Kelvin Tan, 31, better known by his online ah beng persona, Mayiduo, is a bona fide internet celebrity.Kelvin, however, doesn’t have all his eggs in one basket. He is the co-founder of a production company, and the founder of an interior design business. He also owns a printing business, which is run by his wife, Angie Teo, 30., Kelvin sat down with host Jean Danker and clinical psychologist Jeannie Chu to talk about the challenges he’s faced in his businesses, and his coping mechanisms.
Back then, his parents would use their neighbour’s banker daughter as an example to tell Kelvin to work hard and get a degree, so he could earn as much money. When he was in primary schood, he would suggest to his mum the idea of opening a canteen stall. “In 2015, I went into a partnership with another guy, and we made money. So we went to start another factory in Malaysia. I did the numbers, and I paid for manpower and rent in Malaysia. My factory was 8000 sq ft, and it cost 4K ringgit [a month to rent]. On average, my staff were [paid] 1.5K to 2.5K ringgit, and there were 40 of them. To me, I pay for Malaysia overheads, and I earn Singapore dollars. It makes perfect sense,” says Kelvin, who did not specify the nature of the business.
“I was still quite young at that time, and [I] didn’t really know how to handle [the situation]. So I actually sat at the staircase of my office in Singapore. I sat there and smoked for seven days. I reached office at 10am and I would sit there and chain-smoke until like 5pm. Then I would go home.”Smoking aside, Kelvin simply needed a space where he could be alone and cope with the issue at hand. “At that corner, nobody disturbed me. I just had that time to myself,” he recalls.