Empathise with people trying to make a decent living

THE car is brimming with happiness as the three of us — my husband, daughter and I — are on our way home from our weekly outing to my parents’ house.

The coronavirus, which reached Malaysian shores early last year, has made us happy over the most mundane matters, like seeing the sun, fastening our seatbelts or visiting my parents. We rarely go out these days as we worry about our 9-year-old daughter, so our weekly trip is a treat to which we look forward.

There is this traffic light junction that we call “traffic light lama” as it takes ages to go green. By the time the light turns green, cars will have queued till the highway exit.

It is here that we notice the sellers — young men dressed in bright shirts (usually orange or yellow) — who wear sunglasses and scarves that cover the bottom half of their faces and carry banners with “mangga jeruk asam boi” written on them. They carry five to six jars of the advertised product in plastic bags.

When the light turns red, sellers walk in between the rows of cars. One is slowly making his way towards us. From afar I can see the sweat on his forehead — the only part not covered by tinted glasses or thin fabric.

This is not the first time we have seen them, of course, as we have to ply this road to get home. Usually, I will turn my face away when one comes close because I do not want them to see my sympathy or think I look down on them. But, at that moment, I tell my husband to buy a jar.

He complies. As the young man makes his way towards our car, all smiles, I do my best to fortify the dam that holds back my tears. After the sale is done, and we exchange thank yous, I let the dam break.

The government has banned the buying and selling of goods at traffic light junctions under Rule 10A(1) LN 166/59 of the Road Traffic Rules. Those caught face a fine of up to RM2,000. According to the authorities, this activity disrupts the flow of traffic and endangers the buyer and seller, as well as other road users.

Under normal circumstances, I agree, but for the past year, things have been anything but normal. Due to Covid-19, people have lost jobs and sources of income, with “luckier” ones being “blessed” with pay cuts. People are desperate: they have bills to pay and mouths to feed.

I tell my husband, in between sobs, how deeply sorry I am for them. These jeruk peddlers are young Malay men who are doing their best to get by. They are not hurting anyone, and I have not seen one on the road when the lights go green. The ones at the “traffic light lama”, at times, will stay on the pavement until a potential buyer calls out to them.

Is this not better than them turning to “real” criminal activities? I ask. “Real” because selling such products at traffic light junctions should not be an actual offence, not in a time when people have to struggle to put food on the table.

What should be wrong is fining them. In January, four of them, aged between 18 and 22, were fined between RM150 and RM2,000 each for selling their products at traffic light junctions. Police said they had issued multiple warnings, which fell on deaf ears, and, thus, decided to finally fine them.

I am sure no one wants to be under the hot sun for hours on end like the traders. The World Economic Forum said Covid-19 has caused a recession — which comes on the tail of unprecedented lockdown measures — from which global economies are expected to recover only by late 2022, almost two years away.

With employment opportunities at an all-time low, the government has got to do more in aiding the Bottom 40 group, urban poor and youth. To politicians, come down to the ground and talk to the rakyat. I bet my life savings (which are not much, mind you, considering I am a millennial) that the majority of normal folk, if not all, will tell you that they have no “better option”.

We are all fellow humans, and humanity is a quality which we should exude as if it is something as natural as breathing.

Due to Covid-19, people have lost jobs and sources of income... People are desperate: they have bills to pay and mouths to feed.