By ET 
It is always inspiring to meet a young entrepreneur in person. But I certainly did not expect to come across one sitting next to a dumpster in the middle of Georgetown’s heritage area.
I had just driven 12 km into the city for a meeting and parked at an open car park when my car battery died as I tried to restart the car to adjust its parking spot.
Disaster!
By sheer happenstance, Amir was sitting nearby chatting with the local road-sweeper which Georgetown assigns for the area.
He whipped out his handy dandy battery checker to confirm my battery needed replacing.
Without sounding pushy, he said I could call my car insurance contact number (which could take time) or he could call a rider who can come ‘very soon’.
Of course, faster is better.
Within 40 minutes, I got a call during my meeting that the rider had arrived.
With a new battery in hand, Shariel promptly replaced my worn out battery and I was able to continue my meeting with peace of mind.
But not before I learnt that Amir was the boss of Bateriku, a roadside battery assistance service.
Shariel was a new apprentice who had just started this week and had the benefit of the boss overlooking his work on the job with his first customer.
Wow! The need for a new battery couldn’t have happened in a better place.
Amir explained, after the job was done flawlessly, that he had frequented this area with a view of bumping into youngsters who can be riders for his expanding business. He believes young people like Shariel need better opportunities than just food delivery or gig economy. Skills like what he is offering have a better future and are more sustainable.
Double wow!
As in every economy, small (or even micro) businesses form the bulk of the economy. If only we have more entrepreneurs like Amir, positive change will be faster. Syabas!
Alex