FATE and hard work have changed the lives of two poor former general workers.
With assistance from the Azam Tani project, both Asbdullah Ali and Azemi Majid are running their own small businesses, taking home a good income which has improved the quality of their families’ lives tremendously.
Two years ago, Asbdullah, from Nibong Tebal, Penang, was selected by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) among 50 participants under the 2013 Azam Tani project to receive aid to expand his business.
Fama gave him RM9,000 to buy the equipment he needed to expand because it saw the potential in his quail hatchery and frozen meat business.
The result was the production of Bon N Da frozen quail meat, marinated with rich spices from a special homemade recipe. The frozen marinated quail meat is vacuum-packed and sold for RM10.
Asbdullah’s venture into quail farming began in 2009. Previously, he worked in a factory with a minimum wage of RM900, and he had to support his wife and four children.
Asbdullah and his wife, Rosfaridah Hamzah, 38, purchased their initial stock of baby quails for 50sen each from a hatchery in Sungai Siput, Perak.
They reared the quails and supplied the meat according to demand. However, the volume was too low for the couple to see profits.
When Azam Tani came into the picture via Fama, the couple managed to receive 4,000 baby quails for breeding.
The quail farm eventually became one of the main suppliers of eggs and meat in Seberang Prai Selatan, Kedah and Perak. Their customers include traders at wet markets, Agrobazaar Kedai Rakyat and nasi kandar restaurants. In 2009, the couple had around 200 quails. Today, they are rearing between 15,000 and 20,000 birds.
“It took almost a year for me to get used to the fragile nature of the birds. I did frequent inspections to ensure my baby quails were not infected by viruses. It was not easy to prevent virus infections in the coon.”
Asbdullah’s quail farm has been doing well with a minimum gross profit of RM6,000 a month. Last month, his income reached RM22,000.
Asbdullah does the hatching in incubators. In a day, he sells 200 quails’ eggs for 13 cents each while the meat is sold between RM10 and RM15 for five pieces per pack.
Azam Tani has changed the lives of Asbdullah and his family into something they could never have imagined. The farmer, who once owned a Perodua Kancil, is now driving a Toyota Hilux.
“I use to ferry quail food and my children to school at the same time, all cramped and congested. Sometimes, I feel upset thinking of my children’s fate. Now, I have a truck to take them to school with better comfort and safety. I am happy. I am very grateful,” he uttered with tears rolling from his eyes.
Azam Tani is a project under the 1Azam programme, which is implemented nationwide to create opportunities for the poor and raise their income.
The programme provides assistance in five key areas: job placement (Azam Kerja), creating small enterprises (Azam Niaga), creating small service providers (Azam Khidmat), creating small businesses and services for the urban poor (Azam Bandar) and creating opportunities in agriculture (Azam Tani).
Meanwhile, Azemi is starting to gain a financial footing in his life after years of back-breaking labour. The 50-year-old satay seller recently took his family on a holiday to Malacca and Seremban, the first time he had been able to do so.
“The trip is the first holiday any of us has had so far. Up to about four years ago, I cannot afford to take my family on outings. There is no money for petrol, let alone food.”
The former labourer worked in a factory daily from dawn to midnight to supplement his monthly wage of RM1,300.
“I am the sole breadwinner, so there was no choice. The only time I stayed home was when I was too sick to get up.”
But even as he toiled away, the father of two could not make ends meet.
“The money I earned was just enough for rent and essentials. So, I raked up quite a lot of debts over the years,” he said, adding that he used his credit card a lot to buy petrol to commute to work between Shah Alam and Bangi in Selangor.
However, he never gave up on his dream of setting up his own satay business. Finally, at age 46, he took his gratuity of RM5,000 to set up a modest stall in Section 24, Shah Alam, and had never looked back.
“I paid my debts in full. Then, I rented the lot here, bought a freezer, blender, grill and meat. I had to work every day for the first six months.
“Before I was selected under Azam Tani, my monthly income was around RM700 to RM800. I had limited cash to reinvest in an additional freezer, so I ended up lugging the freezer to the stall and back daily. Many resources were wasted and I even got a backache.”
His satay business got a big break with the help of the Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board (MPIB) under the Azam Tani project.
As luck would have it, the struggling satay seller got a much needed boost six months after setting up his stall.
The programme allocated RM10,000 for the new entrepreneur in 2011. MPIB bought RM9,000 worth of appliances to upgrade Azemi’s stall, while the remaining RM1,000 was spent on training him in business skills.
Among the new appliances is a stainless steel grill, fan, freezer, rack and blender. His capacity has since improved as he can now handle more orders. He can also store more meat with the additional freezer as well as prepare more satay with the extra grill and blender. Since then, he has also bought an additional freezer to cope with the growing demand.
“I have two freezers and one blender at home. The rest I can keep here,” he said, adding that his profit was now RM3,500 to RM4,000 monthly.
He recently prepared 6,000 sticks of satay for a private function.
“I still work daily to make sure business runs smoothly. But I don’t have to worry where my next meal is coming from. More importantly, I am doing something I am passionate about.”
Azemi sells his own brand of chicken, beef stomach (perut) and mutton satay. He has also ventured into selling beef balls. He has been offered to set up stalls in other locations and wants to expand and market his brand in shops while developing a satay franchise.
“But my main priorities are to save for my retirement, educate my 17-year-old daughter and pass down this business to her and my eldest son, who is working as a general worker. I also want to give back by helping others like myself realise their dream.”
His Azam Tani trainer, Ahmad Miqdad Mohsin, says about 18,016 poor and extreme poor individuals have been enrolled in the programme.
“Many have successfully come out of poverty or extreme poverty. Azemi’s is one of the many success stories.”
He said Azemi, who set up his business under the name Satay Atuk Azemi, was doing well because he applied all the skills he learnt during training.