Lew Zien

Zien, the founder of Sebijihub, grew up in a traditional Chinese family where his mother taught him poetry from the age of four. One of the poems, Sympathise with the Farmer, carried a lesson that stayed with him: “Who knows that the meal on our plates, every grain comes with toil and pain.” It taught him gratitude and respect for food, and for the people who grow it.

His path in agriculture began in Sekinchan during his biotechnology studies, listening to farmers describe their long hours, thin margins, and cash-flow gaps. Later, his experience in an agri-startup revealed how operations and markets truly work. These experiences shaped a simple belief: the farmers who put food on our tables shouldn’t have to worry about their next meal.

When COVID-19 hit, Zien turned to various exchange and social entrepreneurship programs to sharpen his skills. He began with a Kickstarter-style pilot — Sebijihub — raising RM9,000 from over 50 backers to help three new farmers launch hydroponics in Johor, now supplying more than 70 families. Despite the pilot’s success, the team realised the model wasn’t sustainable in the long term; not everyone wanted large quantities of vegetables or was interested in workshops tied to fixed-tier rewards. Reliance on pledgers’ altruism, rather than creating real value or suitable products, inevitably reduced ongoing support.

Today, Sebijihub runs a Rent-a-Farm platform that transforms active farms into seasonal, rentable plots, offering flexible packages tailored to different needs and each farmer’s capacity.

• Experience-based: guided visit days and learning opportunities, with harvests taken home or donated.

• Farmer-managed produce: outcome-focused packages, with take-home produce or optional sell-back where available.

Sebijihub’s goal is straightforward: to ensure that farmers are supported, celebrated, and never forgotten — while reconnecting people with the source of their food. The platform provides a repeatable way to uplift livelihoods, offer meaningful hands-on experiences, and strengthen the local food system season by season — one farm and one farmer at a time.

To me, making an impact means creating real, lasting positive change in people’s lives—not just a one-off initiative or a short burst of help, donating ceremony and taking pictures . It’s about building something sustainable and uplifting, where communities continue to benefit long after the project ends, stand on their own feed and proud of their work.