BR1M as capital for housewife to venture into biscuit business

KUALA LUMPUR: The 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) that is used prudently has been able to change the living standard of the low income group for the better.
Housewife Rafizai Zahruddin, 43, said she benefited from the BR1M provided by the government after investing the money to start a small scale chocolate chips biscuit business venture.
"When I started the biscuit business, I was working in cake bakery shop in the federal capital and my husband, who is a civil servant, suggested that I use the BR1M money he received to increase our income," she told Bernama.
Rafizai said after discussing with her husband, they were resolute in marketing the chocolate chips that were a favourite biscuit of their three children at several cake shops, including her workplace.
According to her, she was very grateful because she did not expect her chocolate chip business to receive such an overwhelming response within only three months.
Rafizai, who later quit her job to focus fully on her business, said her chocolate biscuit product was now in high demand especially at small supermarkets in the federal capital and several states.
Currently, she works from home and has four workers to assist her but her ambition was to some day open a biscuit-making factory besides producing exclusive chocolate chips that could be marketed as souvenirs, she said.
According to the National Transformation Programme (NTP) report, BR1M, which was started in 2012 with an allocation of RM19.33 billion, have been channeled to individuals and low-income households while in 2016, RM5.36 billion was disbursed to 7.28 million households.
BR1M is realised to ensure that no people are left out in the mainstream transformation of the country towards achieving an inclusive economy, as well as improving the lives of the people, including those in rural areas, added the report. — Bernama