Everyone who wants to be a successful entrepreneur should court controversy, said Qu Puteh founder Hasmiza Othman, who had made the headlines with her drama-laced antics, most recently being her much talked about terms of sponsorship for the Kelantan Red Warriors football team.

Better known by the moniker ‘Datuk Vida’, the 44-year old businesswoman said that this is something that both aspiring entrepreneurs and society must understand.

"We must seek to be different, do something new so that it will become a phenomenon," she told Malaysiakini , smiling.

Hasmiza does walk her talk. Part of her sponsorship offer to the Kelantan team is that its home ground, Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV, be repainted pink , and for the team kit to be pink, instead of red.

Asked how she dealt with the sometimes negative aftermath of her larger than life business persona, she said that only those in business will understand.

"It's all right, my beloved sisters. When you are as good in business as I am, you will understand how important it is to do what I do," she said.

Some of the products produced by her company Vida Beauty Sdn Bhd are the iconic Qu Puteh skin whitening product, Pamoga energy drink, and the Millenia line of beauty products.

Business plan

"It is not easy to get where I am," said the USM graduate.

She hoped that her sponsorship of the Red Warriors and related splash into fame or infamy, depending on how some see it, will lead to her nabbing a foreign investor or distributor for her products.

"I pray that after the football sponsorship, a millionaire from overseas will come to invest (in my company) and distribute my products. That is the best. Let others come find us. I hope that will come true," she said.

"This is the goal of my struggle. There is a lot more that I want to do, not only in entertainment and football. Allah willing, I will soon work towards worship as well," said the former Chinese school teacher of 12 years.

Indeed, for the Machang-born, other than industrious hard work, praying to Allah is what she believes is part and parcel of her success after 15 years of being in business.

"I pray all the time. During ablution, when I take a bath, there are specific prayers that I recite," she said, adding that prayers and charitable works also contributed to her gift of business success.

As for her youthful looks, she attributed this to that fact that she used her own quality products.

"Which is why, despite my age, I still look young," she concluded, laughing.