Buy your kids a future, buy Malaysian's?
Ever since I was a kid I always I had the misconception that most of the things I was using were made in Malaysia. Recently, I did some research, and to my surprise most of the familiar brands were NOT Malaysian at all. Turns out, there is only one Malaysian product that I know off, Proton the national car.
MILO (drink): Nestlé’s MILO. Milo has been produced at Nestlé's plant in Smithtown, New South Wales, Australia since its original conception in 1934. It was created that year, after heavy research led by Thomas Mayne. The name derives from the famous Greek athlete Milo of Croton, after his legendary strength. [read more]
BATA (school shoes): Bata Shoes is the world's largest shoe company. It is also the world's largest family-owned company. It is currently headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Bata Shoe Company was founded in 1894 in Zlín in what is today the Czech Republic but was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire [read more]
LADYBIRD (kid’s clothes):A brand owned by the Woolworth Group. The trading partnership between the original firm Adolf Pasold & Son and Woolworths began in 1934 when the Pasolds family bought the Ladybird brand from Kinger Manufacturing Co in 1938 and it was later bought by Coats Viyella, and then bought by Woolworth. [read more]
NESCAFE (coffee):A combination of 2 words Nestle and Café, obviously not from Malaysia. The beginnings of Nescafé can be traced all the way back to 1930, when the Brazilian government first approached Nestlé. [read more]
DARLIE A.K.A DARKIE (toothpaste)Hong Kong's Hazel & Hawley Chemical Co. would probably still be hawking Darkie toothpaste had the company not been acquired by Colgate. Colgate bought the company in 1985, and then ditched the logo and changed the product's name from Darkie to Darlie after US civil rights groups protested. [read more]
AYAM BRAND (food and beverage)Part of the Denis Frères group, a trading and industrial company established 135 years ago with subsidiaries, affiliate and correspondents across Asia and the Pacific region. [read more]
As I was comparing the products available in Australia and Malaysia's super/hyper markets, I realised that Aussies love their own products. There was this really good slogan, "Buy your kids a job, buy Australia's". So, if we want to buy Malaysia a future, shouldn't we know more about Malaysian brands? Does anyone know which brand is from Malaysia, at all? Tell me!