Page 9 - Mainstreamer Volume 1 Issue 2 Feb 2023
P. 9
NEEDN’T FRET
resign in 2016 since I was considered ineligible for In early 2022, I had an accident, and our house
the job. That was a week after my father passed flooded. I posted on Facebook that I needed money
away. and was surprised by the response. People I had
never met before, as well as an old acquaintance
A month later, I landed a job at a resort near my I barely spoke to throughout my studies at UniKL,
house. It was an unpaid volunteer work, but I was helped me by giving me money. One of them even
provided with food and shelter. The resort itself ordered my baby some diapers on Shopee and had
was new, and it was surrounded by aborigines. them delivered to my house, something I never
After 6 months of working without salary, I was expected anyone to do because I was an outcast
hired as a permanent employee. . previously. Then I got a call from a multinational
“ contract with them at a salary that was double
company offering me a one-year employment
what I was earning as an Administrative Assistant..
I took the risk of riding a motorcycle,
HHonestly, I attempted suicide several times.
even though I had never done it
before, to ensure that my pregnant I grew up without a father to guide me through
life’s journey. I have to pave my own path, my own
wife ate healthily. Fortunately, none journey to learn everything. I had gone through
of our family members caught hardship, fallen hard, been discriminated against,
and many more experiences that I digested by
COVID-19.” myself. I did not have anyone to talk to, not even
my family members. But then, every time I fall to
As the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2019, I my knees, there is a hand that raises me up. I had
resigned from my employment as a marketing to learn a lesson in the hardest way, but that has
officer, only a month before my wedding with one made me stronger.
of the aborigines. I got married in December 2019
and my daughter was born nine months later! If I were to give anyone advice, I would tell
them to stay calm and carry on. After a heavy rain,
By the end of 2019, I landed a job at Family there is always a rainbow. So, learn to dance in
Marts in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It did the rain because you will realize how much fun it
not last long. During the first Movement Control is when you look back a few years later, knowing
Order (MCO), I worked as a delivery man around that you survived the “rain” that others may have
my house. I took the risk of riding a motorcycle, avoided.
even though I had never done it before, to ensure
that my pregnant wife ate healthily. Fortunately, Despite being a busy father and a diligent worker, the
none of our family members caught COVID-19. author remains passionate about basketball.
When the MCO was lifted for a period, I was able
to get another job in a canteen. But I also lost that
job with the second MCO.
I finally applied for a Grabfood Rider position
in 2021, after obtaining my motorcycle license.
It was not an enjoyable job but I have a wife and
a newborn baby girl at home. At the same time,
I worked as a dasher to supplement my income,
which was to cover my baby’s milk and diapers.
Occasionally, we received help from NGOs and
the government. But I still had to work as hard as
I could. I sold everything I owned (my car, games,
and other valuables)..
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