TAIPING: Since the middle of last year, Siti Norol Salwani Ismail has been riding her motorcycle nearly 300km weekly, all so she can sell vegetables in Kuala Lumpur in order to support her 10-year-old child.
The 29-year-old travels from Changkat Jering to the federal capital — a journey of about four hours — where she sells the vegetables.
Siti Norol began the venture when she had what she called her "crazy idea", while she was still a single mother struggling to support a child.
Having just gotten married for a second time, on Friday, she says she will continue making the trip as her vegetables are popular as they are fresh.
Siti Norol said she got her idea after being in Bandar Sri Permaisuri in Cheras last year and buying some vegetables at a high price.
"After that incident, it came across my mind that I should share fresh vegetables from my kampung with Kuala Lumpur residents... it's easy to get them in Changkat Jering and Bukit Gantang.
"At first, it was a little taxing for me as I had to travel really far, for hundreds of kilometres, and took more than four hours by motorcycle.
"But, I didn't realse how successful my little business would be... probably because the petai, paku, ubi, Brazilian spinach, broad beans, other vegetables and fruits like nangka and soursop are reeally fresh," she said.
Siti Norol said she sells her produce for almost the same price as one would see in Changkat Jering.
"I sell them for about RM2 to RM10... not much different from the prices in Changat Jering. Almost every week, I will travel from Changkat Jering to Kuala Lumpur on my Honda RS125 Fi to sell my kampung vegetables," she said.
Siti Norol, the fifth of 10 siblings, said she faced some minor problems every now and then, such as puncture tyres and bad weather.
"That's pretty normal. At one point, I couldn't continue my journey and my motorcycle was stuck on the highway. The travel costs me about RM50, but that's not a problem and I feel satisfied 'sharing' fresh vegetables from my kampung with people in Kuala Lumpur," she said.
Her little business, however, was temporarily halted earlier this year as she had to prepare for her recent wedding.
Her motorcycle also experienced a breakdown, but she has a new one now and she intends to continue her long travels to sell vegetabales in Cheras.
"My new husband is supportive of my business... in fact, he intends to help me," she said.