Tatler Malaysia – November 2025

Summary

Dato' Sri Meer Sadik Habib, photographed by Chuan Looi in a BOSS suit at his flagship Habib Jewels store in Kuala Lumpur, anchors Tatler Malaysia November 2025 with a 10-page story of how a family jewellery shop became a 60-store national chain. The 176-page issue also carries the 100-name Tatler Most Influential 2025 list and a Malaysia-focused sustainable fashion investigation.

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Habib's profile ("Trust & Tradition," p.74) traces his grandfather's 1958 founding of a 40-square-foot shop in Penang to today's RM 400 million annual revenue. The Tatler Most Influential 2025 list (p.84) names 100 individuals across business, arts, sports and social impact, including YTL managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, Olympic badminton champion Lee Zii Jia, and chef Darren Chin. Features include a 6-page Penyu Shell-Ter conservation project by YTL Cement (p.56), a farm-to-table visit to A Little Farm On The Hill in Janda Baik (p.62), a creator burnout investigation with Jenn Chia and Ting Shi Qi (p.66), and 10,000 Books for a Better Life—a prison literacy programme (p.156). Style runs 44 pages anchored by a 6-page KLFW 2025 show report and a 10-page fashion story at the Saloma Link bridge.

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Regular departments include Editor's Note (p.16), a Calendar (p.22), online highlights (p.10), and One Last Look (p.176). The Scene section (p.22-54) covers 6 events. Style includes Chanel's Coco Crush collection (p.146), Dior Diorexquis high jewellery (p.148), Boucheron CEO interview (p.150), and the regular picks columns. Kelly Hoppen's London studio project (p.160) and artist Lin Xiang Xiong's gallery opening (p.168) round out the back of book.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story

p.74 · Trust & Tradition
Dato' Sri Meer Sadik Habib, 55, expanded Habib Jewels from 1 store to 60 across Malaysia, with RM 400 million annual revenue. The company sources 60 percent of its diamonds directly from Antwerp and cuts them in its own KL workshop. His succession plan: his son will take over operations by 2028, freeing him to focus on the family foundation.

p.84 · Tatler Most Influential 2025
100 individuals ranked across 5 categories. The list includes 5 recipients with RM 1 billion-plus net worth, 28 female leaders, and 12 honourees under 30. Each entry carries a one-line citation of their 2025 achievement. The full list is also published on TatlerAsia.com with video profiles.

▸ Features

p.56 · Penyu With a Purpose
YTL Cement's Penyu Shell-Ter project, led by Rachel Yeoh, has released 5,000 turtle hatchlings along Malaysia's east coast since 2022. The project uses waste from cement production to construct artificial reef structures. 12 reefs have been deployed off Terengganu. Volunteers can join weekend release sessions—RM 100 per person covers transport, meals and a hatchery tour.

p.66 · The Creator's Conundrum
Jenn Chia (560,000 YouTube subscribers) and Ting Shi Qi (320,000 Instagram followers) share their content burnout stories. Chia took a 5-month break in 2024 after 8 years of weekly uploads. Both now cap content production at 3 pieces per week and outsource editing to junior creators. Their advice: "Set a revenue floor—don't take a brand deal below RM 5,000."

p.156 · 10,000 Books for a Better Life
The Buku Beyond Bars project has distributed 8,500 books to 15 prisons across Malaysia since 2021. Founder Kamal Raslan targets 10,000 books by end of 2026. Each prison gets a 200-book starter library. Donors can sponsor a RM 50 book bundle via the project's website.

▸ Style

p.112 · A Return to Self
KLFW 2025: Ezzati Amira's spring-summer 2026 show featured 28 looks, each incorporating traditional Songket weaving into contemporary silhouettes. The collection required 6 months of weaving by 12 artisans in Terengganu. Her ready-to-wear line launches at Isetan KL in January 2026, from RM 800.

p.146 · A Crush Worth Keeping
Chanel's Coco Crush collection adds 3 new pieces—a wide bracelet, a matte ring and a white-gold pendant. All use Chanel's signature "Matiere Grise" patented alloy, 25 percent harder than standard 18-karat gold. Prices from RM 18,000 for the ring.

▸ The Scene

p.28 · All of the Lights
Asia's Most Stylish 2025 winners' party at The Chow Kit: 200 guests, hosted by Dato' Sri Meer Habib. The event featured a live batik-painting installation by artist Justin Lim, whose work was auctioned for RM 30,000 benefiting OrphanCare.

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Editor's Take

The Tatler Most Influential 100-list is the most regionally diverse the Malaysia edition has produced—28 women, 12 under-30s, and meaningful geographic spread beyond KL and Selangor. Habib's jewellery story is solid business journalism with specific revenue, sourcing and succession details. The creator burnout feature (p.66) is the most relatable piece in the issue—concrete revenue thresholds, break timings, outsourcing ratios. But the Penyu Shell-Ter piece (p.56) is an advertorial for YTL Cement, carrying the group's brand logo on every page and never mentioning competing conservation programmes. The style section at 44 pages is the longest in any Tatler Malaysia issue this year, but 18 of those pages are brand-produced spreads.

Strengths
• Tatler Most Influential list with sector, gender and age diversity metrics
• Habib interview with annual revenue, supplier countries and succession timeline
• Creator burnout feature with specific brand-deal thresholds and editing ratios

Weaknesses
• Penyu Shell-Ter is a 6-page YTL Cement advertorial with no independent sourcing
• Style section carries 18 pages of brand-produced content across 44 pages

Verdict: Recommended — The Most Influential list and the creator economy feature earn the cover price; the 6-page YTL advertorial is easy to skip.