With 2022 coming to a close, the team here at Vulcan Post Malaysia has been doing some reflection on the content we’ve published throughout the year.
As always, we’ve covered a variety of topics throughout the year from entrepreneurship and startups to tech and gaming.
Although it’s quite subjective to deem which articles are the “best” ones, it seems that our readers have made their voices by clicking into specific headlines.
To lend some insight into what our readers have cared about, here are some of the top-performing articles we’ve had this year, arranged in no particular order.
1. Here’s a masterlist of all the tax reliefs individuals can claim for YA 2021 in Malaysia
As Benjamin Franklin famously said, nothing is certain except for death and taxes.
And so, every year without fail, Malaysians scramble to sort out their taxes, making our directory on tax reliefs individuals can claim for the financial year a handy resource to have.
While this article is not as useful now as when it was published, do stay tuned for our updated masterlist for YA 2022.
2. A mother and her son-in-law built the M’sian F&B empire we know today as Serai Group
“Mama, why don’t you open a restaurant? Then, we can eat for free.”
That was the innocent question that triggered the birth of F&B empire, Serai Group, which has now amassed three decades of experience.
Today, the family-owned Malaysian cuisine enterprise boasts portfolio brands such as Serai, Serai Thai, Jibby & Co, Chum Chum Pizzeria, and more.
3. What scenarios justify withdrawing RM10K from EPF? 4 M’sian finance bloggers weigh in.
In April this year, the government offered Malaysians the option to withdraw up to RM10K from their EPF.
At a time when many had to tighten their purse strings, the special withdrawal was an especially appealing deal for cash-strapped Malaysians who needed the money for daily necessities.
However, necessities aside, what exactly constitutes a good justification for withdrawing from one’s retirement fund? To answer our questions, we reached out to four financial bloggers for their opinions.
4. We predict these 5 consortiums will win the M’sian digital banking licences, here’s why
This year, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) was set to announce its first five digital banks. Before it did, though, we predicted which of the 29 applicants would make the cut for the licence.
With notable names like Grab, Sea Group, BigPay, and more throwing in their hats for the challenge, many Malaysians were curious as to what the consortiums were bringing to the table, which our article answered.
5. BNM has announced its 5 digital banks, here’s what they’ll bring to the table
A few months after we made our predictions in January, BNM finally announced its five digital banks in April.
With all eyes on the winning consortiums, our article looked into what each consortium comprised, something that many of you wanted to know too.
6. Talented 26 Y/O Kelantanese VFX creator got IRL Ryan Reynolds to star in his CGI short
Creating content filled with visual effects (VFX) that’s viewed by millions, Mohamad Sofian, better known by his username Sofyank96, managed to cast Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds in one of his videos.
The most interesting part? They didn’t even meet in person.
With only 16 seconds of footage with Reynolds, the Kelantan native had put his VFX and editing skills to full use, creating a video that’s now viewed over 4 million times on TikTok.
7. ‘I hated my entrepreneurship journey’: Jujumello founder on closing for good after 6 yrs
After six years of running a lingerie brand, Jujumello’s founder, Mel Chai, bid her startup goodbye.
In a farewell post on Instagram, she listed out the reasons why she was letting go of Jujumello, airing out her frustrations and resentments that have been brewing over the course of her entrepreneurial journey.
Entrepreneurship is certainly not an easy path, and Mel’s candid story definitely hit a relatable note for many other Malaysian entrepreneurs, showing that it’s okay to move on from something that you’re no longer happy with.
8. I copied Steve Jobs’ morning routine for a week, from diet to outfit. Here’s how it went.
To provide our readers with some inspiration (and entertainment) on how some of the biggest names in business live their lives, we started a series where we explored famous entrepreneurs’ morning routines.
Our foray into this content began with the late Steve Jobs, the entrepreneur and mastermind behind Apple.
Thanks to Jobs’ status as a worldwide icon, the article interestingly drew in a global audience who were curious to learn about his routine and how we managed to adhere to it. (Plus, maybe the picture tickled some people pink.)
9. At 26, she took over her family’s Ipoh steakhouse & expanded it to 4 more outlets in KL
Originally from Ipoh, Maria’s SteakCafe tells a story of a family’s love, loss, and perserverance.
Named after the founder Phillip Tan’s wife, Maria’s SteakCafe has its beginnings during a financial crisis in the 1990s. With time, the business established itself as a stalwart in Ipoh, and the family set its eyes on KL in 2014.
However, it was around the same time that Phillip passed away, handing the torch to Maria and her daughters. The family banded together to keep Maria SteakCafe running, and at 26, daughter and successor Angeline Tan would officially step up to the plate to continue the family’s legacy.
10. Following FashionValet’s closure, here are 6 things about the co. that are under scrutiny
When news about FashionValet’s shutdown broke, so did a handful of other allegations regarding the business and its management.
Being an established brand name with a high-profile founder, those claims were quickly gaining traction amongst netizens, and our article provided a more structured look into them.
11. We bought FashionValet’s financial reports from SSM to verify recent allegations
While verifying the allegations reported in the first FashionValet article, we had purchased a series of financial reports from MyData SSM.
With new findings in hand, we wrote a secondary article bringing those details to light. Were many of the allegations just due to “jealous netizens”, as some would claim, or was there truth to them?
12. Sleep-obsessed engineer spent 17 years making his perfect pillow, now sells it for RM399
Chances are, you or someone you know have trouble with sleep. Ken, too, had sleep issues, but instead of suffering through it, he decided to develop his own solution—GIRAFthepillow.
We looked into the founder’s journey, and reviewed how the pillow, which took 17 years of research, actually performed.
13.Following The Daily Fix’s popularity, this Melakan couple launched 5 more brands in 8 yrs
A mainstay in Melaka’s F&B scene, The Daily Fix was founded by Julian Yeo and Sung Soo Teng who wanted to offer to Malaysians what they had enjoyed in Australia, which was well-brewed espresso coffees.
Although lacking in entrepreneurial experience, the couple has managed to grow their business into six brands all across Melaka in the span of eight years.
We spoke to them to learn how they did it and got a story that made their fans proud while inspiring other aspiring entrepreneurs.
14. Here are 13 M’sian startups that bagged over US$1 mil funding in the past year
Celebrating Malaysian pride, we curated a non-exhaustive list of homegrown startups that have managed to raise over US$1 million funds between September 2021 to August 2022.
The startups that made the list raised anywhere from US$1 million to as much as US$29 million, and this was impressive because this largely happened during a timeline when the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging on.
15. Tower of Fantasy has been dubbed the “Genshin killer”. I’ve played both, here’s my verdict.
Following the launch of the free-to-play game, Tower of Fantasy (ToF), we explored similarities and differences between ToF and Genshin Impact.
Evoking the popular phrase “Genshin killer”, our article seemed to have attracted gamers from Malaysia and beyond who were curious to read about our experience having played both of the Chinese roleplay video games.
Was one really better than the other? We set out to find answers.
16. Tower of Fantasy will be “killed” by none other than its own fans. Let’s talk about it.
Riding the Tower of Fantasy wave, we published another opinion piece on ToF.
When we began delving into ToF a bit more, what we realised was that the game had quite a few issues, and we’re not just talking bugs…
It was to the point where it seemed like even the game’s own fans were somewhat embarrassed to show their support for it, but pointing this out seemed to have ruffled some feathers.
Well, we’ll let you deep dive into the drama firsthand with this piece.
17. 8 M’sians were recognised by Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in 2022, here’s why they deserve it
Every year, Forbes publishes its 30 Under 30 Asia list that highlights outstanding individuals.
Over four thousand nominees had been submitted to be on 2022’s list, so it’s extra heartening to see eight Malaysians being recognised across five categories, namely: The Arts, Entertainment & Sports, Media, Marketing & Advertising, Social Impact, and Retail & Commerce.
No doubt this global list was a point of pride for Malaysians, seeing young, excellent talents stand on the same stage as others.
18. Meet the newcomer & 2 returnees on Malaysia’s 50 Richest 2022 list by Forbes
Another list published by Forbes, the Malaysia’s 50 Richest usually includes more or less the same cast of people, but in 2022, Farm Fresh’s CEO, Loi Tuan Ee, made his debut onto the list, made possible due to the dairy company’s IPO in March 2022.
It also saw the comeback of two other entrepreneurs who had made the list in the past, but had not made it onto the list last year (or even years prior).
19. Age didn’t stop him from quitting his job to raise cows. Now, he’s the 43rd richest M’sian.
In conjunction with Loi’s induction onto the annual Forbes list, we looked into the history behind the dairy entrepreneur’s journey, which only began when he was 42 years old.
Originally from Kedah, Loi had quit a cushy job where he was reportedly making RM500k a year to bullishly take on the dairy industry instead.
20. These M’sian law grads smartly leveraged TikTok to boost the growth of their body care biz
Meng and Ivor had a wake-up call when they entered the job market and learnt that first-year law graduates did not make as much as they thought.
With that realisation, the couple went the entrepreneurial route and launched a body care brand, HYGR, in 2020. Through the power of social media, the brand was able to reach virality, which the couple leveraged to further boost the growth of their brand.
21. At 14, he was waiting tables to feed his family. By 35, he founded Maple Palace in Penang.
Maple Palace is a restaurant in Penang founded by Tan Loy Sin that boasts over a hundred menu items. Options range from Spanish Iberico pork to a traditional Chinese char siew, a reflection of the founder’s past working on cruise ships.
While the restaurant offers its diners lavish offerings today, its owner didn’t use to have the luxury of enjoying such a variety of dishes. Behind Maple Palace is a tale of rags to riches, and of persistence and growth.
22. What you can already shop at IOI City Mall’s Phase 2, and other stores coming soon
When IOI City Mall announced it would be opening its Phase 2 expansion, it had gotten plenty of publicity as it was set to become the largest mall in Malaysia.
Exploring just Phase 2 alone from end to end had us walking over 6,000 steps easily, and despite the exercise, we know mall-loving Malaysians will be excited by all the shopping possibilities.
It’s probably why the mall’s developers were already in the midst of planning Phase 3 before Phase 2 had even been launched.
The year in review
An encapsulation of Vulcan Post’s work, our top-performing articles of the year may seem quite varied at a glance, ranging from practical financial advice to game reviews.
However, with any given article in this list, our purpose has been to educate and inspire our readers, exploring the nuances behind each topic.
We at Vulcan Post are sincerely grateful for anyone who has chosen to keep up with what we’ve created, and we hope that we’ve been able to bring impact your life. Thanks to your support, we aim to work hard to bring you even better content in 2023.
Until then, Merry Christmas, and a happy new year in advance!
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.
Featured Image Credit: Sofyank96 / Vivy Yusof / Farm Fresh
