Juniper
Before the results of Goodday KidSTART 2.0 were announced, I had the opportunity of interviewing one of the participants, 9-year old Lee Yumi who I thought was outstanding and my pick as the Champion. To recap, this is Malaysia’s Biggest Kidpreneur Programme and the campaign garnered over 4,000 submissions nationwide and continues to build on its mission to empower children with essential financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills, further solidifying Goodday Milk’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of kidpreneurs.
Out of the 4,000 submissions, for Lee Yumi to emerge as the Champion is no easy feat. It took a lot of guts, dedication, courage, confidence, skill and hard work to get to that position and it’s something a lot of adults would not be able to do, i.e. to pitch an entrepreneurial idea to an audience and to be able to handle the questions thrown by the judges after each presentation.
Yumi’s idea, ‘OnBoard: School Bus System’, arose after often getting stuck in traffic congestion on the way to school every day. According to Yumi, this application was also created to encourage students to use the school bus service as it can help reduce traffic congestion issues.
Here’s a bit about Yumi, as conveyed to me by her mum:
Yumi is a Year 5 student at Global Oak Tree International School in Bukit Jelutong.
She is thankful to her ex-school Dwiemas International School where she was first exposed to entrepreneurship and pitching skills.
She has a passion for playing drums and hopes that one day she can play in a band, touring the world.
On weekends, she creates videos together with her parents. Her channel, Pakupakiss has close to 1 million subscribers collectively on social media (YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram). It’s a product review comedy channel. She allocates earnings from these platforms to pay for her coding and music lessons and also for charity. She saves up the rest for her higher education in future.
How Yumi worked on her presentation
The biggest challenge is to present within the stipulated time frame (5 minutes). She was anxious that she might get stuck along the line and would exceed 5 minutes, but at the same time she must not speak too fast like a train.
She practised her presentation 2 days prior to the competition. Mot too early, not too late, so that she won’t over practice and end up with yips.
She is thankful to her parents for supporting her in practice and the contest.
What inspired you to come up with the idea for ‘OnBoard: School Bus System’ app?
Yumi: My dad and I always got stuck in traffic jams and the app will help with traffic issues and give peace of mind to parents. It tracks the school bus’ movements in real time updates.
Please elaborate more on the app.
Yumi: It lets parents know where their kid is. Kids will never miss their ride. If kids need to stay in school, parents can check the pick-up time, the ETA is re-calculated.
What activities did you participate in prior to Contest Day?
Yumi: I enjoyed the boot camp prior to Contest Day. The boot camp taught us how to manage stress. For example, they taught us that if we don’t know the answer to the judges’ questions, we can just say, “I will check and get back to you later.” I made a lot of friends there.
What would you like to say to Goodday?
Yumi: I am thankful to Gooday for organising KidSTART 2.0 and for giving me this opportunity to try out and pitch my business idea. I loved participating in this contest. Goodday is generous.
What would you like to say to kids who are thinking of participating in future Goodday KidSTART campaigns?
Yumi: Try your best. Don’t be scared. If you don’t share your business idea, it will forever remain as just an idea.
