By now, nearly everyone knows Oxwhite is CK Changr and CK Changr is Oxwhite.
As the home-grown fashion brand’s most visible ambassador, CK Changr, its founder wears his signature Oxford white shirt “on his sleeves” as part of his brand marketing strategy whenever he makes a public appearance.
It has worked very well and today, just three years after exploding into the market with a compelling story of how a white shirt inspired him to take a chance to change his stars in life, Oxwhite has become one of Malaysia’s most endearing entrepreneurial success stories ever seen in recent times.
But while everybody knows Oxwhite is CK Changr and vice versa, not many know that the disarmingly candid persona behind the brand is also very much a family man and a doting father to two young children.
This Father’s Day, CK Changr takes a moment to talk to Motherhood about his business, his family and the simple qualities he follows in his journey through fatherhood.
CK Changr on Fatherhood to Motherhood
1.Motherhood: Congratulations to Oxwhite turning three and well done on the expansion of your e-commerce store to so many products! You’ve started from just a white dress shirt for men to so many new areas such as women and children’s attire to even Home & Living products. Can you take us back to how you began your journey?
CK Changr: Basically, it all started with the white shirt. I wasn’t very happy with what I could find out there.
I thought that high quality shirts were very expensive and not fitted to my body type. Those that were locally made met my budget but didn’t meet my quality expectation.
So at the time, to look good, dress well and have the confidence was a very expensive affair.
It made me think about how to make this product better in order to fit Asians so that they could have the quality without breaking the bank.
From my previous job experience in the watch industry, I realised one thing. Products are not expensive to make but they are expensive to sell because of middlemen men costs and mark-ups.
By selling directly to customers, it becomes more affordable and e-commerce allows me to do just that.
2. Motherhood: Recently, Bernama carried the news that Oxwhite revenue rose 120% and hit RM15 million in 2020. Tell us how you did it?
CK Changr: We achieved the sales target of RM15m in 2020 because we were able to pivot our business from our formal white shirt alone to offering more lifestyle products.
We became more inclusive catering to men, women and children and we also followed the trend.
In 2020, people worked from home. So we had a lot more Work-From-Home products that were more suitable for our consumers. For the quality we were providing, the price point was well received.
Additionally, because of the pandemic, people were also more prone to shop online so we had the opportunity to have more exposure while we provided the convenience for customers to buy from us directly.
3. Motherhood: How would you describe yourself and what’s your philosophy in life?
CK Changr: I’m a nature lover. Whatever we do, we try our best to take care of nature. For example, we are now taking a sustainable approach in our products.
The packaging materials come in a paper bag instead of plastic bags, even though it costs more. We are using sustainable fabrics like bamboo fibre in our collection and our activewear line is made from recycled polyester.
It’s something we are consciously doing for the sake of the planet. My philosophy in life is to be very simple ─ Just to be kind to myself and kind to others, and that includes people as well as the environment.
I make sure people are comfortable with us and what we do, we must be true to ourselves, and be honest and transparent. This is something I carry in my day-to-day living.
4. Motherhood: Many people know you as the man behind Oxwhite but just as many don’t know that you are a father too. Please tell us about your wife and please introduce your kids.
CK Changr: My wife and I were childhood friends. We grew up in the same village, went to the same school from primary to secondary till STPM.
There was some dating back then but we only started dating seriously after we both graduated from university and started working.
Right now, I have two boys. The eldest one is 6 years old while the youngest one is 4. We married quite late actually.
We both married at 31, me and my wife are the same age, and we only had children at the age of 35.
Both my boys are already in school. My eldest son is Jia Hao, while the younger one is Jia Cenn and both of them are in the Kuala Lumpur Steiner Education which is based in the Kampung Sungai Penchala area.
They are both doing well in school, and they love the school because this is a jungle school with natural surroundings. They are very hyperactive, they love to play, they love water so this school is perfect for them.
5. Motherhood: How involved are you in your children’s education and projects? Why did you choose this particular school? And what are your children’s main interests?
CK Changr: At Steiner Education, all parents have to be active and hands-on with their children’s education and be a part of it all.
My children are actively involved in all school projects, and there’s a lot of gotong-royong as well.
Why I chose this school is because I believe in an education system where my children can be built from character.
I would say this school has taught them how to communicate, how to learn, work and play and socially interact with one another.
At the same time, they also learn to respect nature. Unlike the traditional school where by a certain age, you have to learn certain things, Steiner Education teaches by inspiring them to learn.
This is something that connects to me deeply as I grew up in a very traditional school system where you are forced to take exams which I never enjoyed.
I hope my sons’ education is through the rousing of their curiosity because they were inspired.
My children’s main interests are nature and vehicles. Jia Hao, my elder son, knows all the dinosaur names, their habitat and their diet by now.
Jia Cenn, on the other hand, loves vehicles. He likes trucks, cars and so on. Machinery has caught his interest.
6. Motherhood: What are your children’s favourite food? What are their favourite activities? Can you recall any memorable incidents or outings?
CK Changr: I would say their favourite food is chicken feet. Both are big fans of chicken feet actually.
From a young age, my aunty used to cook them traditional home cooked food, Hakka food especially, so they love chicken feet.
Jia Hao, the older one, started eating chicken feet by himself at the age of 2, so I think that is their top favourite food.
As for their favourite activities, I would say ─ water. They love playing with water. Whenever I set up a small pool in front of my house, they would really enjoy. They also just love playing while at school.
The school has a lot of fun things to do and they love it to the max. And then, there was camping. It was really, really fun.
In the beginning, both the kids and me were skeptical. We went for off-grid camping which means there was no electricity, no WiFi, and no cellphone signal. I thought the kids wouldn’t like it but to my surprise, they really, really enjoyed.
At night, they would use their headlight to walk around, and finding insects which made them curious, and they were brave.
When we arrived, they were the first ones to jump into the river! Their braveness really made me salute them!
7. Motherhood: Has fatherhood changed you as a person? What have you learnt from being a father?
CK Changr: Fatherhood has definitely changed me as a person. It has made me become more responsible, both for myself and for my family.
I feel a great sense of responsibility. Whatever activities I may want to do, I always consider the safety factor.
For example, I used to ride big bikes to tour countries like Thailand or Cambodia.
These are usually 7-day/10-day journeys but since I had kids, I never had a chance to do that just yet.
I am always thinking about spending more time with my family at home and I also always consider the safety factor.
8. Motherhood: Being always in the media spotlight, and having to run a business with its demands on your time and effort, how do you manage to incorporate business life with family life?
CK Changr: How do I spend quality time with my children? To be honest, I have not done really well with them; I am still trying to strike the balance.
Luckily, in the past one year and a half, I can’t fly out. However, I do spend a great deal of time running the business especially at this time when it needs a lot of my attention, and the team is building up and I am still very hands-on myself.
I would say I have not found the balance yet but whenever I am home, on the weekends, and late afternoons, I would spend time with my family.
For example, I have a scooter. I often take them out on my scooter to round the Taman that I live in. That’s how I spend time with them. Then mummy would read them bedtime stories before they sleep.
We also take them out for outings such as camping or being close to nature. That’s my way of spending quality time with the kids.
9. Motherhood: In your daily interactions with your family, what are the values you are instilling in your growing children?
CK Changr: The one thing I value the most is – the ability to communicate with people while showing respect and humility and always having the attitude of sharing and caring. This is something I really emphasize on.
I make sure that whenever I have extra or buy extra, I will ask my sons to go share with neighbours or with friends.
These are the values that I would like to instil in my children.
10. Motherhood: Lastly, what are your hopes, wishes and aspirations for your children and your family as a whole?
CK Changr: I would say that I just want to have a normal family, and that the kids enjoy their childhood.
One reason why I chose Steiner Education is because there is no exam system involved. There is no pressure.
Kids have their own curiosity and eagerness to learn. And they must maintain good values as a person. Have respect for nature, respect for people, and respect for the environment and everything around them.
One must have their own sense of self. It means being aware of who they are and have the ability to express their thoughts and feelings.
In today’s society, the internet has taught us that knowledge is infinite so u can learn anything you want to learn, at any time. It is no longer restricted to your school age.
To have the interest to self-learn and the hunger to learn, I think, are more important.
For a family aspiration, I would say I just want to be part of a family that is happy, that can enjoy our own company, support each other and show love to one another.
I think for me, that would be good enough.
All Images courtesy of CK Changr
For more sneak peeks into Dad’s thoughts and feelings on Father’s Day, tune in to Motherhood.com.my.