Law students challenge themselves by running ice cream business

A group of law students of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam decided to venture into something else - making ice-cream.

The Sangkaya SS15, Subang Jaya is a collaborative effort by five undergraduate law students with Sangkaya founders Ivy Sangrida Kaya and John Isaac Ho, in serving the fresh coconut ice cream.

The story began when one of the partners, Imran Sheik, 24, decides to try out the coconut ice cream, located in Jalan Alor, Bukit Bintang.

"My curiosity led me to try the coconut ice cream and I loved the flavor and the concept. I spoke to Job about it as I wanted to learn more about the concept," Imran said.

Imran liked it so much and kept going back. He even brought four of his fellow classmates to try it.

They all loved the non-dairy, no egg and vegan-friendly dessert and suggested to open up their very own stall.

Their subsequent talk with co-founder John who himself, is an enthusiast in creating and supporting the entrepreneurial environment, agreed to give them the license to operate his business.

Finally, Imran together with Nurin Hasanah Rahim Zain, 25, Ahmad Faris Jalil, 23, Nadiatul Liyana Zainuddin, 23 and Mohd Hafiz Baharudin, 23 become the business partners of Sangkaya SS15.

Asked if the business venure took up their studying time, Imran said:

"Personally, I think students can allocate their time for study, fun and extracurricular works. If a student particularly work to get money, he or she would need to reduce the time of having fun.

"As students, we sometimes have to do our revision in the shop, especially when exams are around the corner," added Imran.

He said being young, the youths' biggest challenge is lack of experience.

"Youth have a lot of energy but less experience. So when we do a business, it is not the same as what we were doing the assignment in class.

"You will lose money if business is slow but you just lose some marks if you miss your assignment dateline. So we need to gain lot of experience, " said Imran.

"We are not from a wealthy family. So with the current economic state, it’s better for us to work hard now, save money so that when we are older, we can have fun and spend the money. The concept is work hard now, have fun later, "said Imran.

Almost all of their classmates at the Law Faculty, UiTM tended their grand launch ceremony.

One of them, Mustabshira Fahmi, 23, a final year law student came along with her husband, Aker Nadjmi, 23 who is also her classmate.

"They invite us to visit their stall but we could not find the time. Seeing many Sangkaya ice cream pictures uploaded everywhere in social media, we decided to came here and give our support to them," said Mustabshira.

Their families also attended the Sangkaya SS15 opening ceremony on Saturday.