PETALING JAYA: Have you ever struggled to keep your social life afloat as an adult? Perhaps you’ve been meaning to try that new café everyone is talking about, or catch a concert, or go for a hike.
But friends are busy, interests no longer align and, before you know it, plans are shelved. This familiar situation inspired a close-knit group of friends to create Teman Girls.
Founded in 2024, the Malaysian platform has since grown to nearly 20,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, helping women form meaningful friendships and find companions for life’s everyday moments.
Teman Girls is run by a six-woman team from diverse professional backgrounds, including law, psychology, education, engineering, accounting and design. While some have been friends since their schooldays, others met when they joined the community as members or volunteers.
Despite working full-time, the team continues to grow Teman Girls when it can. “We’re building the thing we wish had existed for all of us when we needed it most,” said chief executive officer Iman Jazmina Jamel, better known as Mina.
She said the idea had been brewing for some time, but one particular week in early 2024 was the turning point. Mina wanted to attend a forum, another friend hoped to visit an anime expo, and someone else wanted to go hiking – activities that simply did not appeal to everyone across the board.
“That’s when we decided to get up and start solving this,” she said.
At its core, the concept is simple. “Teman Girls is for anyone who has ever wanted to do something but had no one to do it with,” Mina explained.
“When we introduced the idea in 2024, many women were unsure about it. As far as we know, it was one of the first of its kind in Malaysia.”
One of the platform’s most distinctive features is its “Teman I…” system, which allows members to request a female companion for almost any activity, whether it’s grabbing lunch, watching a show or simply running errands.
After filling out a form and paying a small fee, the request is shared anonymously across the platform’s social media channels. Gender-verified members can then volunteer to join by paying RM2, a measure intended to reduce last-minute cancellations.
“What stays with us isn’t the unusual requests – it’s how tender and ordinary most of them are,” Mina added. “People just don’t want to do the small, everyday things alone.
“We’ve even had requests for a teman for a long drive across states, and someone to be a companion to a kenduri or open house.”
For those who prefer group activities, Teman Girls also organises events with collaborators. These gatherings, typically involving six to 14 women, have included everything from guided journalling sessions and movie nights to slumber parties, pickleball games and a matcha-making workshop.
The platform has also partnered with TGV Cinemas on a year-long Ladies’ Weekend movie meetup series.
To date, the community – which includes everyone from university students to retirees – has organised nearly 600 experiences and events.
For chief operating officer Preethi Kaur Sandhu, the need stems from a reality many women experience but seldom discuss.
“When we’re young, friends are there by proximity,” she noted. “But adulthood is a series of transitions, and each one reshuffles your social world.”
One of the team’s favourite memories dates back to its first month, when someone requested a potluck picnic in the park. “Unexpectedly, 19 people showed up,” Preethi recalled.
As they arrived, she overheard one attendee ask another: “Are you a Teman Girl?” The phrase has since become an unofficial greeting within the community.
“Many of the women told us they no longer felt afraid of being alone because they finally had a community to turn to,” Preethi added.
The team has since watched complete strangers become close friends, pillars of support, and even bridesmaids for one another.
One member who became bedridden even continued finding companionship through the community’s online watch parties.
“There’s a version of the internet where strangers are cynical and guarded. This community keeps proving the opposite,” Mina said.
“What we’re really about isn’t only friendship – it’s the belief that life is meant to be experienced together, not endured alone.”
