Wan Zuniharita
Managing Director, UK Food One Outlets and Financial Consultant, 2009
Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Accounting
The UK Food One Outlets is a company that demands greater attention and care in order for it to be well-established. Issues like costings, preparing invoices, and setting up financial accounts are all second nature to me because of the familiarity I had with them through my education.
17 July 2009
In Her Mother’s Footsteps
Written by Catalina Rembuyan
Wan Zuniharita is an alumna of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology and is involved in three different enterprises at the same time. A Managing Director of a food catering service, a financial consultant and an employee at a security guard company, Wan Zuniharita is a woman who wears many hats, following the lead of her mother. Catalina Rembuyan tells her story.
For Wan Zuniharita, finesse and enterprise are things that run in the blood. Wan Zuniharita, who went to Limkokwing University of Creative Technology to pursue her Diploma in Accounting and Finance before moving on to Middlesex University in the United Kingdom to further her studies, is the daughter of the elegant Datin Wan Rohani Zin, newscaster, arts activist and business entrepreneur.
Datin Wan Rohani Zin was a newscaster for Radio Televisyen Malaysia Berhad (RTM) and who implanted in Wan Zuniharita the wisdom that she would carry on into her adulthood and her career. “My mother offered me two principles to live by: the first is that you must go great lengths to achieve what you want out of your life, and the second is that ‘giving up’ should never be a phrase in anyone’s dictionary,” Wan Zuniharita explained.
She has plenty of reasons to be proud of her mother. Datin Wan Rohani Zin was more than just a pretty face on the television set: she was an enterprising businesswoman to boot. During the Eighties, she started and ran several companies and projects including Angkatan Seniman Abad 20s, Kawalan Warisan Rantau Sdn. Bhd. and United Kadila Sdn. Bhd.
My mother offered me two principles to live by: the first is that you must go great lengths to achieve what you want out of your life, and the second is that ‘giving up’ should never be a phrase in anyone’s dictionary
Wan Zuniharita aims to emulate her mother’s success in her own personal endeavours. Today, she is a financial consultant at Integrated Wealth Advisor Sdn. Bhd. and runs two of the companies helmed under her mother, UK Food One Outlets Sdn. Bhd. and Kawalan Warisan Rantau Sdn Bhd.
As a financial consultant, Wan Zuniharita prepares financial plans for multinational companies, small businesses and individual members of the public. It is often a very demanding task that requires a lot of perseverance, but nothing beats the satisfaction of sealing a tough deal: she recollects with pride her success in securing a multinational company as a client.
“The insurance industry in Malaysia is starting to grow,” explained Wan Zuniharita, “When it first started out, one of the problems financial companies faced was the difficulty in approaching Bumiputra clients as they were often not exposed to the benefits and importance of having a solid financial plan.”
Following the footsteps of her mother, Wan Zuniharita does not limit her endeavours to a single field of expertise, wearing several hats at once. As Managing Director of UK Food One Outlets Sdn. Bhd., a service that specializes in providing nasi lemak, burgers, hot dogs, and Hari Raya cookies to various petrol stations across the Klang Valley, Wan Zuniharita combines her passion for food and cooking with business acumen.
She also helps out at Kawalan Warisan Rantau Sdn. Bhd., a security guard business that provides security guards to companies, schools, and residential areas, among others. Included in its list of clientele is national automobile manufacturing company Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Berhad (Perodua). “At Kawalan Warisan Rantau, I just help out with the administrative, account and marketing of the company, so it’s not that challenging,” Wan Zuniharita explains.
“The real fun comes with UK Food One Outlets, a relatively young company that demands greater attention and care in order for it to be well-established,” she said. “The quality of each of our product has to be very consistent – something that is much tougher to achieve than it initially sounds like – before others notice and recognize our brand.”
She also adds that her education in Limkokwing University has provided her with the practical knowledge necessary for the running of the company. “Issues like costings, preparing invoices, and setting up financial accounts are all second nature to me because of the familiarity I had with them through my education,” said Wan Zuniharita.
At the same time, Limkokwing University has many students from different cultures and nationalities, and through my interaction with them, I grew unafraid of meeting others and my confidence level has increased tremendously – a valuable asset for my career, especially when meeting clients are a concern
“At the same time, Limkokwing University has many students from different cultures and nationalities, and through my interaction with them, I grew unafraid of meeting others and my confidence level has increased tremendously – a valuable asset for my career, especially when meeting clients are a concern.”
When asked about her plans for the future, Wan Zuniharita confesses that she has nothing immediate beyond further developing and expanding on the businesses that she is involved in right now. Regardless, things are looking bright for her – with her ability to juggle many different industries at once, coupled with her personal sense of grace and finesse, it may very well turn out that Wan Zuniharita would follow her mother’s footsteps after all.
