"Our greatest glory is not in never failing; but in rising every time we fall..."

A Close Call...

It was the night before Christmas, that for the first time we looked at each other and realised that we could not afford to buy our new born his very first gift; that we could not afford a new pair of pants or shirt for Christmas...

With RM16 to our name, we have never been more broke in the past 5 years than we were on Christmas Eve. Little did we know that we have completely used up every bit of our finances to fund our dream of a beautiful studio filled with the wonders of crystal healing, the endless workshops and a community space to aid all those who are in need...

We expected to open our doors to the public on the first week of December, however the delay in our renovations caused us to push back the date to the 1st of January 2021. Our finances were almost done going into week 2 of December; forcing us to withdraw all our savings for Orion to pay the salaries of the crew; and with the grace of God, we managed to pull through and made it to the soft opening...

Though business was extremely slow since missing the holiday period, things started to pick up after 10 days in operations. Word started to spread organically amongst friends and families; bringing life to our little space; bringing hope...

As things started to look up, then came the dreaded announcement that the Movement Control Order (MCO) will be reimplemented starting January 13 2021, bringing a new set of challenges to us and many more small start-ups alike...

Finding Strength through Kindness...

Just as we had developed a plan to raise our business, the 2nd wave hit us; and this time, it came at us hard. We were not prepared to handle another setback as it would mean certain doom, especially since we have not been able to get the traction that we needed in terms of customers having just been opened less than 2 weeks ago and with zero to our name. However one thing we knew for sure, that change is inevitable and that we must always expect the unexpected...

Knowing that we were days away from closing our doors for good, we decided to stick it out as a team one last time and to go down swinging; not as individuals, but as a family...

Having so much of plans to do with so little time left, we wanted to leave the biggest impact possible before we closed our doors; and having done the pay-if-forward a few times in the past month to a family of 12, we decided that since we had nothing to give, we could feed the hungry with the food that we had left in our fridges; and maybe, just maybe, give others a chance at survival; by extending their lives for another day...

Not expecting anything in return, we were shocked by the way word started to spread about our little initiative; and before we knew it, people from all over Malaysia started pouring in with their love...

An Unexpected turn...

With our new found responsibility, a random crowd of people started to pour into our little home daily to be fed. What used to be a mere 5-12 boxes of food a day, slowly turned to 77 in no time, which finally hung around the number of averagely 35 meals per day.  With the help of some good samaritans, we were able to continuously fund the meals, raising our collection of food to a total of 943 hot meals as off today; with 816 people fed; all because you cared...

Meal Counters accurate as off (8.00pm GMT+8 on the 27th of Feb 2021)

However, even with the buzz that were going around, our business were still heading for the worst. With delivery sales increasing for 2 weeks before taking a nose dive again since the article about us was published, it kept us together for a couple more weeks at least; helping us serve the community and all those that depended on our kitchen daily for a warm meal a little longer; up till now...

One Last Swing...

As we went on trying various ideas to bring our business back to live, we came up with some amazing ideas that were sure to rock the market. However one thing became clear to us all, that time and money was not on our side. Being in a world where we can so easily be drowned out by the noises that fills the advertising world, a feeling started to set in our hearts; knowing that somehow, our greatest fear is coming to pass...

In a mysterious turn of events, a small group of influential people dined in our restaurant and were fairly surprised and extremely pleased by the experience that they had. As we were about to garner a deal to cater on a weekly basis to their company for lunch, what seemed to be like a massive opportunity for us to turn things around quickly became a silent wish, as a few decided that it was best to go separate ways to ease the burden of the our company while having a chance to work on our individual plans and dreams...

With the loss of several core members, we knew that as a family, we can no longer ask the remaining 3 members of the team to walk into the fire with us once more, as we saw clearly where our chances stood and the fate that could befall us in March and the months that follow. There was only one thing left to be done, to help one another find a job so that no one would be left crippled by the outcome of the situation...

One last ride...

Having the chance to experience a team that truly believed in the power of togetherness changed our lives forever. Though it has been a rough 3 months, however nothing could change the fact that we grew so much together; doing things that no one thought we could; changing the world around us with our wishes, dreams and madness; bringing hope to all those who seek...

Having gone to the brink of what could have been a beautiful reality showed us a glimpse of the dream that could become; a dream too good to be true; a dream that must come to life...

As i sit here alone tonight writing this to you, i can still hear the echoes of their voices in the walls; the playful shouting at each other, the ecstatic laughter that would burst right through the halls; flashes of the beautiful moments that we shared together; memories that filled each and every space; the kind that is worth dying for...

I guess all that is left right now is for CG and I to rebuild our business and ourselves again, step by step; and to see this as a process; a part of a story that is yet to become; and just like a phoenix that must burst into flames in order to rise, we too will rise from the ashes of shattered dreams, re-writing our stars once again; till we can finally make that dream a reality...

Until then, stay hungry, stay different, and stay foolish...

Official Announcement

WTF Studios:

As off the 1st of March 2021, WTF Studios will cease operations temporarily till we are once again financially able to reopen our doors. In the mean time, i guess we will be working our butts off to complete all the unfinished work left in the studio while nurturing the company back to health again...

WTF Bracelet / wtfbracelet.com

As for our bracelet store in Gurney Plaza Penang & our online platforms including wtfbracelet.com, Instagram and Facebook for customized accessories will continue to operate as usual...

Pay-It-Forward Program:

For the time being, CG and I have decided to take a 2 month break to rebuild our home. Unfortunately, during this time, the pay-it-forward hot meals program will temporarily be unavailable till we are able to hire a Chef and a team to continue serving the people daily...

For the past few days, we have collected the contact details of all those who depends on our meals to feed their families daily in hopes of getting in touch with them as soon as we are able; and we promise, the moment we are ready, we will be back to serving the community once again...

Last Working Day of WTF Studios Original Team:

Our last day will be on the 28th of February 2021 from 11am to 10pm. So let's come together and have some fun before we head our separate ways...

Till then, take care, God bless and God speed...