Our Story
How Cempaka came to be
Cempaka was established in Shah Alam in 2017 by a group of former corporate advisors who had spent years noticing the same gap: small business owners — the people running family enterprises, independent services, and lean operations across Selangor and beyond — were making significant decisions without any qualified person to talk them through.
Larger advisory firms had little appetite for clients whose needs didn't fill a large retainer. Consultants offering templates and frameworks didn't slow down enough to understand a specific situation. Business owners were left to rely on peers whose situations were different, or to decide alone.
We started Cempaka to fill that space quietly — offering the kind of senior-level advisory attention that was previously only accessible to larger organisations, in a format suited to the pace and scale of small business life.
Our Mission
Helping owners think more clearly
Our mission is straightforward: to help small business owners in Malaysia approach their most important decisions with greater clarity and less anxiety. We are not here to hand down prescriptions. We are here to think alongside people who are capable — and who simply need a thoughtful interlocutor.
"A good advisor does not remove the weight of a decision. They help you carry it with better information."
— Cempaka Founding Principle
Since 2017, we have worked with owners across Selangor and Kuala Lumpur in retail, professional services, manufacturing, hospitality and education — always on a client-by-client basis, never with a fixed formula.
The People
The advisors behind Cempaka
Our practice is kept deliberately small. Every client works directly with a principal advisor — not passed to junior staff.
Ahmad Hisham Razali
Principal Advisor
Seventeen years in corporate finance and SME advisory across the Klang Valley. Ahmad leads engagement design and works directly with all Considered Review clients.
Norzarina Fauzi
Senior Advisor — Operations
A background in operations management for mid-sized Malaysian businesses. Norzarina focuses on the Counsel on Call engagements and operational review work.
Kevin Lim Chuan Wei
Advisor — Financial Direction
Chartered Accountant with a decade of experience helping small business owners read and act on their own financial position without needing to outsource their thinking.
How We Work
Our standards and commitments
The way we conduct advisory matters as much as what we advise. These are not aspirations — they govern every engagement we take on.
SSM Registered Practice
Cempaka is duly registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) and operates within all applicable Malaysian business regulations.
Full Confidentiality
Every engagement is governed by a formal confidentiality agreement. Client information is never shared, discussed externally, or used for any purpose beyond the engagement itself.
Professionally Qualified Advisors
All Cempaka advisors hold relevant professional qualifications and have held senior roles in their fields. We do not engage advisors without substantial practical experience.
Independence from Product Sales
We earn only from advisory fees. We do not receive commissions, referral fees or incentives from third parties. Our recommendations are therefore free of commercial bias.
Written Engagement Agreements
Every engagement begins with a clear written agreement covering scope, duration, fees and expectations. Clients know exactly what they are entering before any work begins.
Honest Assessment, Always
We do not tell clients what they want to hear. If a plan is flawed, we say so — clearly and constructively. Advisory that avoids difficulty is not advisory worth paying for.
Our Approach
Advisory for small business owners in Malaysia — done at the right pace
Running a small business in Selangor or the wider Klang Valley requires constant decision-making across areas most owners never formally trained in: financial planning, operational structure, staffing, customer relationships and long-term direction. Each of these areas carries real consequences, and the usual sources of guidance — friends, family, online forums — often lack the depth or specificity a serious decision deserves.
Cempaka occupies the space between casual conversation and formal consultancy. We bring senior-level attention to your specific situation — reading it carefully, questioning it gently and offering perspectives that are grounded in real experience across Malaysian business conditions.
Our clients tend to be owner-operators who have been running their businesses for some years and have reached a point where the decisions ahead are larger, more consequential or simply harder to read clearly. They are not looking for someone to run their business. They are looking for someone to think alongside them.
We work in English, with full awareness of the Malaysian business environment — SSM requirements, local financing conditions, Bumiputera business considerations, and the rhythms of the local market. Our advisory is grounded in Malaysia, not imported wholesale from a different context.
Begin Here
We'd like to understand your situation.
Reach out with a brief description of where you are and what's on your mind. There is no obligation in an initial enquiry.
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