KOTA KINABALU – After her husband lost his job last year due to the lockdown, Sastra Ajad has been making rounds near Kapayan to make ends meet.
The 42-year-old fish seller has been accepting house calls to customers wanting to buy fish from her, which she had sourced from the Sabah Fisheries Marketing Authority (Safma) jetty in the city.
She used to run a stall at the Lido market selling fish, earning around RM50 a day, which is enough to support her small family.
But these days, she would be happy for RM20 in sales to put food on her table.
Her 56-year-old husband, Majin Salam, has been out of work since March last year when the first round of the movement control order was implemented.
“He has long stopped working. When times were better, my husband who was a construction labourer, would bring over RM1,000 a month," she said.
“We used to run a small stall at the Lido market. But business is not so good right now. This is why I started doing this,” said Sastra as she pulled up three plastic bags filled with medium-sized fish.
Sastra and her family have been moving from place to place. Before they arrived in Kota Kinabalu in late 2018, they were living in Sipitang.
Sastra, a Bajau from Semporna, began selling fish directly to her buyers on call near Kapayan, where she rented a small wooden house nearby.
These days her income barely hits RM50 as she makes home deliveries, walking around for miles to sell off all her supplies of fish.
“I would wake around 6am to get my supply of fish from the Safma jetty. I can only get good fish early in the morning,” she said.
Sastra also said she was worried now that school is about to start.
Her eldest, who is 13, is entering Form 1 at SMK Sanzac, while the second, aged 10, goes to SK Sembulan. Her third child is just 2, cared for by her husband at home.
“The teacher said Dimar’s school fees would be around RM80 and more for Rosli,” she said.
Sastra said she hopes she will be able to save up enough to pay for her children’s school fees, adding that her take-home income right now was just enough for food and rent. – The Vibes, January 14, 2020
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