KOTA KINABALU – Fatima Simbi’s decrepit wooden stilt house in Sembulan here is so fragile that one of her adult children fell 3ft to the ground after the floor broke recently.
Located in Sembulan Lama village just opposite commercial areas, hotels, and office blocks, the house was built by her father in the 1970s and rebuilt in the late 90s after a fire destroyed it.
A portion of the roof and walls have already gone missing, exposing the 49 year-old’s family to the elements, while they live without electricity most of the time.
Her house was also in a mess with clothes and other items strewn on the floor, with barely any furniture to keep the house organised.
Now she also worries her house could collapse the next time strong winds and heavy rainfall hit.
“We only have plywood found from scraps for the floor. We have to be careful where we step on it each time,” she said.
“Just the other day one of my sons fell because the plywood floor broke,” said Fatima, revealing she was constantly out begging for help whenever she could.
Repairs to the house had not been forthcoming for the mother of eight as her income working at a nearby cafe could only support their basic needs.
“I’m only earning around RM1,150 a month working at a cafe. If I don’t come, my salary will be deducted as I am a daily wage earner,” Fatima said, adding that she also had to look after her 44-year-old disabled brother and three of her younger children at home.
She said five of her adult children are working part time or constantly looking for odd jobs elsewhere as they now live with relatives or friends.
“They used to have permanent jobs but they were sacked during the pandemic,” she said.
Her children are Farizuan, 26, Suhaimi, 25, Suzaiman, 23, Fariduan, 22, and her only daughter, Suriani, 21, no longer stays with her.
But she said their earnings were so meagre that they were only enough to sustain themselves most of the time.
“When they do have extra, they would assist me to buy groceries at home. But that does not happen much,” she said.
Only Mohd Hisham, 20, Mohd Fadzley, 17, and Mohd Amirul, 16, stay with her and her disabled brother, Busoh Tamin.
Looking after them is not the only concern for Fatima as her son Hisham is also expected to undergo an operation to address a parasitic infection soon, which could further strain her finances and time working.
According to her, her difficulties started escalating after her divorce in 2011.
Her ex-husband who worked as a crane operator at an oil and gas refinery in Kimanis before the divorce had defaulted on child support, forcing Fatima to care for the children alone.
“He only paid child support for seven months after the divorce,” she said.
She said her sons Suzaiman and Mohd Amirul also could not enter school as they are without MyKads, while her eldest, third, and fourth attended school briefly, and the rest did not go to school.
Fatima said he made a mistake not getting her two sons birth certificates and their MyKads as she was constantly stuck at home raising them before the divorce.
She said getting the papers now has also become a big financial burden as it requires her to get a few days off from work to get them done.
“It requires more than a day of waiting to register at the National Registration Department,” she said. – The Vibes, July 21, 2023
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