PADANG TERAP: While other students are spending school holidays travelling with their family, Muhammad Hamdan Ali, 17, from Kampung Acheh in Kuala Nerang here, toils in padi fields to support his family.
The older of two children, who is sitting for his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), is doing a part-time job spraying pesticides in padi fields to earn some pocket money to fund his studies when the new school term starts later this month.
The SMK Kuala Nerang student is earning RM24 daily to help his father, Ali Bakar, 52, to support the family.
"I need to raise some money to fund my studies. I wish to further my studies in UiTM after SPM," said Hamdan.
Life has been tough for rubber tappers like Ali, following the plunge of scrap rubber commodity over the past years.
He is now earning a meagre RM400 monthly from tapping rubber trees owned by a local smallholder to support Hamdan and a daughter aged 15.
Kedah contributes the biggest rubber supply in the country at 30 per cent and most of the tappers are living below the poverty line.
They are earning for half of amount of scrap rubber that they tap while the other half goes to rubber smallholders.
With the current price of RM2.70 per kg, they are earning some RM1.35 for each kg of scrap rubber they produce.
The escalating cost of living has forced the families to be as thrifty as they can.
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Ali admitted that he was clueless how to raise enough money to buy new school uniform and other items for his children.
"I fully understand the importance of education for my children. I wish I can do more to provide better support for them," he told the New Straits Times.
While tabling the 2023 budget, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced an increase in the monsoon aid from RM600 to RM800 for four months, aimed at alleviating the financial burden of 320,000 smallholders which involved an allocation of RM256 million.
While the cash assistance would directly benefit rubber smallholders who own estates, rubber tappers would not have access to the aid. They would have to depend on the kindness of the rubber smallholders to share some of the cash incentive.
"What else can we do? We were praying the government would consider the fate of rubber tappers like us who don't own rubber estates.
"We had hoped that the government would raise the floor price of rubber to RM3.50 per kg," he said.
However, there is some reprieve for his children, as the government has approved RM150 cash schooling assistance to all school students nationwide for this year, regardless of their parents' income level.
Meanwhile, single mother Sharifah Zamzarina Syed Zain, 40, from Kuala Nerang heaved a sigh of relief following the government's move to provide assistance for households with a combined income of less than RM2,500 under the Rahmah Cash Handout (Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah) initiative.
The pre-school teacher who is raising two children aged 12 and 15, lauded the STR initiative as it would help to ease the burden of B40 group.
"Raising two children on a single paycheck is not easy especially with the rising cost of living.
"I have been prudent in spending. I only spend on my children school uniform when it is necessary. I have been thrifty as well in celebrating Hari Raya," she said.
While tabling the 2023 Budget, Anwar, who is also the finance minister announced that the government was also allocating an additional RM600 food voucher under STR for those who are in the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry's e-Kasih database.
This means households categorised in the hardcore poor category are eligible to receive up to RM3,100 depending on the number of children.
He was reported as saying with an allocation of up to RM8 billion, STR would help reduce the cost of living burden of almost nine million beneficiaries.