Both Ranerrim and her sister wanted to make handmade soaps to help those in need. – Pictures via Lim Yan Er
PETALING JAYA, Oct 21 – Two sisters in Kuala Lumpur have combined their artistic talents and passion to help those affected by Covid-19 get basic essentials by making and selling handmade soaps and stickers.
Lim Yan Er, a contemporary visual artist, known by her artist name, Ranerrim, and sister Lim Yan Ni embarked on their first collaborative project The Bubbly Project planning their soap making to designing marketing materials.
And as of yesterday, the duo sold 42 soap bars and donated the amount to non-governmental organisation (NGO) Happy Bank.
Happy Bank then used the money to buy groceries for anyone in need in states such as Selangor, Perak and Johor.
Speaking to Malay Mail, Ranerrim said that they were not interested in getting the profit from their soap sales as they wanted to help NGOs that were overwhelmed and stretched thin in helping many people in need.
“We started selling the soaps in mid-August and by that time, the White Flag movement had slowly faded away from social media.
“But the reality is that many families were still struggling even though movement was not trending on social media anymore, and we felt the need to help.”
And so while Ranerrim decided to sell stickers, Lim, a final year pharmacy student with a keen interest in formulation science decided to experiment with soap-making and how to create soap art.
The stickers and the homemade soaps can also encourage Malaysians to practice good hand-washing habits amid the pandemic.
Asked as to the process of making the soaps and stickers, Ranerrim said her sister has had many years of experience working in a lab to ensure the production of a safe, clean and produces high quality soap bars.
“After several rounds of successful testing, we were confident to sell our soaps to the public.
“The soap art is also very special as each batch of soap is handmade from scratch and are made in small amounts.
“On the other hand, I wanted to make stickers because many of my friends and art supporters have requested me to make and sell them.
“And along this journey, the project has also brought us closer together,” she said.