KOTA KINABALU – Junaidi Abdullah has been living under the Jalan Pantai bridge for six months, after his taxi-driver father sold off their land and house in Karamunsing here.
Life has not been easy for the 40-year-old Sino-Kadazan Muslim convert.
Just a week after his return to Sabah in 2018, Junaidi was jailed for almost a year on a drug conviction.
He later made a taxi his makeshift home, before fate drove him out into the streets of Kota Kinabalu.
“My father had two taxis. I made the old, broken taxi my home for a few months. But, my father decided to sell it off so that he could rent a small room in town.
“The room is big enough for only one person. This is why I have to live in the streets.
“Sometimes, my father would come around in the evening to give me something to eat.”
Junaidi has been doing odd jobs, like carrying shoppers’ groceries to their cars and helping security guards on the night shift keep watch while they sleep.
When things are especially tough, he scours rubbish bins near restaurants for leftovers.
Junaidi said he tried looking for work upon his release from prison, but no company wanted to hire a drug convict.
“When I got out of jail, everyone was already talking about Covid-19. Now, employers don’t want to hire, and many have shut down their businesses.”
Junaidi is among the thousands of Sabahans who had travelled to the peninsula seeking a better life, to no avail.
Prior to this, he worked as a cook in Kuala Lumpur. Though his two younger brothers have done well for themselves, he found it difficult to stay afloat, as a large chunk of his salary would go towards buying drugs.
He decided to return to Sabah in 2018. It was then that he found out his father, now 60, had sold the family’s land and home.
Finding himself jobless, Junaidi fell into drug abuse once more.
And, his relationship with his father worsened, with the two quarrelling regularly.
In early 2018, Junaidi was detained by police and jailed. He was released months before the second Covid-19 lockdown.
His father had, by then, sold off the old taxi Junaidi used as shelter.
“There are about five others who usually come down to this bridge to sleep. They, too, are homeless. I would fight with them sometimes because they would be drunk and make too much noise.”
He said he sometimes waits near the Kota Kinabalu general market, where he offers shoppers help carrying their purchases.
He also approaches the security guards at nearby buildings, seeking money in exchange for keeping a lookout at night.
“If I am lucky, I would earn RM5. Enough for me to buy a packet of noodles or order takeout,” he said, pointing to his cooking utensils set up near his “bed” under the bridge.
He said he washes his clothes using seawater and rinses them with rainwater, which he collects in buckets.
“Sometimes, my father would come around to give me food or drinks,” said Junaidi, stressing that his day-to-day survival now trumps any desire to partake in drugs. – The Vibes, February 13, 2021
