Single mum makes it big in pepper trade
KUCHING: As a child, Awaeang Kwasin and her siblings would toil under the hot sun tending to their parents’ black pepper plants.
Today, Awaeang, 44, has made it big as an entrepreneur dealing in black pepper through her company, Syarikat Nang Ori. Besides owning and operating two pepper processing factories, she exports the commodity and has ventured into producing downstream products.
This mother-of-five, whose father used to cultivate black peppers in Kampung Bratan — about 24km from here — said her interest in the business began during her childhood when she used to help her mother to sell vegetables.
After completing her studies at Sarawak Polytechnic in 1999, she migrated to the peninsula in search of greener pastures.
She ventured into business but it was met with failure.
Awaeang said that in 2005 she lost her livelihood, and her marriage collapsed, leaving her to care for her two children, aged 5 and 2, singlehandedly.
“Later in the same year, I managed to build a successful business,” she said.
Whenever she returned to Sarawak, she said, her friends in the peninsula would ask her to bring back some black peppers for them.
“Later, I decided to market the peppers from my family’s farm instead of selling it to a wholesaler or middlemen in the state.”
In 2016, Awaeang transported the peppers to the peninsula and packed them at her office premises in Puchong, Selangor. She named her company Nang Ori, which means “pure” in Bahasa Melayu.