Our Story
Built around a single conviction
That families who talk openly about giving and legacy leave something more lasting than any document could carry.
Back to HomeWho We Are
How Wickleaf began
Wickleaf was founded in George Town, Penang, in 2019 by a small group of educators and household consultants who had spent years noticing the same pattern: families had strong instincts about giving and legacy, but rarely had a structured occasion to work through them together. Conversations about what to leave behind — financially, culturally, and relationally — were deferred, or happened only at moments of crisis rather than in ordinary family life.
The name comes from a quiet observation about how the gentlest things carry the most lasting impression. A fallen leaf, dried and kept, holds the shape of the tree it came from. What families pass on is not always material; it is the way they understand the world and what they decide to do with that understanding.
Our founding team drew on backgrounds in adult education, family facilitation, and community philanthropy. From the outset, we designed our programmes to be educational rather than advisory — spaces where households could work through their own values and decisions, supported by qualified facilitators and good materials, without being given regulated legal or financial advice. Where those questions arise, we direct participants to licensed practitioners.
Since 2019, more than 500 households across Penang and the wider northern region have taken part in a Wickleaf programme. The organisation remains independent, headquartered in George Town, and committed to the same approach its founders set out: unhurried, honest, and designed around how families actually talk.
Our mission
To create the conditions in which Malaysian households can have meaningful conversations about charitable giving and family legacy — and to support them with the tools, time, and facilitation to carry those conversations forward.
The People
The facilitators behind the programmes
Small team, deep focus. Every Wickleaf facilitator brings direct experience in household education, community philanthropy, or family facilitation.
Nur Syafiqah binti Azlan
Co-founder & Lead Facilitator
Nur Syafiqah spent a decade developing adult education programmes before turning her attention to household philanthropy. She leads the Beginning To Give Workshop and Family Legacy programme.
Rajendran s/o Krishnamurthy
Co-founder & Programme Director
Rajendran brings a background in community development and household facilitation. He oversees The Considered Giver Cohort and handles partnerships with licensed advisers across Penang.
Lim Chai Yeng
Programme Facilitator & Materials Lead
Chai Yeng designs the printed workbooks, conversation decks, and legacy binders that are central to each programme. She also facilitates the small-group sessions in the Family Legacy programme.
How We Work
Standards we hold ourselves to
Education about giving and legacy touches on sensitive household matters. These are the commitments we make to every participant.
Educational boundaries
Wickleaf programmes are educational only. We do not provide legal, financial, or tax advice. Participants are directed to licensed practitioners for any matters requiring professional guidance.
Household privacy
What households share within our facilitated sessions stays within the session. Facilitators are trained in confidentiality and group privacy standards for sensitive household discussions.
Trained facilitation
All Wickleaf facilitators complete internal training in household facilitation and values-based dialogue before leading any programme. Sessions are reviewed periodically against our facilitation standards.
Materials quality review
Every workbook, conversation deck, and legacy binder is reviewed before each programme intake to ensure accuracy, cultural relevance, and readability for a broad household audience.
Cultural inclusion
Programmes are designed to work across Malaysia's diverse household backgrounds — facilitators are trained to support discussions that reflect participants' own traditions, not a single prescribed approach.
Post-programme follow-up
Participants may contact Wickleaf after completing a programme with questions about resources or next steps. We do not offer ongoing advisory services, but we do answer reasonable follow-up questions within our educational remit.
Our Values
What shapes how we work
Household-centred design
Every element of a Wickleaf programme — the session structure, the printed materials, the facilitated conversations — is built around how households actually function. Not idealised families in a curriculum diagram, but real households navigating real differences in values, priorities, and communication styles.
Unhurried pace
Decisions about charitable giving and what a family leaves behind are not made in a single afternoon. Our programmes are designed with the understanding that these conversations take time, and that the most useful thing we can do is create a sustained occasion for them — not push households toward any particular conclusion.
Honest about scope
Wickleaf does not provide legal, financial, or tax advice. We are clear about this from the first enquiry. Where those questions arise — and they do — we signpost participants to the appropriate licensed professionals. Being honest about what we can and cannot offer is central to how we build trust.
Rooted in George Town
We are a Penang-based organisation and are proud of it. Our programmes reflect the household cultures, languages, and community traditions of northern Malaysia. We do not seek to apply a generic framework from elsewhere; we learn from the households we work with and build programmes that belong here.
Ready to begin?
Start with a conversation
Send us a message and we will help you find the right programme for your household — at a pace that suits you.
Get in Touch