Sweet, sweet love
Leona Leong, 29, founder of Aii Singapore, has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Now, she’s turning it into a force of good with her social enterprise that helps the hearing impaired and those suffering from mental conditions gain employment.
Tell us more about Aii and what it does.
Aii customises packaging for sweet treats and candies for all types of events, celebratory occasions, corporate functions and more. Aii advocates equal opportunities and works towards reducing employment discrimination. This is done through creating employment for the hearing impaired and patients recovering from mental conditions. We hope that by sharing our philosophy, other companies will be encouraged to follow suit and adopt non-discriminatory practices when it comes to employment.
How did the idea for Aii come about?
I’ve always been passionate about creating a more inclusive society and creating employment. And what better way to create employment for the less fortunate than if I ran my own business?
Tell us about some of the people that you employ.
Many of the people who work for us are hearing-impaired. One of them is Chan Ying, who was born deaf. After undergoing a cochlear implant operation when she was 6, she is better able to hear and speak. Chan Ying is now a permanent staff member with Aii, and is in charge of artwork, sales, cost analysis and accounts.
There’s also Auntie Doris, who used to work as a makeup artist. As she grew older, she found it harder and harder to secure clients who preferred younger and more skilful makeup artists. Jobless for seven months, she faced dire financial difficulties and became depressed. She approached the job club at the Institute of Mental Health for help and, through them, found employment at Aii. I gave her a job as a packer on the very day she came to see me, without first putting her through a job interview.
Tell us a bit about the employment drives you regularly conduct to recruit new employees.
Because we don’t want to create unnecessary stress by putting our employees through a job interview, anyone and everyone who has been rejected employment because of their disabilities or mental condition will have a job with us as long as there are vacancies available. They all start off as packers and when they gain a better understanding of the company, they’ll be given bigger and more important tasks.
What are some of the challenges you face operating Aii?
It’s really the same challenges as any other business. These include trying to secure a constant pool of talent, making sure there is adequate sales and cash flow, lack of marketing budget, and so on.
What do you find most rewarding about what you do?
I love seeing my staff finding value in their work and striving to improve themselves every day. It also makes me feel good to see that they are happy coming to work.
How can members of the public support Aii?
By purchasing candy from us for their events and celebrations. They can also support us by inviting us to their company’s lunchtime bazaars or getting involved with our projects to create sustainable employment.
What are some of the things you hope to achieve with Aii?
Besides helping people with disabilities and those struggling with mental conditions, I want to help people who have, through accident or illness, become paralysed. These people might have formerly been very successful in their careers but have lost their jobs due to a long absence from work. This might cause their self-esteem to plunge and cause them to run the risk of becoming depressed. In five years, I want to be able to hire these people so they can go back to sustaining their previous lifestyles. We’re still working hard towards making this happen.
Find out more about Aii by visiting http://www.aii.sg/.
