Who's behind it
Family-run, woman-owned, or Bumiputera-owned, as the business says of itself. Verification checks the last one.
About Lokalist
Ask around, on one page
Lokalist is a directory of local businesses in Malaysia. For each one, see who owns it, whether it's registered, and whether it holds a certificate, wherever there's a record.
Why Lokalist exists
One person built it, and Unsurmeta Media runs it
Yassir Yahya kept needing someone reliable. An aircon service, an accountant, a good freelancer. The best ones were the hardest to find online, and the ones he trusted came by word of mouth.
That became Lokalist. What people used to hear from a friend now goes on the listing, as we collect it. What we think of a business never comes into it.
“The whole point is to make trust visible.”
Yassir Yahya, founder
Small businesses in Malaysia
Most of Malaysia runs on small businesses
These figures count the kedai, the workshops, and the one-person firms people ask around for. Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2024.
- 0%
of Malaysian businesses are micro, small, or medium
- 0 million
people work for them, nearly half of all jobs
- RM0 billion
added to the economy, close to 40% of GDP
What a listing shows
Check the place before you call
Three kinds of answer, wherever a record or the owner has given us one.
Official status
Registered with SSM, halal-certified by JAKIM, or another certificate a body has issued.
What the owner adds
Once a listing is claimed, the hours, photos, and description come from the business itself.
Three rules we keep, free or paid
They apply the same whether a business pays for a badge or never does.
Open to all
Businesses of every community are welcome, and no badge is a condition of entry. A listing with none sits on the same terms as one with three, in the same search.
Showing a public fact is free
What an official body already says about a business goes on the listing at no charge. The Verified Business badge is the first paid step, and the pricing page has the details.
What you see is on record
Each badge stands on a certificate, a registration, or an owner's statement a person has looked at. Out of date means the badge comes off, and we'd rather that than guess.
Where Lokalist goes
A fuller listing, over time
Four things we want more of, in no fixed order.
- Public records, as we’re able to read them.
- Towns across Malaysia.
- Owners, in their own words.
- And, later on, the people who’ve been there.
Have a look for yourself
Searching is free, and so is a basic listing.