit and building a small trading operation around Pokémon cards worth thousands. It wasn't about the money at that age — it was the thrill of spotting value before anyone else did.
Two jobs, every day, all holidays
By Form 3, I was working two jobs across every long school holiday — Monday to Sunday, no days off. I wasn't the kid with the most starting capital or the most connections, so I made up for it with hours. That habit of trading time for opportunity never really left me.
Freelancing my way through a business degree
Part-time work continued through Form 4 and 5, and by the time I was working toward my Bachelor's degree in Business Marketing, I was freelancing across the automotive industry, on production crews, and as an exhibition promoter — taking every weekend and every gap between classes to earn and catch up with everyone else.
RM2,800 a month, and a decision to change course
My first job out of university was with an artist management company on a basic salary of RM2,800 a month. It didn't take long to realise that number wasn't going to be enough to build the life I wanted — barely enough to sustain myself, let alone get ahead. That realisation forced a bold move.
Building a tea brand, and co-producing a film
I relocated to China and spent a couple of years there as a Senior Marketing Executive, setting up a tea brand from the ground up and opening its retail outlets. During that same window, I had the opportunity to step in as a Co-Producer on a Malaysia–China co-production film, 震撼擂台 — a completely different kind of business lesson in storytelling, production, and cross-border collaboration.
Day 1 in crypto's DeFi era
When COVID-19 hit, the film and hospitality world froze — but I had already positioned myself in the finance world, particularly cryptocurrency. I was fortunate and grateful to be invested early in one of the highest-performing assets of that period, becoming a Day 1 HEX OG back in 2019 as the DeFi era took off, and riding the exponential gains the crypto industry saw between 2019 and 2021.
Learning that capital gains aren't cashflow
Capital appreciation is not the same as positive monthly cashflow, let alone a real cash-generating asset. That lesson pushed me to diversify hard into traditional businesses — eventually investing in more than 15 businesses, from car washes to cafés to F&B retail. It wasn't as easy as I once assumed. When we're young, we think the only thing standing between us and a successful business is capital. It isn't — capital is probably the 3rd or 4th most important ingredient, if you actually want the thing to work.
MOONX, TURBOX, and betting early on Web3
Today I'm the Founder of MOONX, a cohort of TURBOX — a State Government's first-ever Token-X Accelerator Program. I've stepped into angel investing as a full-time discipline, backing companies like KazePay.io in payment infrastructure, Crisp.trade, and Happening — alongside deep conviction positions as an early OG investor in PulseChain and PulseX during their Sacrificial Phase, and as an early investor in F&B retail chain Holiao Noodles.
Founding ABCD, hosting Hata-Kata Media, and backing AlphasAxis
Building MOONX and TURBOX made one thing clear — the region needed more spaces for founders, investors, and builders to actually meet each other. That's what led me to found ABCD (APAC Blockchain Day), a recurring Web3 community event series, and to step in as Host at Hata-Kata Media, a content series powered by HATA that puts the people building the digital asset economy in front of a wider audience. It's also what pulled me into AlphasAxis as Co-Founder & Strategic Advisor — on-chain financing infrastructure digitizing Southeast Asia's loan brokerage industry, built on real revenue rather than speculation.
Taking care of the people who got me here
When I made my first real pot of money, the first thing I did was help my parents clear part of their mortgage and credit card debt. Only after that did I think about upgrading my own life — a Ford Mustang, then an Alphard, a Porsche Macan, and later a new Alphard, alongside a seven-figure real estate purchase and a handful of other property investments. None of it means as much to me as the fact that it started with paying it forward.
1,000+ pax audiences, and a seat at the table
Along the way I've been invited to speak on stage in front of audiences of 1,000 or more, multiple times over — sharing what I've learned about Web3, business building, and investing. I've also been welcomed into rooms most people only see from the outside: watch launches, automotive unveilings, and fashion industry events, sitting alongside people who've built things I deeply respect.
