Two lawmakers racing to help out the rakyat? Now that’s the kind of political rivalry Malaysians want to see!
Recently, the story of Puan Ros, a single mother of 10 children being evicted in Bukit Mertajam caught the attention of the whole nation after the Member of Parliament (MP) for that area, Steven Sim Chee Keong rushed in to help the family. The selfless act of Steven to use his own money to pay for the family’s temporary home while waiting for government housing to be available to them was commanded by netizens.
Moved by the struggles of Puan Ros, another Penang leader, Lee Khai Loon took inspiration from the actions of Steven and decided to help the family out. The Penang State Legislative Assembly Representative (ADUN) for Machang Bubuk took initiative to provide a platform for Puan Ros to sustain herself and her family by helping her to start her own business.
In a Facebook post, Lee shared how he met with Puan Ros to break fast together and asked whether she is interested to start her own business. He shared,
“During breaking fast with Puan Ros yesterday, I asked her whether she’s interested to start her own business. Puan Ros went quiet for a while. When I asked what’s the biggest obstacle for her to do so, she said that it’s hard to find capital for a business.”
Following this, Lee assured Puan Ros that she need not worry about capital as he would do all he could to help out. Puan Ros, who always wanted to start a food business, with cooking meals such as pasembur, mee kuah, fried chicken and lai chee kang being her specialty then preceded to get assistance from the Machang Bubuk ADUN.
Lee straight away contacted the municipal body of Alma Bukit Minyak to book a spot at its popular Ramadan Bazaar for Puan Ros. Furthermore, Lee helped Puan Ros to purchase all the necessary kitchen equipments for her food business.
On 14 April 2021, Puan Ros opened up a stall at the Ramadan Bazaar with her children helping out and it proved to be successful. Seeing the family able to start fresh was a touching sight for Lee and he promised to assist Puan Ros by offering business advice to make sure that it flourishes. He wrote,
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. From being evicted, losing a home and only having RM40 in her pocket, now Puan Ros is able to gain income of RM847.90 nett per day.”
Awesome stuff! Let’s hope that this would be the start of something great for Puan Ros and her family.
Also read: “They’ll have a home before sundown” MP Rushes To Help Evicted Family In Bukit Mertajam
