APK, The Story So Far : A Reflection

It has been almost 12 weeks since I first sitting in the first APK class of the semester. And in this post I am going to share what I have learned so far by spending two hours each week sitting in the same classroom. This post is my reflection of what I have experienced so far.

To be honest, my expectation of the class was not that high, all I know from my seniors is that this class will be like another ordinary class. They said that in APK class later I will need to sell some stuffs, such as t-shirts, food, drinks, or whatever kind of thing so that we can make money. That was the idea of APK that I get from my seniors.

Little did I know, the syllabus of APK has been changed into something new, fresh. University of Malaya have reinvented Asas Pembudayaan Keusahawanan and taking it into the next level. APK class is not merely about university students selling "kerupuk lekor" in front of the KPS anymore (as Bernard, the tutor, said in one of the class). APK is about our way of thinking, creating solutions for the problems in our surrounding. APK is about the culture of entrepreneurship.


I personally think, UM effort in bringing this fresh perspective and approach to APK is a great idea. UM starts bringing those people who has experience in the real field of the industry, sharing their stories to us. I will call it a weekly inspiration, everytime Bernard Hor come into the class and sharing his story about what he has done and what he is currently doing. It is always nice to know about the industry that we are going to face in the next few years. And UM has done this in a well fashion.

The first few weeks we were learning about the theory in APK. We learned about how to create a product, market segmentation, who are the target of our products, and so many other things that we have learned. One of the most important thing that we learned in the class is actually to translate our ideas into a well-written business plan.

But then, theory alone is never enough. In the period of 12 weeks, we were able to generate our ideas. In the period of 12 weeks we were able to identify a problem that is close to our heart and try to come up with a feasible solution. Hence, the inception of "World Sign Translator". It was not easy to come up with everything, but with the teamwork among members of our team we have done an amazing job, I think.

When we were thinking of our product, we remember the three important things that Bernard told us in order to create an awesome products. And those criterion are :

1. Good problem
2. Simple solution
3. Awesome people

So, in the first few weeks we were trying to find a "good problem". A problem that a lot of people experience. A problem that is significant. And then, Naveed came up with this problem of not being able to recognize the local street signs which sometimes is fully-written in local language or sometimes is displayed in a picture which only the locals will understand, or a picture that our common sense seems may not be able to understand. Since Naveed is an international student in UM, this problem is actually the problem that he really face in his life here, in Malaysia. The group then agreed it was actually a good problem to start. 

And then, we were thinking and thinking about a feasible solution to this problem, and we came up with the idea of creating a smartphone application which has the ability to snap a picture of that un-understandable road signs and then provide online and real-time translations of that particular signs. A simple solution has been born.

During the 12 weeks, we learned so much. We learned about teamwork, we learned about our responsibility to finish our jobs to make the group able to achieve its objective. It was a fun experience to be working with all these guys. APK, surprisingly, is an inspiring and fun class at the end of the day.

Throughout the semesters, we have learned so much. Entrepreneurship is not merely about selling products and make money. It is beyond that. It is to be aware. Entrepreneurship teaches us to be aware of those problems we are facing from day to day. Entrepreneurship teaches us to care about those problems. Finally, entrepreneurship teaches us how to create a solution to solve those problems, with our capability. And sometimes, ourselves alone is not enough to actually create a solution, hence entrepreneurship is also about making friends with people and being able to work together as a team that has one vision, creating a better world.

Thank you, APK.

Bintang Pamungkas
FSKTM Student

WEK100733