ELEVATINGELEVATING AARTISARTISANSNS AANDND CRCRAAFTMFTMAANSHIPNSHIP

“My word of adv ice is to not focus on what you think should happen, but what you k now is right.”

Helping rural and refugee communities in Malaysia gain visibility and sell their handcrafts to t he masses, Sasibai Kimis never t hought that her hobby would prompt her to trade her successful career in investment banking to start Earth Heir, a social enterprise founded in 2013 that revives local heritage and empowers communities with training and enterprising skills.

From beautifully woven bags to jeweller y, Sasibai believes that our local handcraf ts are just as good as any other products in the market that carr y the "Made in Italy" or "Made in France" labels. Helping ar tisans create a bet ter living with ethical prac tises, Ear th Heir is t he first heritage enterprise in Malaysia that has received a Fair Trade cer tification from the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). A w or thy a ccolade, S asibai, a s p ar t o f h er humble nature, constantly strives to ensure t he resources used involving humans, animals, and the Ear th are not damaging to anyone.

Sasibai is currently working towards making Ear th Heir a plat form for all curated ar tisanal products and not just for those under her brand. This will allow other existing individual ar tisans or groups with ethical practises to be included on Ear th Heir’s website. “One of the biggest problems I see is how to help other ar tisans access markets, hence the introduc tion of the accessible plat form,” says Saibai.

“We are also seeking funding i n hopes to collaborate with organisations like MARA, Kraf tangan and FELDA,” she shares. “We want to be able to train ar tisans so they can eventually be independent and grow their own businesses.”

Advocating for Fair Trade and running a business according to its principles are both challenging and rewarding, but Sasibai continues to champion ethical practises. “My word of advice is to not focus on what you think should happen, but what you know is right. Sometimes even when you do what is right, the outcome may not be positive towards you. If that happens, do not be disappointed or give up, just know that you need to keep to the path.”