TimothyTiah.com

The myBurgerLab Story

Posted on March 5, 2015 admin

This article is part of a sponsored series for AmBank TRUE Lab

I was at a BFM conference last year when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw a guy a few years my junior, wearing a t-shirt and dressed in jeans. He extended his hand out and said

Hi Tim, My name is Wee Kiat and I’m one of the Co-Founders of myBurgerLab

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It’s hard to live in KL and not have heard about myBurgerLab. For the past year or so I’ve constantly seen them being mentioned all over social media and have seen pictures of their saliva-dripping burgers.

I told him how much I’ve heard of his burger but I’ve never been able to try it because I’ve heard the queues are really really long. He gave me his card and told me to pop by any time and let him know when I do. I took on his offer a few weeks later and over a burger and soft drinks I learned about his entrepreneurial story. A story that I will share here today.

myBurgerLab was started by 3 guys. Wee Kiat, Ren Yi and Chang Ming. Their initial idea was to start a cafe. One of the many hipster cafes that we see in KL. When working on that idea though they decided that they had to have some food at the cafe. Neither of them knew how to cook beyond the usual student-level pastas but they thought burgers would be an interesting thing to try. Well.. because… how hard is it to cook a burger? It was all in the ingredients.

They Googled for different burger recipes online and experimented. Then when they found the recipe that made a fantastic burger, they stumbled upon something else that would become their trademark. The black charcoal bun.

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Once their product was complete, they decided to test it first before opening a full blown restaurant. Red Bean Bag in Publika gave them the opportunity to do just that, serving burgers on some nights to a sample number of customers. The most positive reviews came back and not just that, they had began to build a fan base that was waiting for when they would open a physical shop.

Finally after pulling RM200,000 in startup capital from friends and family they started myBurgerLab at Seapark. The shop lot they got was old, run down and wasn’t at a very high traffic area but they went for it because the rent was low and they believed that good burgers will bring the traffic they need.

They were right.

myBurgerLab became an instant success with photos circulating online of people lining up around the block just to get their hands on the burgers they sold. Lines that reminded me of Shake Shack in New York.

A few years down the line myBurgerLab has grown to 3 stores in Malaysia now. The original in Seapark, one in OUG and one more in Sunway. While chatting with Wee Kiat over the weekend I learned that he had another one in Cambodia too.

The myBurgerLab story is yet another Malaysian success story of how 3 guys chased a dream to build something from nothing. If you have a dream that you want to chase, submit it on the TRUE Lab platform here and TRUE Lab might just help fund your dream.

I will be giving a pair of movie tickets for every idea submission too, so be sure to leave a comment below with the title of your idea and email address.

Read my first and second post to know more about AmBank TRUE Lab.

Good luck!

5 Things I Regret Not Doing When I was in College

Posted on March 2, 2015 admin

Today I was watching a documentary about the Innocent (the smoothie company) story and its founder Richard Reed. A part of the documentary touched about his time at university and the things he did, the people he met.

It made me reflect on my own time in college. Looking back I feel like there are a lot of things that I should have done differently when back in college that I didn’t. Here’s a list.

1) I should have skipped more lectures

College and universities now open up the first instances in our student lives where attendance isn’t necessarily taken. So you can skip lectures without any direct repercussions.

I didn’t skip many lectures because I was under the belief that hey if my parents paid tuition fees for me to attend these lectures that I should go and make the most of it. That makes sense but what I forgot to take into account was how useful these lectures really really were to me.

There were lectures that were really good and useful. And there were many too that were a total waste of time. The kind of lectures where I would go in for an hour and come out not really learning anything that I couldn’t have already read in the book.

Then I neglected one other factor which was the opportunity cost of time. That if a lecture wasn’t useful, I could’ve spent that one hour learning something else on my own or from someone else.

I’m not saying everyone should go and skip every lecture now. I’m saying that my regret is not evaluating which ones are worth skipping and finding out what could be a better use of my time than the one hour spent in a boring lecture where I did nothing.

Think about it. In today’s working world we all often find ourselves in situations where we have to learn things on our own. If we can learn our jobs on our own…. would it be so hard to learn a subject on our own when almost everything is in the text book or online.

2) I should have explored more outside of the syllabus

While I was in college I suffered from one thing: Not knowing what I wanted to do for a living. I told myself that eventually it would come to me and it eventually did.

Looking back now though I realize that I wasn’t really helping my case. If I really wanted to know what I wanted to be, I could’ve spent more time exploring the outside world. Taking part time jobs and learning how other businesses or industries work. Doing more internships… and even talking to more people in the working world.

I didn’t realize that college is a great time for learning and learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom. It happens everywhere.

3) I should have acquired more experiences

I spent a lot of my college and university years playing computer games. I realize now that playing games doesn’t really enrich my life in a significant way in the sense of acquiring new experiences. A game is a game. No matter how many times you play it, the experience doesn’t change drastically. Sure the outcomes change every now and then but not the entire experience.

I wish I had spent time instead joining more student activities, opening up my mind to the world or even traveling on a shoe string student budget.

4) I shouldn’t have gotten into so many long distance relationships

I was one of those students that often got into long distance relationships. When I was studying in KL I had a girlfriend in Penang. When I was studying in London, I had a girlfriend in KL. The list goes on.

Long distance relationships does have its advantages but in my experience I found it to have more disadvantages that advantages. The biggest disadvantage of all is closing yourself to new experiences and when I say new experiences I mean exposing yourself to more relationships so you know what kind of relationship you eventually want when you’re older.

I did love some of my long distance relationships at the time but as I grew older I noticed less and less people became up for long distance relationships and I began to understand why.

5) I should’ve spent more time trying to earn money

My parents always advised me that while I was a student I should spend all my time studying hard and focusing on that alone. It was great for me because that meant I had no expectations of having to earn money while studying (which a lot of other students have had to deal with I’m sure).

But one thing about making money of your own however small is that it makes you realize how hard it is to make money. A sense of how hard our own parents worked to make the money to bring us this far. I wish I had learned how hard it was to make money even a few years earlier than I did when I got my first pay cheque. I think that would have changed my perspective on many things and on money. I would certainly have been a lot more prudent when it came to money my parents gave me for studies.

So these are my personal regrets of my college years. I hope one day I would be able to advise my kids to not have the same regrets I did.

Why I gave up watching Game of Thrones

Posted on February 27, 2015 admin

Game of Thrones is one of the most highly rated TV shows of all time On IMDB it falls just right behind Breaking Bad. I can see why. A very well thought out fantasy world and with very well developed characters with depth, it’s enough to keep us watching.

I however stopped watching after the first 2 seasons. Here’s why? (Note some spoilers may follow).

1) They make you fall in love with the good guys…..

ONLY TO KILL THEM IN THE MOST BRUTAL WAY POSSIBLE. Then they do the same thing over… and over… and over again. In the mean time….

2) The BAD guys always get away until 10 good guys are killed….

Then they kill one bad guy. And when they do it, they don’t do it in a satisfying manner anyway. You can’t help but feel “hey I think this evil bad guy that I’ve hated for so long got it too easy”.

3) The Red Wedding

I stopped watching Game of Thrones in Season 2. You see since Season 1, the Starks have been marching to war for the longest time. A march that lasted two whole freaking seasons. At the end of Season 2 I was a little frustrated because they haven’t even yet reached the battlefield.

So I sighed in disappointment at Shorty and she gave me a kind of look that made me realize that something was up. So I kept probing her on what would happen since she knew because she had read the book before. Finally she told me about the Red Wedding.. and how they never actually get to the battlefield. After that I was like “OKAY THAT’S IT! I’M NOT WATCHING ANYMORE!!!”. You spend two seasons marching to war and then never even get there to see the satisfying outcome? Talk about anti-climatic.

When the episode of the Red Wedding came out it, it hit a social media uproar. Everyone was shocked at the twist. Most positive though…. but there I was reading all the reactions and thinking to myself ok I’m glad I didn’t watch it.

Now I understand from Shorty that it’s the author’s intention to make this as close to real life as possible. That means in real life, not everything ends with a conclusion. Sometimes things just go on and are left hanging.

I understand that and I can understand why some people or the majority of Game of Thrones fans will love it. For me my personal preference is that I watch movies and TV for an escape from real life. Not to be faced with the same frustrations we face in real life.

——–

Now don’t get me wrong. I think Game of Thrones is a great show and it’s so highly rated for good reason. For me it’s a matter of personal preference and the above is why I don’t watch it. On the flip side I’m watching TV shows now like Spartacus. Goodness watch Season 1 of Spartacus and that’ll tell you what kind of season finale I think is awesome.

But that’s just me.

5 Expensive Bills You Never Want To Get Surprised By

Posted on February 23, 2015 admin

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2015

Posted on February 19, 2015 admin

Hi Everyone,

Just popping by here to give a quick Gong Xi Fa Cai to all of you. May you all have good wealth and health in the year of the Goat.

Let me give you a quick update on how New Year’s Eve was like for me yesterday. Lunch was with my in-laws (Shorty’s family). Our initial plan was to go to Tim Ho Wan for lunch but upon getting there we realized that they already closed for New Year. Everywhere else in MIdvalley was full. I couldn’t believe the lines. I guess we were wrong to assume that the malls would be empty by Chinese New Year Eve since most people would have gone back to their hometowns.

So we ended up in Thai Thai.

Here’s Fighter patiently waiting for me to feed him.

And here’s him being very happy with mommy.

This year is a quiet year for us because it’s the first Chinese New Year in a very long time (or maybe ever) that we’re not going back to Penang. We can’t go back this year because Shorty is on close observation for her pregnancy now… in case the pre-eclampsia comes back so we have to stay in KL where our doctor is.

Still the good thing is that a number of my Tiah relatives are based in KL and so is my grandma. So we could join them for a reunion dinner last night.

A reunion dinner in which Fighter was busy making phone calls with my grandma’s TV remotes. Heh.

Anyway I’ve gotta go visiting Shorty’s grandma now for the new year. I’m sure all of you guys must be busy doing the same. Visiting relatives and then friends.

Happy Chinese New Year guys!

Oh and Fighter says Gong Xi Fa Cai too.

I tried teaching him to do the “Gong Xi Gong Xi” hand gesture but every time I say the words “Gong Xi Gong Xi” he flips and laughs. Haha maybe next year.

Two Awesome Movies You Gotta Watch This Week

Posted on February 17, 2015 admin

I’ve had the privilege to watch two movies in the past week. It’s rare enough that I get to go to the cinema twice in a week but you know what’s even more rare? Having both movies be totally awesome. If you haven’t had a chance to watch them yet I highly recommend it.

1) Kingsman

I watched this at the Nuffnang Premier Screening and I was totally blown away. I mean I really didn’t know what to expect. Okay the trailer told me it’s sort of a spy or James Bond type of movie but what transpired was far more than that.

The movie had some of the most awesome action scenes ever. When I say awesome I mean the complete opposite of the crappy action scenes in Taken 3 where all you have car chase scenes that cut angles back and forth so much it makes you dizzy. One of the biggest fight scenes you’ll see in the movie has the audience follow the hero from a 3rd person point of view through a fight scene that feels like it lasts 3 full minutes and it was all done in one take. ONE TAKE.

In fact I was so impressed with the way the action scenes were filmed I googled the Director’s name (Matthew Vaughn) and have made a list to watch the rest of his movies (X-Men First Class, Layer Cake, Kick-Ass).

Samuel L Jackson was totally awesome in this movie too. I found his character hilarious.

2) The Imitation Game

I just watched this last night with Shorty. It’s the true story of a code breaker named Alan Turing who broke the Enigma Code in World War 2 and made the single biggest contribution to the Allied’s victory against Germany.

The term “True Story” here can be used rather loosely though. I went back to read up on the accuracy of the film compared to the actual historical events and lets just say that a lot of the dramatised parts were made up or never happened. Even the portrayal of Alan Turing himself wasn’t accurate.

In any case it was a movie I really enjoyed partly because I’m a modern history junkie. Equally enjoyable was reading up on the history of those events right after the movie.

So if you wanna catch a movie this week, these are two awesome movies worth watching.

Here’s How to Figure Out What You’re Good At

Posted on February 13, 2015 admin

This is part of a series from my previous TRUE Labs sponsored article about chasing dreams.

I wrote recently about the things that stop us from chasing our TRUE Potential. The question now of course is how do we know what our TRUE Potential is? What do we know what we are good at and what we are capable of doing?

Here’s how:

1) Reflect on your past successes

Each one of us is good at something, sometimes we just forget what we’re good at or worse… we ignore it. The best way to remind ourselves of our talents is to look at the things we have been successful in the past.

Did we win a design project in school for the best design?

Did your piano teacher tell you that you seem to learn faster than any of her other students?

Were you the one who came up with a lot of brilliant ideas when brainstorming for a marketing plan for your college project?

We are all good in something and we have all achieved something we are proud of. Just try to remember what they are. Or better yet… If you always knew what they were then you don’t have to worry about this first part. You know what you’re good at.

2) Think about where you’re going to go with that talent

Growing up I always remember my Dad telling us one thing. He said

It doesn’t matter what you do. As long as people need it and you’re the best in it… you’ll make a lot of money.

Being a little boy trying to poke holes in my Daddy’s teachings I said “What if I’m just really good at cleaning toilets”.

And he said “Well there are these things called waste management companies. The bosses know all about waste management AND cleaning toilets. They’re also very successful and I’m sure they make a lot of money”.

So look at someone else who has this talent and see where they are right now. Make that your goal so you know where you’re going to be.

3) Talk to People and Discover

When I was in college, I had the honor to meet a successful entrepreneur that I referred to as Uncle Albert. I called him Uncle because he was my Dad’s friend from my Dad’s old hometown. Uncle Albert had a very interesting entrepreneurial story that I always remember till today.

Uncle Albert started off as an engineer. He worked really hard for a few years to an engineering company (I don’t recall now what it was called). Then one day in the course of his work he met someone who had told him of one problem the oil and gas industry often faced:
When oil tankers shipped oil around the world, one problem they always faced was theft. Many people in the transit process have opportunities to syphon oil out of the tankers and it’s very very hard to know if they did it especially if they took out a bit at a time.

Uncle Albert had a light bulb moment. What if he could develop a sort of security cap that seals the oil tanks and when tampered with would leave some sort of a mark so that the person on the receiving end would know someone had opened it in transit. Some sort like how you would know if someone opened your important document from your bank.

I don’t know if the idea existed overseas yet but Uncle Albert went ahead to do it. He got help from his brother in law in designing and manufacturing this cap. After he did it, sales took off and he listed his company.

Why I thought this story of Uncle Albert was interesting was that he didn’t necessarily set out to be an entrepreneur right after graduation. I’m not sure if he even knew he wanted to be one. But during the process… while talking to people he found a problem and more importantly a solution to that problem. He was then able to make lots of money off it.

Once we know these 3 things of course the next thing is how do we know what we’re capable of?

Well this is a personal story I can share. When I first started Netccentric back in 2007 I had just graduated. My only goal was for the company to be able to give me a salary equivalent to what my friends were earning at that time. About RM2,000 – RM2,500. After the first initial 9 months of no pay I achieved that. The company could afford to pay me a small salary. But that was my only goal. I figured that I love what I did and if I could just do that and earn the same amount of money my peers earned I’ll be happy.

I never expected the company to grow to what it is today. To a company with offices in 7 different countries and about 200 full-time employees. If you told me then what Netccentric would turn out to be I’d say you’re crazy.

That proves one thing.. is that sometimes we just don’t know what we’re capable of.

If you have any interesting stories or experiences to share, head over to now and start inspiring others. More importantly, submit your idea of your dream and you might just get RM50,000 to pursue it.

Be sure to tell me which is your idea by leaving me a comment (and your email address) here so that you can win a pair of movie tickets.

Good luck!

Videos of Fighter on the Phone

Posted on February 12, 2015 admin

So recently Fighter has been trying to do things that we adults do. Because he sees us on the phone all the time, whenever he gets a chance to he picks up a phone and starts speaking into it really loudly.

Of course he can’t really speak yet so he ends up speaking really funny baby language. He posted this video on his Dayre if you haven’t seen it yet.

But here’s one that nobody has posted yet. It’s him taking my Dad’s bluetooth headset.

I was just looking at some earlier videos of him in my YouTube channel. Like this one.

And I realize then how much he has grown since. I already miss him being a newborn baby and I know soon I’m going to miss him being a baby too. It’s like a dilemma. On one hand I want to see him grow up and see the person he becomes but on the other hand I know I’m gonna miss him as a baby too.

Of course we have Bump coming along the way and we’re all on red alert for that one. Shorty has been in and out of the hospital 2-3 times a week now and doctor has cautioned that she might face pre-eclampsia again and might have to be hospitalized before the due date. Which means it’s a repeat of what we had to face last year again. The good news though is that Fighter was born at 31 weeks after 3 weeks of Fighter pre-eclampsia in the hospital.

Bump today is 32 weeks already and heavier too so the odds are looking better. Still it’s a stressful time for us but we’re taking it as positively as we can.

Shorty is such a brave hero.

I can’t wait to see you Bump!

8 Things to Love About Chinese New Year

Posted on February 8, 2015 admin

It just occurred to me that Chinese New Year is just a week away now. It’s amazing how time flies. This year’s Chinese New Year is going to be a quiet one for us though because Shorty is pregnant and doctor advised her not to travel, even to our own hometown.

Reflecting on all the past Chinese New Years, there are things that I’m not particularly fond of… like CNY songs in the malls but there are many many more things that I am.

So I decided to make a list.

1) Nga Ku

Once a year we are graced by the presence of this in our homes. I remember when I first discovered nga ku. Someone gave it to me and said it was addictive. When I popped the first one in my mouth I chewed for a bit and remember thinking to myself “Meh… it’s okay… not particularly tasty or anything”.

But it was after I swallowed it that the after taste began to kick in. An after taste that let out a signal to your brain that you MUST have more. After that…. you’re hooked and it doesn’t matter how bad of a sore throat you have after. You go for it anyway.

The worst part is that once you’re hooked and addicted to it…. you find out that they only have this once a year. Once a year.. and only during Chinese New Year.

2) Family Reunions

Growing up I gotta admit that I didn’t enjoy Chinese New Year family reunions. They were really long and draggy and sometimes with relatives I wasn’t really close to to begin with.

It’s only when I spent Chinese New Year away from home that I began to appreciate it. When I was studying in London, Chinese New Year was something I had to miss each year (like most UK students I believe) because it was in the middle of term.

Among friends we still celebrated. We had Chinese New Year lunches in Chinatown among ourselves but the one thing we all agreed was that it’s not the same without family. Even if it’s the aunty that you see only once a year that keeps asking you when you’re getting married.

To add to that, as the years passed, some of my uncles and aunty passed away. So the family reunions started getting smaller and smaller. I now appreciate all my family reunion dinners because I never know who will be missing from the table the next year.

3) Friends Reunions

As we grow up we often lose contact with our old friends from school or college. Chinese New Year is the one time where organized meet ups happen with all these old friends. I treasure catching up with old friends, learning about how their lives are now… how many kids they have.. and reminiscing the old times. Reliving old memories.

4) Yee Sang and Steamboat DinnersThi

I used to ask my mom why it’s a tradition to have steamboat dinner among the family every Chinese New Year. She said it’s because steamboat requires you to constantly scoop for soup or “loh” as she calls it. The more you “loh” signifies longer life and prosperity.

Similar to Yee Sang. I used to not like to eat yee sang but I would always join in the fun and loh it. I now learn to eat at least a little for luck.

5) Ang Pow

Why we love ang pows don’t need any explanation. As a kid it’s like a way we get money to spend for the rest of the year on our playing cards or whatever.

What I didn’t expect was how much I actually enjoy giving ang pow too as a married couple. I enjoy giving it to kids and I enjoy giving it to my parents or my old baby sitter or people that have played a very big part in my life. My mom always tells me that it’s a privilege to be able to give…. so we should take it as a pleasure. I agree with her whole-heartedly.

6) Fireworks

I grew up playing a lot of fireworks as a kid. I remember shooting up the “moon travelers’ at night like rockets and seeing them pop. I loved the sparklers and every type of firework I could find.

Today the use of fireworks is restricted so we don’t get to see as much anymore but it’s still nice to occasionally hear fireworks go off during a Chinese New Year night,

7) Open Houses

I love attending Open Houses of good friends. It’s a good time to catch up and enjoy good company. The nice CNY biscuits add to the mix too.

I’ve never really hosted an Open House because I felt my apartment is too small to house many people. But I learn now it’s not a matter of size. It’s a matter of just inviting people over to reunite and catch up. This year I’m gonna try to do at least some of that.

8) Wearing New Clothes

This is something my family never really followed too diligently. The only thing I would do is make it a point to wear one red shirt on the first day of Chinese New Year. After that I wear anything.

Then I married Shorty and she instilled her family tradition on to me. How it’s important to wear new clothes on everything down to your boxers and socks. So she makes it a point now to stock up some new clothes now and tells me that I can only wear this during Chinese New Year.

Still it’s fun wearing new clothes during Chinese New Year. The smell of them and the slightly uncomfortable feeling on your skin that reminds you you’re wearing something new.

——–

These are the things that I think are awesome about Chinese New Year. Did I miss anything out?

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

The New Nuffnang Thailand Office

Posted on February 5, 2015 admin

I’m in Thailand now for a short business trip to hold some meetings with the management here at Nuffnang Thailand. I haven’t actually been to Thailand that much in the past year because the operations here was handled primarily by Ming and Hui Wen.

It’s amazing what change a year can bring. In the past year Nuffnang Thailand has practically doubled in size and moved into a new office. This is how it’s like.

Our office is right in the city along Sukhumvit and it’s still kinda new so we haven’t done much with it yet. Heck the chairs in the meeting room still has plastic wrapped around them.

The one thing cool about the Nuffnang Thailand office is the environment. The Thai Nuffies here are a super lively bunch. Actually every Netccentric office in the region is fun and kinda noisy but the Nuffnang Thailand office takes the cake.

Throughout the entire day someone is always talking, laughing, joking or even singing. It’s so festive I wonder how anyone gets anything done.

What I’m grateful for is the progress Netccentric has made regionally. We started off as a company just based in Malaysia and Singapore and we immediately knew we wanted to be regional. So we invested whatever profits we had to organically expand and honestly we went through a phase where we were wondering if these investments were gonna pay off.

Last year proved it all for us. Our overseas operations today contribute to so much of the growth of the whole group. It took a long time and a lot of stress for us to get here but we’re glad we did.

One thing I realized about the Nuffnang Thailand office is that just like our offices in Malaysia, Singapore and China… everyone takes off their shoes in the office. I didn’t realize that and very stupidly walked into the office with my shoes on. Nobody corrected me.

I looked out the window of our office to a view of Bangkok.

I remember coming here a few years ago to set up our operations here. We were optimistic but we were also cautious because we knew how hard it was to expand to another country.

A few years on, Nuffnang Thailand is a fairly sizable operation. Our challenge now… is how to bring it to the next level. And we’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us for that.

So much has changed in a year. I wonder what next year will bring.

Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space

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