Brunei visitors who recently visited a cottage-industry factory in Kg Bukit Bangkong, Ulu Selangor, Malaysia could not help shed a few tears after hearing the rag-to-riches story narrated by Encik Tarmizi, the managing director of million-dollar tapioca chip business – Jamirah Food Industries (M) Sdn Bhd.

Encik Tarmizi said he was born to a poor family who could not even afford him to send him to school as his parents did not have enough money to do so. He also apologised to the Brunei visitors several times as they may find him boring with his casual talk as he never undergo formal schooling.

“I apologised for my words as I may not be able to talk as well as you are who may even have finished university,” he said.

He said he was determined to change his life after being born poor. So he worked hard to achieve the impossible – to become a millionaire out of nothing.

“I have tried all kind of works in my young age. But I always believe only business could change my life. However I did not have enough money to do business.“

Anyway ever since in 1991 I have tried almost anything I could get my hands on including multi-level marketing. But it was never easy.

“In 1998, I met a midwife while working at a school canteen. She taught me how to make tapioca chips to sell,” he said.

He only has RM50 which he used to buy cooking pot to deep-fry the tapioca, a knife to slice the tapioca and cooking oil. His first factory was at the compound of his house. When it rained, he had to move his “factory” to under his stilt house.

He found out that he needed a proper machine to slice the tapioca into thin pieces before deep-frying them.

“I talked to my wife and her family. They gave me their jewelleries to pawn. In the end I have RM1,700 to buy a proper slice machine,” he said.

He also acquired the service of a distributor who distributed his products all over Selangor and Kuala Lumpur while he stayed home to do the frying only.

His income from selling the tapioca chips went up from RM9000 in the first year to RM12,000 in the second year and RM18,000 in the third year.

Unfortunately his business went down the drain in the third year when the distributor defaulted in payment in the tune of RM18,000.

“I cried as I lost everything. I did not even have money to buy tapioca and cooking oil. So I decided to work for 9 months to save enough money to buy tapioca and cooking oil".

“I also distributed the product myself as I could not trust any distributor anymore,” he said.

He realised that he could make the same income but could not progress any further.

“My annual income was static not unless I get more shops to sell the chips. But my motorbike could only take me around Selangor and Kuala Lumpur”

However things will soon change for the better. A supplier of his product showed interest to make the business big.

“He talked to me that since my product made him a rich man so he wanted to make the two of us richer by distributing the products throughout Malaysia and foreign countries".

“He advised me to do a lot of things which I followed including obtaining loan on the recommendation of concerned agency to help my company grow".

“The Malaysian government supported me by asking me to undergo various courses so I can develop my industry,” he said.

He told the visitors his current turnover is RM4.2 million annually and his tapioca chips are not only found in Malaysia but also in Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Japan, Dubai and UAE.

He needed to expand his cottage-industry business further as he could not meet current demand that comes from the Gulf Countries.

“I hope my story will inspire you all to be successful. As you can see I did not use the company’s income to buy new cars and build large houses. This is where I stayed when I was poor and you can see I only did a little improvement to this house".

“I also hope a few of you will be interested in networking with our company. Or you are welcome to learn to do business from us as we also offer courses,” he said.

He added his company also does research and development (R&D) on flavours for the tapioca chips. His greatest pleasure was t when the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Fauziah Tengku Abdul Rashid visited his cracker factory last year.

“To me the visit was my greatest achievement. The ruler congratulated me for achieving so much in a short time,” he said.