Mumbling was the first thing he heard, followed by the tapping of a keyboard?

Amir peeked through

the edge of the wall separating the hallway to the kitchen, just to see his mother, hair frazzled, her
glasses balanced on the tip of her nose, hands typing frantically on the keyboard. Beside her was a
calculator, and papers filled with numbers and red markings. Her expression seemed worried and at
the same time defeated, as if she was holding the weight of the world on her shoulders. Azmir
debated whether or not it was a good idea to walk into the kitchen at this time, or he should just go
back to his room and pretend that he never saw that scene.

”How am I suppose to stretch this month’s wages until the next month? Even with the bantuan from
the government, there’s still Ah ma’s medicine to pay for.......” his mother’s mumbling and the
shuffling of papers reached his ears.

He decided that it was better to just go back to his room, who cares about the hot, warm maggie
hotcup he wanted to have for supper, no need to suddenly disturb his mom while she was already
looking stressed beyond belief. However, he accidentally let out a sneeze that alerted his mother!

”Who’s there?” his mother asked, and Azmir sheepishly came out of his hiding behind the wall and
sat on the other chair beside his mother.

Azmir looks at the calculations on the computer screen, flips through some of the bills that they
received, and he understood what his mother was worried about. ”Is it about our family’s finances
again?”

His mother sighed, and noded solemly. She knew she could not hide this fact from her son who was
already a young adult, wanting to help out with the family’s finances. Although as a mother, she
would not wish to burden her son with the family’s financial situation, she did not go out of her way
to hide the worsening situation.

Wth the worsening situation of Covid-19, employers have been letting so of their employees, and
during the last few months, more and more people are now unemployed and have to seek pay
somewhere else. Cik Yam, Azmir’s mother, has also been fired from her job, and as a widow being
the sole breadwinner of the family, their emergency funds could only last so long.

But Azmir actually smiled at his mother. ”Mom, we can sell from home like all the other people
selling food from home!” he showed Cik Yam the Foodpanda application, ”Mom’s Nasi Berlauk has
always been praised by neighbours and friends! I’m sure it will sell well!”

Cik Yam thought about it for a moment, and yes indeed their neighbours had always praised her nasi
berlauk, and promised that if she were to start selling her famous nasi berlauk they would
wholeheartedly support her. At the time, Cik Yam only jokingly said that it would never happen, she
was too busy with her job and also taking care of her children. To actually think that she would have
this oportunity, despite the unsavory circumstances. Could this moment be the push that she
needed to start her own catering business? Azmir was also in support of the idea, as if he had been
thinking of raising the idea to her.

”Let me think about it okay? It’s such a big decision... where are we suppose to get the initial modal
to sell nasi berlauk?”

” Jangan risau, mak! Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional telah memutuskan untuk melaksanakan beberapa
inisiatif dan bantuan tambahan khusus untuk saudara dan saudari sekalian di bawah pakej Kerangka
Inisiatif Tambahan PRIHATIN, atau dengan ringkasnya, KITA PRIHATIN. Pakej ini mensasarkan
kelompok-kelompok berikut iaitu:
a) golongan B40 yang berkeluarga dan bujang;

b) golongan M40 yang berkeluarga dan bujang;

c) golongan pekerja negara dalam pelbagai bidang; dan

d) golongan peniaga mikro dalam pelbagai bidang.

Our family falls under one of these categories! We can use that money to start the business from
home, and slowly earn a profit to sustain ourselves.”

From that day onwards, Azmir and his sister will help their mother and grandmother in preparing the
nasi berlauk. Aqilah was in charge of cooking the rice needed to make nasi berlauk, while Azmir
helped to make the sambal and also cut the cucumbers. In the afternoons, after the nasi berlauk was
done, Azmir would take his motorcycle and personally deliver the nasi berlauk to nearby customers
in the area. After delivering the food, he would stop by the shop to buy the ingredients to make nasi
berlauk for the next day.

This continued on for a month, and thier family financial situation was stable. Everyone loved the
nasi berlauk Cik Yam made, and all of them were very supportive of the single mother and her home
business. Through word of mouth, Cik Yam’s Nasi Berlauk became so popular among the local
populace that they had to restrict orders to around 200 packets a day, and accept pre-orders
beforehand.

”Thank you Cik Noor for supporting our business! We hope you’ll continue to support our business,”
Azmir used a pole to hand the Nasi berlauk to Cik Noor in a plastic bag, as to maintain social
distancing . Cik Noor took the Nasi Berlauk from the pole reached out to her, and smiled widely.

”Of course! Your mother’s Nasi Berlauk is the best I’ve ever had, and that is a big compliment from
me, remember to tell your mother about my compliments!”

”Will do, Cik Noor,” with that, Azmir got on his motorbike and rode off. That was the last packet of
nasi berlauk he had to deliver today,

When he reached home, he saw his mother and grandmother in a happy mood. All was well. They
had persevered through these trying times, and now they will continue to perservere no matter the
circumstances. This experience had made them stronger, ready to face anything that might be in
their way from now on.

”Azmir! Guess what? Mom’s Nasi Berlauk is going to be featured in next week’s magazine!”

Yes, everything will be alright, Azmir told himself, congradulating his mother.

When he reached home, he could see his mother standing outside the home with a worried
expression on her face. As soon as he approached, Cik Yam told him to stay 1 meter away from her.

”What’s wrong mom? Did something happen?”

”Selama 14 hari

Emosi x terkawal

Frontliner
Check x ray, apa simtom

Meneliti deman, sesak nafas, batuk ke?

Testing secara percuma berbanding dengan negara lain, kalau positik , isolation, quarantine percuma
walaupun ekonomi yang susah, bersyukur kpd pemerintah, konsultan, Dr Salina, Dr Haikal, Dr Arisa,
sifat ehsan, dishakan bebas, mengambil langkah berjaga yg mana disarankan kerajaan

Melakukan saringan di Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh (HRPB)

Drive thru test, diambil oleh ambulance

Simptom, suhu naik, batuk sampai reflux, perit sangat, x boleh tarik nafas panjang

Ambil x-ray, mengesahkan paru2 telah dijangkiti, kena makan ubat, antiviral, merawat pesakit SARS,
cirit birit 5 days later starting okay, dipindahkan di hospital lain, swab test, 3 hari negatif, dibenarkan
pulang ke rumah.

Azmir sat up and ruffled his hair, yawning as he stared at his computer screen in dread. The deadline
for the assignment was in 2 days, and he’s only halfway done! Although he had a big serving of Nasi
Kerabu for dinner, that was 6 hours ago. Azmir decided to take a small break with some delicious
maggie hotcup, the calming procedure in making a maggie hotcup will rejuvenate him and
encourage him to finish the assignment.

Suhu malam sangat dingin untuk dirasakan, kulitku sendiri yang dapat tahu, serta ia mulai
membisikannya ke segala bagian tubuhku. Udaranya sangat tidak aman, bisa jadi tidur merupakan
salah satunya jalur tetapi saya tidak memiliki sandaran, apalagi rasa kantuk juga saya tidak memiliki.

Kena covid himself, family in poverty, but government help him a lot, and eventually he got better,
and his family’s life is getting better as well