Influencers are not uncommon in our country in this generation.
But an ustaz with 3.9 million followers on Instagram definitely raises the eyebrows of many.
Even IG models sometimes do not have as much of a following.
So who exactly is this ustaz and why is he famous?
And on top of that, how’d he get to land himself a house like that and drive a Benz?
Ebit Lew, who also happens to be an entrepreneur and philanthropist, is the man behind all that influence.
While he may not be as known of a figure among non-Muslim Malaysians, he has made a household name for himself among many Muslims in Malaysia.
Converting To Islam At 12
You’re probably wondering about his surname and you’re right, Ebit is a Chinese man.
Formerly known as Lew Yun Pau, he’s originally from Muadzam Shah, Pahang and is the 3rd child of 12 siblings.
He embraced Islam when he was 12, and from then on he delved more into the religion’s teachings and has always tried to convince his family to embrace Islam.
Ebit shared that when he was younger, he used to sleep in the mosque and sometimes on a sack.
“Since young I would preach and spread love. The question I always hear is that if I’m busy helping everyone, what are you going to do when you’re older?”
“Nobody would hire me because I look like a mess with my beard and my dirty shoes. It was a hard time.”
His mother would just earn RM800 with all kinds of work.
Back then to him, even when someone gave him RM2 for filling up their car, it was a big deal to him.
Thankfully, his hardships didn’t last forever.
Ebit started working at Excel Training as a trainer and motivator in a corporate team-building program for 4 years.
He worked with all kinds of clients like the government, oil and gas, sunnah family programs, Prokids, and more.
An International Motivational Speaker
Working with all kinds of clients allowed Ebit to travel across Malaysia to give his talks.
But over the years, Ebit has also preached in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, India, and Singapore.
In his entire career, he’s conducted over 1,000 courses at governmental and private agencies.
Today, he is an independent motivational speaker as well as the Managing Director of Transform Training and Consultancy with 55 permanent staff.
He’s in radio programs like Sinar.fm and Ikim.fm.
Not only that, he even has 2 of his own TV programs running at two seasons each already:
- Door-to-door Ebit Lew on Astro Oasis,
- A Bit With Ebit on TV Al-Hijrah.
Additionally, he has his own Youtube channel of 875K subscribers as well as 51 million total views, which he only started in 2018.
On Social Blade, it is estimated that Ebit earns about RM900-14,000 per month or RM11,000-170,000 per year from his channel.
His motivational work isn’t limited to talks and shows though, as he actively contributes his work in writing.
Ebit actively writes for newspapers and magazines, and has even authored 9 books.
“All my books are selling really well. Even a book I’ve written 8 years ago is still selling well,” he shared.
With how imprinted his words are on people (no pun intended), it’s no wonder he has that big of a social media presence.
Business Ventures Of All Kinds
Now, being a viral motivational speaker can get you places, as Ebit has shown.
But capitalising on your fame alone cannot guarantee a lifetime of stable income.
And Ebit knows that all too well.
His restaurant business, Paramount Coffee House, currently has 3 branches in Bandar Baru Bangi, Putrajaya and Shah Alam.
Paramount Coffee House is known for its Triple Chocolate Waffle, which is much like a dessert you can find at Dip N Dip.
The other business he owns is a boutique, Elew’s Design, which is located in Bandar Baru Bangi and also has an online Shopee store.
It sells jubah, kurta, and t-shirts for men, but they have some t-shirts for women too.
The store shows that their products range from RM30-100, depending on the size and the type of clothing.
On top of all of that, he also owns a convenience store chain, Elewsmart, which just recently opened its 14th branch at Kota Warisan, Sepang.
Elewsmart actually just launched this July with 10 chains, a very bold and pricey move coming from him.
Within the first two days of opening, he said that he already received 16,000 applicants for job vacancies in Elewsmart.
From the looks of it, Ebit Lew doesn’t shy away from tapping into all kinds of business ventures and isn’t about to stop at these 3 alone.
Most importantly, he has the masses supporting him on all of his business ventures.
Helping The Needy During MCO
I personally hadn’t heard of Ebit Lew from any of my social circles up until MCO happened.
I saw a video of him and his team helping the needy on Facebook like giving bags of rice and oil, mattresses, paying forward 2 months of rent and buying face masks and shields.
It’s a whole series of charity videos that he’s putting out there, which is branding him as a philanthropist as well.
His charity works aren’t separate from his work though.
All his convenience stores have food banks in them to help those in need.
Creating A Legacy
Ebit seems like he can do just about anything and everything.
But one thing that’s clear is that people admire him for his character, which shows a lot in his preaching and charity works.
Though he’s a celebrity, he’s not unreachable nor unapproachable.
Just recently, he made the news again for flying in 10 tonnes of basic food items, taken from his own convenience stores, for Sabahans.
This was after sending Sabahan frontliners a bunch of PPE last week.
During the recent Klang Valley water crisis, he also utilised his resources and sent two water tanks to Batu Caves.
Critics have said that his documentation on social media of his charity work is just a way to show-off, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It helps raise awareness to the causes he contributes to, which we may not have paid attention to otherwise.
And at the end of the day, at least he’s using his current privileged position for the benefit of the underprivileged and other common folks.
Last of all, seeing a Facebook post of his charity work for the week brings some of us that much-needed assurance that there’s still some hope out there for things to get better.
- You can find out more about Ebit Lew here.
Featured Image Credit: Zine Islamik / Ebit Lew