Tengku Suzana (BBM 2014) recalled her experience as an exchange student in Seoul as one of the most significant moments as a SMU student. That student exchange programme proved to be the starting point of Have Halal, Will Travel (HHWT).
Suzana recalls how Seoul was relatively popular as a travel destination then and believed it would be easy for her to find information on halal eateries online. However, the information she managed to find was fragmented and unreliable. Suzana found it difficult to determine, for example, if it was worth a trip to Itaewon to get her weekly intake of meat. Her university was 45 minutes away, and she was on a seafood and vegetarian diet most days because there were no halal options near her university.
From that experience, Suzana realised that many other Muslims faced the same problem, and she understood first-hand how challenging it is to find halal food options and prayer spaces overseas, especially in non-Muslim majority destinations.
With that thought, Suzana started Have Halal, Will Travel (HHWT) with her two co-founders two years later. They wanted to know if Muslim travellers would be interested in trying local experiences like Halal Dim Sum in Hong Kong or authentic Japanese cuisine in Tokyo. They started an online publication to test this idea, and she remembered that their very first article was a guide that covered the top halal local food in Hong Kong and was heartened to find it well-received.
Encouraged by the small success, Suzana and her team started churning out more guides covering popular and upcoming destinations like Japan and Korea weekly. Currently, HHWT has campaigns with governments and brands such as Visa, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Singapore Tourism Board, Tourism Western Australia, KLM, Scoot, AirAsia, Klook, UNIQLO and more.
Today, HHWT is the largest travel and lifestyle platform for Muslims in Asia, with a monthly reach of almost 10 million viewers through its media platforms.
The platform enables Muslims to explore the world without compromising their faith. HHWT does this through publishing engaging content such as halal food guides and in-depth itineraries for Muslim travellers.
Through her work, Suzana hopes to foster peace and understanding amongst people of different backgrounds. She opines that travel has become one of the great forces of peace, breaking down stereotypes and biases people may have. As such, she works towards this vision in all aspects of her business.
While this journey has been challenging, it has been an exhilarating and enjoyable one with her co-founders, mentor, and team’s support. Suzana is proud to see how HHWT has grown and how her vision of peace is expressed in every aspect of her work.
On this, Suzana says that she sees the impact of her work on HHWT every day. Its content has enabled people of different faiths and backgrounds to travel together and encouraged Muslim travellers to visit exotic destinations and immerse in the local culture.
HHWT is also helping leading brands learn more about Muslim travellers and break down stereotypes.
The shootings at the Christchurch mosques in 2019 were a grim reminder of how important her vision is, according to Suzana. In fact, she and her team were at Al Noor Mosque just two weeks before the incident as part of their Tourism New Zealand campaign, where they met the local Muslim community.
While the mainstream media chose to focus on the fear, pain and anger, Suzana decided to reach out to the local community and shared stories of how the locals banded together to show love and support for those affected by the tragedy. Suzana believes that in her little way, she has managed to shape the narrative of the situation - to fight the unwarranted fear and suspicion among Muslims and non-Muslims.
Suzana considers being listed on Forbes' 30 under 30 an honour and a validation of her vision to foster peace and understanding between people of different backgrounds through travel. At the same time, she hopes her achievement will encourage more Muslim women and Muslim entrepreneurs to pursue their passions.
Asked for a quote, Suzana cited Steve Jobs – "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Suzana finds this quote relatable because if one is passionate about the work that they do, they will never work a day in their life.
