Objective

• Spread expert bicycle knowledge to the community to build an inclusive cycling culture
• Grow the cycling ecosystem and encourage healthier lifestyles
• Empower underprivileged youths with opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship
• Establish Kuala Lumpur as an important checkpoint in the tour cycling route

Challenge

Rapid urbanisation and population growth has increased demand for automobiles and necessitated the building of expensive transport infrastructures in Kuala Lumpur. This has affected the city’s liveability as residents have to contend with the social, environmental, health and economic consequences of worsening traffic congestion.

A grassroots cycling movement has gradually emerged but with cycling mainly regarded as a leisure or sport activity, more initiatives have to be boosted to build an ecosystem that is able to support a cycling culture comparable to green cities in developed countries.

Social Enterprise

The Basikal is a one-stop centre in the city selling bicycles, offering repair services and providing professional classes on bicycle maintenance. It aims to build an inclusive and diverse cycling culture by bringing bicycle knowledge down to the community level and supporting disadvantaged groups to find work as bicycle mechanics. AirAsia Foundation’s grant to The Basikal will enable it to:

• Purchase more bicycle tools to increase the capacity of paid professional bicycle maintenance classes for the public which helps fund free classes to the underprivileged
• Empower professionally-trained underprivileged community members to choose between employment with The Basikal and entrepreneurship by offering repair services themselves
• Create a ready pool of bicycle mechanics that can operate from pop-up workshops around the city to grow the cycling ecosystem

Organisation

The Basikal was founded in 2012 to distribute cycling knowledge, expert consultation and offer bicycle repair training and services. Its vision is to promote a cycling culture in order to build a sustainable city with the right infrastructure for cycling. By offering bicycle maintenance classes, it aims to teach people the skills to repair their own bicycles to help make cycling a routine part of their lives. It educates youth on the benefits of cycling and works with disadvantaged groups to involve them in the effort towards healthier lifestyles, with the goal of supporting anyone to start riding. Located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, it also strives to boost Malaysia as a top tour cycling destination in the region.