Bukit Mertajam MP Helps Woman In RM15K Debt To Get A Job & A Van To Use For Work
Even though she worked day and night, Kak Ina only earned around RM800 to RM1,000 per month as a delivery person.
By Aqasha Nur’aiman — 05 Apr 2023, 01:08 PM — Updated about 1 year ago
Finance Deputy Minister II, Steven Sim Chee Keong, recently shared a tearful story of a hardworking woman who works as a flower delivery person
Sim detailed the struggles of Kak Ina in a Facebook post, in which he wrote that the woman would take 25 delivery jobs in a day to make ends meet.
According to the Bukit Mertajam member of parliament (MP), the woman used an old Proton Wira to deliver flowers and had to make several trips because of the vehicle's small size.
Even though she worked day and night, Kak Ina only earned around RM800 to RM1,000 per month, and would sometimes skip meals and go to bed hungry.
"Despite being quite busy with Parliament and ministerial responsibilities, I kept my promise to meet with Kak Ina," wrote Sim, adding that he had heard of her story for a while now.
Kak Ina was also RM15,000 in debt due to her taking out loans while she was caring for her sick mother
Because of the debt default, the woman was blacklisted by her bank. She also struggled to pay her outstanding water bill and house rent, which, according to Sim, had reached thousands of ringgit.
"Sometimes she would have no money to buy food and it's not because Kak Ina was lazy to work, but because she was trapped in a cycle of debt, which made her unable to improve her work life," said Sim.
Unfortunately, Kak Ina's mother had also died from her illness.
"Now, her beloved mother is gone, but the debt still follows her."
After hearing Kak Ina's story, Sim decided to help the woman by easing her work life
Sim said that he called his friend Eric Cheng, the founder of CARSOME Malaysia, a leading used car buying and selling portal, and shared Kak Ina's story.
"Eric immediately offered her a RM23,000 van. Even though the car is secondhand, CARSOME did an amazing job inspecting the vehicle," wrote Sim.
Aside from giving the woman a van, the Bukit Mertajam MP also helped pay Kak Ina's RM15,000 debt and cleared her name from the bank's blacklist data.
Sim then contacted another one of his friends, Giden Lim, the founder of the flower-selling portal, BloomThis, and the business owner offered Kak Ina a new job.
"He told me that his company would hire Ina to work as a freelance flower delivery person. He expects Ina to earn around RM3,000 to 5,000 a month if she is willing to work hard," he added.
However, Sim said that the RM15,000 was only loaned to the woman to help clear off her name and she will have to pay him back monthly if she manages to earn RM3,000 a month at her new job.
Sim said that he was lucky to have friends who were able to help Kak Ina
"Madani Malaysia is not just a slogan, Madani Malaysia means if we are in trouble, the government will help, and neighbours will help, regardless of race and religion," he said.
"In this glorious month of Ramadan, I hope my small efforts will give a new life to Kak Ina," he added.
