PETALING JAYA: Getting by was a sheer struggle for wheelchair-bound Yee Pen Yeng (pix). She was earning RM30 a day as a part-time florist assistant near her home in Setapak.
“It was not much as I would only be called to work when my help was needed,” said the 57-year-old polio victim.
She lost her only source of income when the florist shop folded in August due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yee, who was diagnosed with the disease at three, is living on a meagre RM300 welfare aid.
“I need to support my elderly parents, so I would go door-to-door in my wheelchair to ask people for old items that I can sell. I usually can get about RM100 from the sale. I’m lucky if I can get RM300,” she said.
Yee admitted there were times she and her parents had gone hungry.
“We survive on bread and biscuits,” she said. “I’d get some dry goods every three months as we’re listed with the flat’s resident association. The last food aid was in December.”
There was also a time she could not make the RM124 rent for two months. “Luckily, I managed to pay it off with some of the welfare aid,” she said.
As luck would have it, a friend came across Carlsberg Malaysia’s “Celebrate Prosperity, Cheers For Tomorrow” food aid campaign and encouraged her to apply. “It was a pleasant surprise when I found out that I was a recipient of the fund.”
Yee hopes to become a seamstress. “I’m trying to apply for a small fund for a sewing machine from the Welfare Department. I could then take orders from my neighbours.
“I taught myself to sew and have some experience from my previous job when I was younger,” she said.
The RM1 million food aid campaign from Carlsberg Malaysia has benefited 2,000 families.
Another recipient of the cash aid is Elizabeth Xavier. When the movement control order was imposed, the 39-year-old cleaner saw her monthly salary dropped from RM900 to RM700.
To cope with the shortfall, the single mother of a 15-year-old cut down on grocery purchases.
Her daughter, Jennifer Steven Raj, said it was a friend who suggested they apply for the Carlsberg Malaysia cash aid.
“The money was a big help. We used it to buy some groceries and books for my studies,” she told theSun at their flat in Taman Bukit Angsana in Kuala Lumpur.
As for Angela Ng Ang Chee, having spent a decade soaring above the clouds, losing her job as an airline food and beverage manager was a hard landing for this 50-year-old.
“It was in June last year. I had to quickly find a way to make ends meet,” she said.
Rather than wait for help, Ng put her love for food to good use.
In September last year, she launched Angie SuduGarpu, an online business selling homemade Nyonya dishes.
“I love making healthy meals so I use Basmati rice (a long grain fragrant rice). I also refrain from using preservatives,” she said.
Her bestseller is the “Coffee Chicken”, a Mongolian dish commonly paired with scallions, ginger and sweet savoury sauce.
She is able to supply up to 20 orders on a good day but is at the mercy of demand fluctuation. “I am able to make about RM1,000 a month. I could do with more business. While it’s tough, I’m grateful that my customers are happy with my meals,” she said.
Just last month, Ng stumbled upon a link to Carlsberg Malaysia’s campaign and applied for it, which she was lucky to get.
She plans to use the money to buy the ingredients for the meals she sells and for improving her business.
Spread Love and Charity non-governmental organisation (NGO) helped theSun, a media partner of the campaign, to identify candidates for the fund.
Founder of the NGO, S. Megalah, said the objective was to help the underprivileged “as best we can”.
“We would visit them at their homes to find out what their needs are and to understand the situation. This helps us determine the kind of aid we can offer them,” she said.
“We wish to thank theSun and Carlsberg Malaysia for choosing us to participate in this campaign.”
