It’s all the doing of one woman, who insisted on a broad stroke of femininity in a man’s sport as a prize for sponsoring the Kelantan team.
She is 44-year-old Hazmiza Othman, former schoolteacher, reigning cosmetics queen, and entrepreneur extraordinaire.
She is known to the public by her “business name” Dr Vida, with the title Datuk Seri which the Sultan of Pahang conferred on her in 2014.
The multi-millionaire often dresses in her own style of Muslim attire, usually in pink or some other bright colour which is heavily beaded, and always with a tiara on her head to complement the necklace, bracelets and rings that she wears.
So, how did the 154cm indomitable Kelantanese from Machang become involved with the football team of her home state?
After the success of the reality programme Gegar Vaganza, which she sponsored and which was telecast live by Astro Ria last year, Dr Vida’s name gained the limelight early this year when the Football Association of Kelantan (KAFA) agreed for her to sponsor the football team despite imposing two conditions.
The conditions were to change the team’s name to Pamoga Qu Puteh The Red Warriors, adding the name of one of her products to the famous team, and that Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV in Kota Baru be painted pink.
Even during the signing of the agreement for the sponsorship contract of RM16 million by Dr Vida’s company with KAFA recently, its president Annuar Musa and his team wore pink and were willing to be photographed with her trademark – the V-sign over their lips mouthing her tagline “Qu Puteh Qu Puteh barulah putih.” They also appointed her as KAFA honorary advisor for 2016/2017.
As a strong follower of the local football scene, Dr Vida told Bernama, her involvement in KAFA, one of the best teams in the country, was a move to diversify her products into a new market.
For Dr Vida, to be where she is now was a long and hard road. Starting from selling ‘kacang putih and nasi bungkus’ to her schoolmates for extra pocket money after her father’s death, she expanded her products to ‘kain batik’, ‘telekung’ (Muslim women’s prayer robe), sambal daging and keropok (crackers) during her university days at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang.
She was also working part time as factory operator and at fast food outlets to pay for her university expenses, she said.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Education (Malay Literature and History), and becoming a teacher at Sekolah SJK (C) Poi Lam, Ipoh, she never stopped looking at business opportunities and took up beauty care namely hairdressing and make-up.
With a bank loan of RM100,000, she opened up a beauty saloon and described it as a very difficult period because with her teaching salary of RM3,000 per month, she had to pay back the bank loan of RM2,000 per month, and used the balance of RM1,000 to pay for her house and car as well as for food.
After 12 years working as a school teacher, she became a teaching staff with the National Vocational Training Council (MLVK) by giving courses on hairdressing and beauty care, and from there the idea of coming up with cosmetic products emerged when the programme of giving free facial treatment to members of the public at supermarkets by her students, received overwhelming response.
“From there, I created my cosmetic products, Vida Beauty which was a combination of my name Miza and Ida and using the alphabet ‘V’ which I consider as having a high value,” she said.
Even with the RM1 million grant from the government as capital to start her cosmetics business, she failed to break into the market because the RM500,000 that she had invested to advertise her products in local magazines and private radio and television stations, failed to promote her products.
Dr Vida, who was depressed and suffered high blood pressure, had learnt her lesson from the failure and decided to invent her own formula using sea cucumber (gamat) and pomegranate to come up with a health product, Pamoga, which succeeded to reduce her hypertension.
With new spirit, she marketed her product personally through the Kelantan FM radio programme, “with a duration of 15 minutes per session, my product suddenly received a response which was beyond expectation. That’s what happened six years ago,” she said.
Dr Vida is now also investing in film and drama as well as several other sideline businesses. She also became a model for her products and created her tagline and bling-bling to sell her products, the outcome of which has been very encouraging.
Dr Vida also said that the challenge in the business was not only in the form of sabotage and slander but also imitation goods.
She said her biggest challenge was the loss of two of her four children in a fire at her house in Ipoh several days before Aidilfitri in 2013.
Muhammad Eddie Zuhdie Mohd Amin, 11, and his younger brother Muhammad Edrie Zikrie Mohd Amin, 10, as well as Dr Vida’s factory worker, Muhammad Norsyamil Zaidi, 26, perished in the fire at the Vida Beauty workers quarters in Meru Hills, Bandar Meru Raya, Ipoh at 9pm on August 3, 2013.
– BERNAMA