FORUM: ONLINE BUSINESS

Ready Or Not: Online Business as the New Norm

OPENING

(Azra) 2m10s

 

Are all Malaysians ready?

What stops Malaysians from digitalising their businesses?

What are the pros and cons of online business?

These are the questions that we are going to uncover in this forum!

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention. The discussion is about to begin.

Assalamualaikum WBT and good day I bid to our respected Ms. Sarah and dear friends.

First of all, I would like to welcome you all to this forum called Ready or Not: Online Business as The New Norm. On this occasion, we would like to have a discussion and a sharing session with our honourable panellists where we will be discussing the readiness of Malaysians to fully adjust with the new norm in our country which is ONLINE BUSINESS.

But what exactly is online business?

• Online business is the selling of goods or services on the internet, and it encompasses a wide variety of data, systems, and tools for online buyers and sellers, including mobile shopping and online payment encryption.
• The history of e-commerce started over 40 years ago when the introduction of early technology like EDI and teleshopping in the 1970s paved the way for modern-day e-commerce.
• The history of e-commerce is closely intertwined with the history of the internet. Online shopping became possible when the internet was opened to the public in 1991.
• Malaysia’s tryst with e-commerce started in 2004 with the launch of eBay Malaysia. This was followed by Lelong.com.my in 2007.
• Malaysia’s e-commerce value increased 39 percent in 2019 alone due to the pandemic.

Before diving deeper into the topic, allow me to introduce you all to our panellists. First, we have Dr. Sim Zhen Zhe, the lecturer of Business and Management in UKM. Beside him, we have a young, hardworking lady who is a café owner, Ms. Siti Nursofea Adriana. Next, I welcome Madam Ainul Atiq, the Chief Executive Officer of SME Corporation Malaysia and last but by no means least, we have Mr. Muhammad Syahmi, e-Commerce Chief of LAZADA ASEAN. Thank you for your willingness to come here and share your say with us today.

Without further ado, I would like to welcome our panellists to state their opinions about online business starting from Dr. Sim. Please welcome.

(Sim states position) 1min

Alright. Ms Sofea, what about you?

(Sofea states position) 1min

Okay, I’ll take that. And Madam Ainul, what’s your say?

(Ainul states position) 1min

Lastly, Mr. Syahmi, please welcome.

(Syahmi states position) 1min

Thank you, panellists, for the interesting insights.

Now, we are moving on to our next segment of today’s forum which is Ready or Not with Dr. Sim. Dr, could you please explain what exactly is online business or e-commerce and what are the proofs stating that Malaysians are really ready to face a fully digitalised business system? Dr. Sim, please welcome.

(Sim’s session) 3m30s

What a wonderful sharing! Thank you. Now, we are going to welcome Ms. Sofea for our next session which is Off vs. On. Maybe you can share the difference between traditional and online businesses from the perspective of an SME owner. The stage is yours.

(Sofea’s session) 3m30s

I really appreciate the interesting point of view! In life, within the good things, there must be some bad things too, right? That’s why I would like to welcome the SME Corporation CEO, Madam Ainul to share some problems and risks that the entrepreneurs face while doing business online in the segment of Pickles of Digitalisation. Please welcome.

(Ainul’s session) 3m30s

When the expert talks, I go wow! What an amazing sharing. But it seems that there are a lot of problems that we must face in order to make online business a reality. So, in the segment of When There’s a Will, There’s a Way, we will be enlightened with some solutions, strategies, plans or whatever you’d like to call them by the e-commerce chief of ASEAN LAZADA, Mr Syahmi. The stage is yours.

(Syahmi’s session) 3m30s

Thank you for the informative and interesting secrets! Now, we don’t have any reason to escape doing businesses online anymore. Thank you to our panellists for sharing some of this and that with us.

So, let’s move on to our Q&A session. Firstly, we have a question for Dr. Sim. You are considered as an expert in business otherwise you won’t be a lecturer in that field. So, WHAT ARE SOME ADVICE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DELIVER TO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO BE ENTREPRENEURS DURING THIS ERA? DO YOU RECOMMEND? 

(Sim answers) 1m30s

Thanks, Dr Sim for that fruitful advice. Ms. Sofea, as a cafe owner, FROM YOUR POV, DO YOU THINK THAT SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE (SME) OWNERS LIKE YOURSELF CAN REALLY SURVIVE THE COMPETITION IN THE MARKETPLACE?

(Sofea answers) 1m30s

Ms. Sofea, I love your determination! That’s the spirit. So, Madam Ainul, someone has asked you a question based on your sharing just now. With all due respect, WHAT ARE THE INCENTIVES OR AIDS BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR THESE ENTREPRENEURS?

(Ainul answers) 1m30s

Wow! What an amazing exposure. Thank you. Finally, a question for Mr Syahmi. This is personally from me. ARE MALAYSIANS REALLY READY OR ARE WE JUST FOLLOWING THE TREND OF THE WESTERN COUNTRIES IN TERMS OF MAKING E-COMMERCE A NORM? What do you think?

(Syahmi answers) 1m30s

You always have the answer to every question right. Wonderful!

CLOSING

(Azra) 45sec

Finally, it may be concluded that Malaysia is ready to fully convert every service and business to online. Action is the foundational key to all success. Starting small does not mean that we will fail. So, step up and chase your dreams.

“If your business is not on the Internet, your business will be out of business” - Bill Gates, Microsoft Founder -

Thank you, panellists, for the insights that you have shared with us today and to the audience for sticking with us till the end.

Ladies and gentlemen, finally, we come to the end of our forum. Hopefully, the discussion will be beneficial for everybody.

Thank you for your attention. Assalamualaikum WBT and goodbye.