IPOH, Feb 3 — J. Angeline Phillip has never given up in life.
She picked herself up after getting retrenched as a labourer by UEM Berhad in 1981 and has been selling snacks like curry puff and fried bananas to make ends meet.
And although she initially didn’t earn much, Angeline kept at it and even managed to buy a house for her family.
“When I first started out, I sold my kueh for 10 sen a piece. Some days, I took home only RM18 profit,” said the 60-year-old.
“Seeing how measly my profits were, my husband advised me to end my business instead and let him continue working but I persevered as I wanted to be financially independent.”
Angeline, who also has a 19-year-old daughter, was recently invited by the Perak Women for Women Society (PWW) to share her success story with other women during a networking session.
Angeline, who still plies her trade, added that if she could make it, anyone else could too.
“Those who are jobless today claiming there are no jobs should do something rather than waiting for a job to come their way,” said Angeline, who thanked her late mother for making it possible for her.
“My mother passed on to me her secrets of making delicious kueh.”
Parking attendant Rohana Hamzah chose her current vocation after she stopped working in a factory six years ago.
The 52-year-old said it was a complete change from her former job as a production operator.
“From facing the machine, now I need to deal with customers who can be fussy sometimes. Some will just drive off without paying,” she said.
Her colleague Norazzah Jaafar Halmi said getting scolded by customers was the norm.
“My husband advised me to look for other jobs seeing I have to face such situations but thinking that we have bills to pay, I soldier on,” said the 30-year-old whose husband is attached with the Federal Reserve Unit.
Despite having to face different types of customers, Norazzah remains optimistic about her job.
“From the job, I learned how to handle people. Sometimes you need certain ways to handle certain people,” the bubbly woman said.
PWW president Sumathi Sivamany said it was the first time the society was having the event.
“We hope through the event, the attendees can be our spokesman and reach out to more women who need help,” she said.
She added that the session was also to highlight the PWW shop at Market Street that sells items made by underprivileged women.
