Their mother was also selling props and decorations on consignment to supermarkets. But places like Daiso, which was known for selling items at S$2 at the time, were undercutting her.
“I cut it out completely. It was very painful for her,” said Sanee, who saw that their expertise lay in mascot-making, where they could raise prices to match their value.
“He said, ‘Who’s going to protect us if we don’t increase our prices?’” recounted Hasyna. “He went out there, (made out a) case (for) higher prices, and then my mum was shocked — so there’s the brother I look up to.”
When he joined in 2012, the costume production had just moved to a factory in Batam to defray costs, a decision taken by his mother, who went on to oversee its operations.
Sanee then pursued big brands in the fast-moving consumer goods sector and sold them the idea of “breathing life” into the symbols that represented them.
He set up Mascot Enterprise as a separate business entity on top of costume rentals, and the company has since made more than 70 mascots for Pringles, for example, for its various marketing campaigns.
When Noorjahan asked her daughter to also join them, Hasyna declined “outright” but eventually got on board in 2018 after seeing Sanee’s hard work and the growth he had brought.
Hasyna was previously working in human resources in the financial services industry. Today, she heads the costume rental department and is in charge of branding.