Take The Path Less Ordinary

Buying authentic traditional craft usually involve scouring deep into the interiors. Well, look no further. Now, there is a new and noble way to get your hands on some of Malaysia’s finest traditional handicraft. And the name to google for is Elevyn.com, a great portal that bridge rural finery with fashionistas of the urban world.

Recently we conducted an e-interview with Devan Singaram, one of the founders, to get an overview of what makes the project tick.

1. Tell us something about Elevyn.com’s founders?

Mike Tee and I were running our own IT businesses prior to Elevyn. We felt that our skills and knowledge in the field could be put to doing something more meaningful rather than just “make money”. The field coordinator of the team, Sze Ning, is actively involved in research and documentation work on Orang Asli rights. She has a deep passion for arts and crafts by indigenous groups.

Devan (right), Mike Tee (left)

2. How did all of you meet? Any funny tales?

Initially, Mike and I were sort of hi-bye friends; but both kept bumping into each other. On one occasion, it was in a restaurant, and a “hi man” conversation soon stretched into a 6-hour-tea-and-dinner! We discovered that we’re both Liverpool fans, write code for a living, and wanted to do much more!

3. How did the idea of Elevyn.com came about? Tell us your story.

Elevyn started as a project to document social entrepreneurship projects. We learnt of stories of a world cup just for the homeless, a Sri Lankan who made paper out of elephant dung to save them (by improving villagers’ relationship with elephants) and I backpacked through Thailand meeting hill tribe refugees in Chiang Rai, documenting a project on selling their crafts to Japanese students. We then decided to stop being bystanders and do something more sustainable.

About the time, during her trip to an indigenous village in Sabah, Sze Ning witnessed first-hand the crippling effects of poverty amongst the marginalized communities. The old women relied on their weavings to make a living, and requested help from Sze Ning to sell them in KL. Stumped, she relayed her experience to us, and everything clicked!

4. What’s the hardest part in starting and maintaining Elevyn.com?

Developing the site was the easy part - in spite of the hundreds of hours poured in! One part which we are still figuring out is how to convert enough visitors into buyers to make it a sustainable venture. We’d love to have some help on this!

Chic handmade earrings and necklaces are uniquely yours to coo friends

Also - organizing the NGOs and communities is a learning experience itself. Our supply chain is unique in the sense we allow the artisans, or at least the community based organization, themselves to set the price and ship items directly to buyers. So making sure items are packaged and sent in the most effective way is part of the challenge as we work with several communities.

We are also looking for ways to constantly innovate to bring the buyer and artisan closer together.

5. Any advice for those are thinking of starting their own social aid projects?

Start small, aim for sustainability and not charity to drive a project, if possible. I have started an experimental project called www.unreason.my for those who need help gettting social aid projects going. Check out the blog for more ideas and people who have started something.

Log on Elevyn.com to find out how you can buy and bring the much needed economical spread to Malaysia’s hidden side.