Bringing on the smiles
A CASUAL conversation to plan a child’s party gradually led to the birth of a face-painting venture for a Malaysian couple.
“A friend of mine wanted to celebrate her son’s birthday party, and she came to me asking what sort of activities she should be having for the party. Thoughts ran through my mind – whether to have a clown, a ‘bouncy’ (inflatable) castle or sand art,” reminisced Zakirah Mastura Ahmad Marzuki.
“Then, someone suggested we give face-painting a try. After all, it’s popular in children’s parties abroad.
That year, Zakirah and her hubby Abdul Hakam Rahmad – both in their early 20s – took up face-painting. After giving it some thought, they decided to start a business with their newfound skills. And so Achik Face Painting was born the same year, in 2010.
A year later, they enlisted friends who shared their passion to join them.
The couple had met as colleagues in an oil and gas company in Kuala Lumpur. They got married in 2014, and have a daughter.
Strangely, by profession, they were trained in other fields. Zakirah graduated in economics from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Abdul Hakam graduated in banking from Universiti Teknologi Mara in Alor Gajah, Melaka. Both have been fond of art since young.
In her childhood days, Zakirah loved taking part in colouring activities.
She was also the president of the art club in her secondary school. When she started working, she took make-up classes and also worked as a part-time make-up artist.
Abdul Hakam would sell caricatures for 50 sen to RM1 apiece during his primary school days. Later, he sold paintings.
Said Zakirah: “Painting has always been our hobby when we were younger. It’s fun and therapeutic, and helped us earn extra income.”
Gradually, we realised face-painting brings happiness to both adults and children.
“Seeing children being happy at the sight of artworks of a unicorn, a rainbow or a superhero on their rosy cheeks bring us indescribable joy,” she said.
When they first began, they had to do a lot of research, and scoured around for suitable art materials.
Then the day arrived for them to paint the first group of children at a party, under the watchful eyes of their parents. The event was a success.
The sense of pride at the end of the party inspired them to further improve themselves in this art.
To get the business moving, they started to reach out to potential clients via social media and online advertisements. Families and friends also lent their support and acted as brand ambassadors by sharing photos of their face-painting works.
They chose the name Achik Face Painting for branding and started their own blog (www.achikface painting.com). Achik is the colloquial form of pak cik or mak cik which mean uncle and aunt in Malay, respectively.
Social media, they said, has helped expand their presence to other states (Perak, Pahang, Negri Sembilan, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak) besides the Klang Valley.
They have clients in the private and public sectors, including celebrities like Awal Ashaari, Scha Alyahya and Nabil Ahmad. Apart from face-painting, Achik also offers other services and products such as sand art, helium and bubble balloons, caricature sketching, clowns, henna artists, bouncy castles and nail art.
Said Zakirah: “Our goal is to be a one-stop party centre to fulfil customers’ wishes.”