In 2015, advertising veterans Chantelle Teoh and Kelvin Long grew tired of the generic, "embarrassing" souvenirs found at Central Market. They wanted products that actually spoke the language of Malaysians, literally.



Starting with a single t-shirt design complaining about cigarette prices ("Mahal Bro"), APOM (A Piece of Malaysia) has grown from a bazaar pop-up into a 7-figure retail brand with five stores, including Bangsar Village and The Campus, Ampang.



The husband-and-wife duo joins BFM  to discuss the journey from "Bazaars to Bangunan." We explore how they navigate the "Dreamer vs. Integrator" dynamic as a married couple, the operational PTSD of the 2020 pandemic, and why they believe the future of retail lies in data-driven humor.



We discuss:




The Origin Story: Moving from the "Doof" bean bag business to APOM as a creative release from client work.


Product Market Fit: How they tested witty designs like the "Mahal Bro" and "Jalan Bapak Kau" shirts at bazaars to validate the concept before committing to a lease.


Retail Operations: The reality of scaling from selling single items to managing hundreds of SKUs, warehousing, and the financial "flywheel" of margins and Opex.


The Co-Founder Dynamic: How a husband-and-wife team functions by respecting the split between the "Dreamer" and the "Integrator".


The Cringe Filter: The difficult product development cycle of walking the fine line between witty cultural commentary and "cringey" humor.


The "Blast" Campaign: How they pivoted during the pandemic lockdowns to support 14 local designers when tourism vanished overnight.


Future Vision: The plan to expand beyond KL and build a "Departmental Store" concept to house top-quality Malaysian goods.

In 2015, advertising veterans Chantelle Teoh and Kelvin Long grew tired of the generic, "embarrassing" souvenirs found at Central Market. They wanted products that actually spoke the language of Malaysians, literally.Starting with a single t-shirt design complaining about cigarette prices ("Mahal Bro"), APOM (A Piece of Malaysia) has grown from a bazaar pop-up into a 7-figure retail brand with five stores, including Bangsar Village and The Campus, Ampang.The husband-and-wife duo joins BFM&nbsp; to discuss the journey from "Bazaars to Bangunan." We explore how they navigate the "Dreamer vs. Integrator" dynamic as a married couple, the operational PTSD of the 2020 pandemic, and why they believe the future of retail lies in data-driven humor.We discuss:<ul><li>The Origin Story: Moving from the "Doof" bean bag business to APOM as a creative release from client work.</li><li>Product Market Fit: How they tested witty designs like the "Mahal Bro" and "Jalan Bapak Kau" shirts at bazaars to validate the concept before committing to a lease.</li><li>Retail Operations: The reality of scaling from selling single items to managing hundreds of SKUs, warehousing, and the financial "flywheel" of margins and Opex.</li><li>The Co-Founder Dynamic: How a husband-and-wife team functions by respecting the split between the "Dreamer" and the "Integrator".</li><li>The Cringe Filter: The difficult product development cycle of walking the fine line between witty cultural commentary and "cringey" humor.</li><li>The "Blast" Campaign: How they pivoted during the pandemic lockdowns to support 14 local designers when tourism vanished overnight.</li><li>Future Vision: The plan to expand beyond KL and build a "Departmental Store" concept to house top-quality Malaysian goods.</li></ul>

The flagship entrepreneurship show on BFM, featuring personal business stories from early stage start-ups, all the way to billionaire octogenarians in Malaysia and abroad. Notable guests include Martin Cooper (father of the mobile phone), Julian Assange (founder of WikiLeaks), Ralph Henry Baer (father of video games), Tony Buzan (Mindmap Guru), Isaac Tigrett (Hard Rock Cafe founder), Robert Kiyosaki (Financial Guru), Nick Vujicic (motivational speaker) and more. Tap into this valuable resource of shared experiences for the SME industry, which also touches on news, issues and trends affecting the business community and beyond.

Open For Business

Discover fresh concepts, tackle obstacles, and unleash growth - Open For Business is the dynamic show where BFM engages with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and industry trailblazers, igniting inspiration, sparking success, and exploring new business models.