An enjoyable innovation: FICT team turns AI into inclusion at SIC Malaysia 2025

Coached by the FICT Head of Programme for Master in Data Science & Postgraduate Diploma in Data Science, Ts Dr Aun Yichiet, the team comprised Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) students Lee Wei Song and Tan Sin Chee, and Bachelor of Information Technology (Honours) Communications and Networking student Chia Wan Jun.

The team walked away with a cash prize of RM5,000 and a trophy.

SIC Malaysia 2025 opened for idea submission on 20 May 2025 and concluded with its final round on 24 September 2025 at Menara SME Bank, Kuala Lumpur. The national competition was organised by DRB–HICOM University of Automotive Malaysia (DRB–HICOM U), the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Berhad (SME Bank), and Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia (YIM).

Attracting more than 120 teams across Malaysia, SIC Malaysia 2025 offered companies, start-ups, and individuals a platform to introduce their inventions to the world, including new business ideas, products, services, organisations, management approaches, and business model innovations.

The team competed under ABLES Sdn Bhd, a research and development tech start-up founded by Lee Wei Song. Similar to the range of tech solutions that the startup is developing, Enjoyables is an ongoing project designed to better serve the community, particularly visually impaired individuals.

The team remarked, “Enjoyables is an AI narration system designed to help the visually impaired experience videos through expressive and human-like storytelling. It goes beyond reading text aloud by capturing emotion, tone, and context, allowing users to imagine scenes vividly through sound.”

A budding project on the rise, Enjoyables has drawn interest from tech experts, earning recognition at notable events such as PUMM’s (Persatuan Usahawan Maju Malaysia) The Entrepreneur Colosseum 2024 and the Malaysian–China Youth Innovation Competition 2024.

“We are grateful and humbled by the journey so far, and perhaps a little lucky along the way. This project is born not only from AI technology but also from compassion. We believe in using our privilege to do good for society. Moving forward, we plan to refine Enjoyables for real-world impact, expanding its use in education, accessibility, and creative media. Our goal is to make it a tool that promotes inclusion and brings the joy of visual storytelling to everyone,” the team said when asked about the project’s future.

They added, “Enjoyables began with a simple question: how can we help the blind see through sound? This recognition reminds us that innovation matters most when it uplifts others and creates new ways to experience the world.”

The Swiss Innovation Challenge

SIC was first launched in 2014 by FHNW as an initiative to support innovative start-ups and SMEs in the development and implementation of innovations. It provides support with practical knowledge and empowers participants through its network of experienced coaches and entrepreneurs.

Beyond Switzerland, SIC has expanded across multiple ASEAN economies, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Each year, top contenders from national-level competitions earn the opportunity to represent their economies on an international stage, pitching their novel innovations to a wider audience of industry experts in Switzerland. Malaysia has been an active member of SIC since 2017.