Star Newspaper - Accountant helps Bhutanese weavers achieve financial independence

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/03/09/weaving-a-success-story/

Adapted from Star Newspapers:

PETALING JAYA: Despite being a chartered accountant, Quin SQ Thong has proven that she does more than crunching the numbers.

The Malaysian, who has been based in Hong Kong since 1998, started “Ana by Karma”, a project which helps illiterate weavers in Bhutan improve their lives.

Her story began two years ago when she visited Bhutan for the second time and met Karma , a weaver whom she had previously encountered during a 2003 visit.

Quin, a woman of compassion, discovered that the weaver was struggling to make ends meet then.

So, she offered US$200 (RM822) to Karma so that she could buy a sewing machine and produce items like bags and pillow cases for sale.

Karma turned her down. Instead, Quin helped Karma to sell her scarves.

Quin posted photographs of the scarves on Facebook and overnight, over 40 orders came in. In two weeks, 100 were sold. This rose to 1,000 within four months.

“When I put the money in Karma’s hands, she burst into tears,” she recounted, Karma being overwhelmed that this is the money she has earned with her own effort

That encounter sparked a social enterprise that transformed the lives of a community of Bhutanese weavers.

Their success put the entire village to work, giving rise to “Ana by Karma”.

In less than18 months after the first batch of scarves were sold, they earned 34 years worth of income for the women, who previously had none.

“Ana by Karma gave them pride and dignity,” said Quin.

(In the eastern Bhutanese language, Ana means sister.)

Quin’s love for the community did not end there.

For many years, the Kuala Lumpur-born accountant volunteered her time to teach financial literacy to children, culminating to publishing a book with Oxford University Press for children to learn wealth management.

She is doing something similar in Bhutan now, for the women to learn financial literacy.

“Our weavers are mostly illiterate. They usually lack the skills and knowledge to manage money. This include learning foreign currency concepts, something that seemed complex to learn but Quin disclosed that she has a special way to teach even 7 year olds understand forex".

“By teaching them financial literacy, whatever money they earn can be used wisely,” said Quin, who works with a UK consulting firm which offers corporate solutions.

Despite her impressive resume, Quin insisted that she was merely a “simple girl” who hoped to encourage others to help the less privileged.

She is made of gold

When we heard the news from our teacher, we all burst into tears. One of our classmate - also 7 years old, Merlin was badly hurt in a fire. 

Few months later, she came back to school, scarred for life from the tragedy. Her face melted by the fire - and after multiple plastic surgery became so very scarred and raw red, her arms' were also severely affected - scarred by fire and the operations. Inside me, I wondered with an ache what pain my little friend must have gone through and what the future holds for her. Yet each time I saw her in school, she was smiling, she was happy.  

Once she even comforted me when I was feeling low. I thought to myself - what a soul. After we left school we lost touch. Often I would think of Merlin. 

Late last year, we reconnected on Facebook. Merlin is happily married, has a great job and is still upbeat and happy as I remember her to be. She takes selfies, lots of photos when on holiday and smiles her big smile. She said that she is able to keep positive because her friends treated her normally. 

Merlin - thank you for being an inspiration. On this women's day, I am glad to share your wonderful story to all ladies. My friends, When you think your problems will eat you alive, think of 7 year old Merlin - who came out of the fire with brilliance and positivity. She must be made of gold. Because there is a chinese saying, real gold is not afraid of fiery fire. 真金不怕紅爐火

Happy women's day

In her own words "The moral of the story is to teach ppl, we hv to stay positive n it is also important that the friends or ppl to always give moral support."

Can money buy happiness?

It's the age-old question: Can money buy happiness?

Much of the time, our energy and focus is on work and career, which primarily is about the chase for the almighty dollar. Generally, people want more for basic needs, including a roof over their heads, food, clothing and maybe a car.

And we all want more of the fun things money can buy, including vacations, entertainment and the latest high-tech toys. 

It can be a valuable exercise to take a step back from the daily grind to examine what money means to you and how you spend it. "I think deep down, the brain equates money not so much with happiness as with security and survival. These are nonnegotiable values, primal motivators," says Kenneth Reid, founder of DayTradingPsychology.com.

"Research shows that the greatest psychological stress occurs when one is unable to act in one's own best interest," Reid says. "But when we are able act in accordance with those primal imperatives, we feel a sense of deep satisfaction. Such acts can be as simple as clipping a coupon and saving 25 cents."

Ultimately, the goal of money managementis to provide discipline and a process for doing the things we must do that may not feel good at the time but are crucial to our future success, says Joshua Wilson, chief investment officer at WorthePoint Financial in Fort Worth, Texas. "Money shouldn't be viewed as a score card, but as a ticket to different degrees of freedom. Some people require more to get to the degree of freedom that they need."

Money can have paradoxical effects, Reid says. "We've all heard stories about how sudden wealth, such as lottery winnings, can be disruptive, even devastating, to a person or a family. A phrase comes to mind from complexity theory: 'more is different.' It means that scale brings unique challenges. Too much, too soon can be as bad as too little, too late."

Behavioral economists have identified some ways money could increase levels of happiness.

Neil Krishnaswamy, a certified financial planner for Exencial Wealth Advisors in Plano, Texas, recommends the book "Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending" by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton. "This book provided me with great insights, particularly in how we think about our discretionary spending," he says. "Once our essential, or nondiscretionary, expenses are met, how should we think about spending our discretionary dollars in ways that lead to real, lasting fulfillment? If we're more conscious of how our spending is connected to our values and learn from some of the recent scientific research, we might just be able to use money in a way that really does buy happiness."

Science shows that there are several ways we can spend money more effectively to increase life satisfaction.

Read the original article on U.S. News & World Report.  on Twitter.

我们 (Wo Men) help Women

Sitting beautiful in their resplendent colourful Kameez (blouse for Pakistani fashion), my audience literally made me shiver in my shalwar (pants for Pakistani wear). I was expecting wannabe women entrepreneurs, recent graduates looking to start up something and young entrepreneurs. Instead, before me is a roomful of successful Pakistani business women, multi billion enterprises in fashion, culinary, arts, etc and also the first woman to qualify as chartered accountant and first female to lead a Big 4 accounting practice. All VIPS in business. 

And so why am I shaking in my pants? because I was about to talk about the journey of Ana by Karma, a budding social enterprise that warmed hearts and inspired others to contribute their talent - not their money. Ana by Karma is sooooo small compared to their vast achievements. It should be them on the stage sharing. Not me. Shiver shiver. 

However - as I shared our stories, these distinguished ladies smile their knowing smile - yes, they have been there too. Yes. They followed their hearts. And yes, their ideas were copied by others. And oh yes, too many people came to them with too many suggestions how to run their business better. 

That afternoon, we laughed, we commiserated and we cried when I told them I cried when I saw how confident, self assured Karma and the weavers became when we empower them. When we give them hope. When we acknowledge their capabilities. 

I must have taken them back to the early days of their business start up, when things are uncertain, support from others are weak, recognition is sparse. And we all agreed. Taking action is the key to make dreams come true. 

When time came up, we hugged our good byes and promised to keep in touch to help each other. They touched my cheek and said. Keep going forward.

That afternoon. I am the one who received empowerment. Thank you LadiesFund, and OUP. Thank you  

www anabykarma.com

Hope@anabykarma.com

He needs a book...

Cha Cha and The Forest of Wisdom is inspired by a 8 year old boy from Korangi Pakistan- he said to me in 2013, "Miss I want a sweet but need a book." I wonder what book I can give to him to help him build a bright future. The next day, the CEO of a prominent bank in Pakistan came up with the answer. He asked me to write a book on what I taught the children the day before - Wealth Management. He said, This way millions and millions of children can benefit.

"Write a book?" It is as incredulous as asking me to build a rocket.

Then like magic, the best of chartered accountants from Pakistan literally dropped into my email box and a few months later after many whats app, emails and some skype, Malik Mirza and I started to design and build "the rocket" to launch children into the Wealth Management space. 

Last week 26-28 Feb 2016, at the Children's Literacy Festival in Karachi organised by Oxford University Press our publisher and ITA, we launched THE book, the very book to place in the hands of the boy who inspired it all, and many many more children around the world. It is the most wonderful feeling ever.

Want to join Malik and me on this incredible journey? We have prepared teaching aids, PPTs and fun activities. Our photobook to share with you the joy of the children over the weekend. And our joy. #clfkhi2016

"When you follow your heart and do what is right, the whole universe would conspire to make it fantastic"