ALOR STAR: Sixteen-year-old Nur Syazwani Abd Wahab looks on at her friends queuing up with new schools uniforms in their arms at a shopping complex here.
Like her friends, she too has a new set of uniforms which were contributed by Yayasan Kemiskinan Darul Aman (Yaked).
This was the first time she received such aid after losing her father last month and moving to a new school early this year.
The sixth of seven siblings formerly studied at Sekolah Menengah Agama Daril Iktisam since Form 1 but moved to SMK Padang Terap after her father Abd Wahab Osman was dignosed with cancer.
"My father was the sole breadwinner in the family and when he was sick I decided to move to the government school to reduce his burden. He died last month due to cancer," she said when met today.
Syazwani said her mother was not working and the family now relied on her elder sister who was working in the civil service to support the family.
She said the new uniforms donated by Yaked helped to reduce the financial burden borne by her sister as she was also supporting another sibling still in school.
Another student, Mohd Firdaus Abdullah, 14, from Kampung Bendang Tok Peri said the uniform was the second pair he received since last year.
The Form two student said the new uniforms helped to reduce the expenses that his mother Rohana Musa, needed to fork out in for hi and his two younger siblings aged 10 and 12.
"We lost our father when I was still small and my mother supported us from her earnings by operating a food stall in our village," he said.
The two were among 90 students from SMK Padang Terap who were taken on a shopping spree for their school uniforms at a shopping complex here.
The group aged between 13 and 15, were hosted by Padang Terap MP Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid's wife Datin Seri Noraini Abdullah.