Sarcastic Remarks Motivated Charcoal Entrepeneur

By Rohaiza Ab. Rahman KOTA BAHARU (Kelantan, Malaysia), Oct 24 (Bernama) -- The idiom - "sticks and stones may break my bones, (but words will never hurt me)" - must have been the motto for Khairul Azizi Ramli who ignored sarcastic remarks to become the successful entrepreneur he is today. The eldest of 11 siblings, Khairul Azizi, 39, said all the sarcasm and dirty looks he got only served to motivate him to prove that he had chosen the right career. Today, four years after he first venture into the business, Kelantan-born Khairul Azizi can enjoy his success, earning almost RM10,000 a month selling charcoal processed in Kampung Mak Lipah, Melor. "The idea for the charcoal business came when I was jobless after resigning from a construction company in 2011. "I started the business producing charcoal from coconut shells which I got free from coconut milk shops. At that time, many people thought I was crazy because I already had a degree," he said when met at a course held at the Kemubu Agriculture Development Board (KADA) training centre here recently. Khairul Azizi said initially his family was not happy with his career as he had degree in Town and Regional Development. "But I was convinced that through hard work, I would be successful one day," he said. For the first year, he went around to almost 50 shops selling coconut milk, collecting coconut shells to be made into charcoal which would then be sold to suppliers at 64 sen per kilogramme. As his business grew, Khairul Azizi started teaching the coconut milk operators in his village how to make charcoal from coconut shells. He would then buy the charcoal from these operators before selling them on the market. Today, Khairul Azizi also produces charcoal briquettes and mangrove charcoal, which are sold at RM8.50 (about US$2) for a packet of three kilograms. He also produces activated carbon from coconut shell charcoal to be supplied to almost 90 per cent of air filter companies in Kelantan and Terengganu. Khairul Azizi is now in the process of marketing the charcoal to local supermarkets and planning to build a bigger factory. He is one of the success stories of participants who underwent Kelantan Agriculture courses. KADA deputy general manager, Sushi Chee Nor said 840 of the 1,220 participants of the course had succeeded in breaking the vicious poverty cycle. -- BERNAMA