1Azam program a lifeline out of poverty

KUALA LUMPUR: Once ridiculed as a beggar, a single mother in Kampung Kemiri, Sungai Siput, Perak is now proud of herself after successfully breaking out of poverty.

Sharifah Junaidah Syed Idrus, 47, said the assistance given by government through the 1Azam programme over the past three years was like ‘oxygen' that changed her fate and her three children after her husband Alias Che Soh died in 2000.

The single mother who earns a five-digit monthly income now was one of the 201,814 participants of the 1Azam programme, which was introduced in 2009, until June this year, according to records from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM). She told Bernama that previously she had provided reflexology service door-todoor, going by bus everyday and earning an income of less than RM500 per month.

Through the 1Azam programme, Sharifah Junaidah received guidance and two beds for reflexology and related equipment worth more than RM5,000, whereby the assistance enabled her to build a new life.

Guidance given by KPWKM officers and training on spa and reflexology under the Department of Skills Development qualified her to receive the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM), following which she managed to open two spa and reflexology centres, in Klebang Restu, Ipoh and Subang Permai, Shah Alam.

Sharifah Junaidah, who is also listed in the “asnaf” (poverty alleviation) programme under the Perak Islamic Religious Council, also produces body scrub and her own brand of scarves.

Meanwhile, Azam Tani programme participant, Mohd Zumaidi Muda, 48, from Ajil, Hulu Terengganu never expected his life could change from a rubber tapper to a furniture workshop entrepreneur.

Mohd Zumaidi said the assistance of furniture manufacturing equipment worth RM9,000 that he received five years ago had changed his family's life.

“Before this, I had a difficult life, even to get RM30 per day. I did rubber tapping and trimming grass to earn a living.

“After receiving guidance from the Veterinary Department which handled the Azam Tani programme, my life is getting better… I have my own workshop, with fixed income. I also provide work opportunities to others,” he said. - Bernama