At 57 years old, Saparisah Abdul Rahman, who has 16 grandchildren, is able to lift, carry and deliver a 12kg or 14kg liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-filled cylinder from house to house, a job normally for young men.
In an interview with BERNAMA, it was stated that she has no hesitation in lifting the cylinders on her motorcycle, to get them delivered to her customers.
The job has been her livelihood for the past 15 years, said the woman, who continued to do the job to prove that women are also capable of doing a job that is synonymous with men.
“I have a younger brother who runs the business and in 2004, I decided to do the same. Initially, it was hard, back-breaking, because I was not strong enough to even lift a gas cylinder, what more to carry it to my customer’s doorsteps.”
“The gas cylinder either weighs 12kg or 14kg. I had back pain initially, but I’ve gotten used to it over time,” she explained.
Saparisah who is more fondly known as Kak Zah, said she can carry 3 gas cylinders at a time on her motorcycle, when making the delivery to her customers, mostly in Taman Meru and Silibin in Ipoh.
Negative perception
The mother of 6 and grandmother of 16 said that although it is a man’s job, she kept doing it to help her family and would turn a deaf ear to negative remarks made at her.
“There are some people who cannot believe that I can personally deliver their orders to their homes, and they were surprised indeed that I am able to make the delivery to their doorsteps myself.”
“When I get nasty remarks, I just give them a smile and continue with my work. Nowadays we cannot be selective to earn a living. As long as the job provides me with a halal earning, I’ll do it,” explained Saparisah.
She said that as she had nothing to do and felt bored, she wanted to do something to earn a living to help her husband, hence why she decided to sell cooking gas by providing a home delivery service.
“Also, I want a business that pays daily, not on monthly basis, like working in a factory” she said, adding that she gets orders for up to 40 LPG gas cylinders from her customers in one day.
Kudos to Saparisah for finding something she likes to do and for proving all the doubters wrong!
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