Sentuh @ Buy For Impact Market!

By NickG

Kicking off 2022 with a bang at BFI Market, Rumah Tangsi

Buy for Impact is a movement under the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) which advocates for and supports Social Enterprises of Malaysia.

Obviously most of us aspire to live in a nation where every business is a force for good – that is inclusive, meaningful and positive for society.

So BFI market is where we gather to vote with our money, thinking about who we support and the impacts of what we buy. Spend every ringgit with impact!

The profit gained by social businesses or SEs which participated at BFI Market goes significantly to supporting their beneficiaries such as the B40 communities, single mothers, youth at risk, OKUs, refugees, etc.

Many Social Enterprises and the uniqueness of their high-quality products which are mostly made by hand by their beneficiaries and this is how they put food on their table everyday.

The SentuhApp team was there, taking up two booth spaces, offering FREE 10-minute massages to visitors.

The response was awesome, with visitors at times lining up for massages.

All in the team completed >90 massages over a two-day period, and we saw a 7~8x increase in downloads of the SentuhApp!

In Malaysia, the participation of women in the labour force is low compared to other South-east Asian countries. In 2018 only 55.2% of working age women were in the labour market compared to a regional average of 61%, and 9.4% of them worked in the informal economy.

Many women in the B40 (Bottom 40% income) group are either unemployed or work without social protection, i.e. they’re in the informal economy.

Post pandemic, they are struggling with little or nothing to fall back on, and have to raise their children as well. All they’re looking for are jobs that allow them flexibility with regards to time, and decent wages.

Since we started in 2018, Sentuh has trained and onboarded more than 300 therapists, of which more than 80% are women from the B40 income group.

Thus far we have completed more than 15,000 sessions and paid out more than US$250,000 to our therapists!

The majority of wellness consumers are women, and many wellness-related occupations are traditionally dominated by women (e.g., massage therapists, traditional healers, and tourism and retail workers). The growth of the wellness industry that we’re a part of supports job creation for women.

So downloading and using SentuhApp is not only a way to pamper and reward yourself after a stressful week at work, but absolutely DOES have an impact on the lives of literally hundreds of therapists.

Post-covid lockdowns, physical and mental health will remain a priority for millions of people across the globe for a long time to come, and Sentuh is going to do all it can to provide wellness on demand to everyone while having a significant and meaningful impact on the lives of our respected and valued therapists.

Stay tuned to Sentuh’s social media and come visit us at upcoming events where we’ll be participating!