La Juiceria’s founder believes Malaysia is the place to be

Homegrown brand La Juiceria is one of Malaysia’s most successful retailer in the highly competitive cold pressed juice market. The company, established in November 2013, is a collaborative joint-venture of two Malaysians and Anabelle Co-Martinent, a Chinese-Filipino expatriate who has lived and worked in Malaysia for ten years. 

After six months in Kuala Lumpur, I was able to land a job with Microsoft Malaysia. Since then, we have called KL our home for the past 10 years.

Anabelle’s two children, now 6 and 3 years old, were both born in Malaysia. 

“I had the most pleasant experience having my pregnancy and deliveries in KL. I delivered my two children in Gleneagles Hospital, in Ampang, with the same doctor,” she said, adding that both she and her husband find the Malaysian healthcare system “very good”. 

Describing the transfer from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur as an ‘easy adoption’ with the occasional challenging moment, Anabelle explained that one of the things she loved about Malaysia was the “more reasonable”’ pricing. 

Things here are reasonably priced and we can afford more luxurious things like massages, salon services, as compared to when we lived in Singapore

The established and thriving expatriate community in Kuala Lumpur helped Anabelle and her family ease into their new lives quickly. She also praised Kuala Lumpur for its accessible education, and a large variety of sporting activities and curricular lessons for her children.  

“For the weekend stroll, there are tons of shopping malls to choose from, and gazillions of cafes and restaurants to pick from,” said Anabelle. The many runner groups and marathons in Kuala Lumpur also allowed her husband to grow his passion to become an ultra-runner. 

As one of the first recipients of TalentCorp’s Residence-Pass Talent (RP-T), Anabelle explained that the pass “makes things easier to start something of your own”. 

“However, before you can get the RP-T, you will need to have worked some number of years in KL. I’m lucky I was already here for many years before that was launched.” Anabelle’s application for the RP-T was approved on 1 July 2011, just a month after the programme was first launched. 

Anabelle also explained how the opportune conditions in Kuala Lumpur led to the Malaysian branch of her café opening one month ahead of the outlet in her home country.  These include efficient application processes, wide access to suppliers, fast internet speeds and wide roads. 

When asked about her thoughts on opportunities and growth for foreign talent keen on building a career or business, Anabelle said "Malaysia will always be a place of opportunities".

“Overall, it’s a good market to work or start something,” said Anabelle.

The highlights of becoming an entrepreneur in Malaysia is that things work.” 

Finally, Anabelle urged those who have plans to develop a career in Malaysia to “look no further”.