Ruslan Yunusmetov, 21, from Shymkent, marketing manager
From Shymkent to Kuala Lumpur
Our daddy came to Malaysia on business in 1994 and liked it. My two older brothers were sent here to learn English, one of them has lived in Malaysia for 20 years since then. Now almost the whole family including our father, four brothers and two sisters are living in Kuala Lumpur. We have a brother and sister living in Kazakhstan.
We leave for Kazakhstan for a year and a half from time to time, yet we always return, our family members are here for all the time.
My dad and older brothers has founded a company and have work visas. As for me, I used to have a visa from my parents, then student visa, and now I also have a work visa.
On life in Malaysia
In addition to a completely different climate and life tempo, Malaysia has different ethnic groups who are indigenous Malaysians, Chinese, Indians and other ones. All of them are tolerant and respectful of each other. Here you can see a Chinese temple next to a mosque.
It’s comfortable to live in Malaysia for its medicine. Insurance covers almost all costs for medical services. For example, three years ago I was in hospital for 2 weeks and had to pay 2500 dollars. At that time I had a student visa, so I just provided my medical card, and all the expenses were paid by the insurance company.
Cities are full of condominiums with a playground, a small gym, a swimming pool. It's convenient for families living there.
The distance between city districts is huge, the suburb we’re living in is 14 km far from the center. Anyway, we got used to that.
There’s a program for migrants called “Malaysia My Second Home”. You open a business, invest money or put them on the account, and get a ten-year visa and benefits to purchase real estate.
On the family business
My older brother started working in Kuala Lumpur as a Russian speaking guide and cooperated with the clients who would be wealthy businessmen. He supplied furniture from Indonesia, then there was a demand for palm oil which grew into logistics. Having the client base and the supplies established, we launched a restaurant business. Being Uzbeks, we’re really talented cooks, that’s in our blood.
Now we deal with the restaurant business and logistics. Anyway, we’re always in a search of new opportunities and cooperation. We have a great many goals to achieve.
The very first restaurant in Malaysia is called “Astana restaurant” with Uzbek, Kazakh and Russian cuisines. It was opened it in the densely populated SriPetaling student district full of Russian-speaking students. We’ve started three more branches. The second restaurant appeared in the state of Selangor, the city of future. There we have a branch at the bus station serving fast food close to Turkish cuisine. We also have a bakery with the cakes popular in the CIS countries. My brother's wife likes to bake and has worked on some recipes for locals.
Our restaurant has been working for six years, we’re leaders in Kazakh, Uzbek and Russian cuisines. Many other restaurants were opened and closed for various reasons since then.
For sure, there were difficulties and moments to give up. We were learning, seeking for solutions and keeping on.
On principles of work
We do singulate family relations from the business ones.
It is our dad, me and my three brothers who are involved in business. My elder brother is in talks, deals with clients, the other one is engaged in operational processes, maintains accounts department, whereas the third one is engaged in logistics, goods transportation.
I am responsible for marketing, ad and PR. We support each other. All of us have tasks, we help each other and try to be pragmatic.
Now daddy is not actively involved in the family business, but he’s still the one who has the last word. We respect him and treat him as a CEO both in life and business. Of course, it's not easy to juggle, but the thing is that we do have a great interest and passion. We do our best.
On plans
We’re constantly looking for new opportunities and perspectives. We’re working on a new project dealing with delivery.