Intent to earn a living, ignoring the title ‘nasi lemak janda’
KUALA LUMPUR: Mamamia’s nasi lemak entrepreneur admits that he is not comfortable with the title of widow’s nasi lemak given by netizens after her story went viral on social media recently.
Single mother, Sharifah Nurul Hamirah Syed Mohd Hamzi, 30, who is fondly called Mya, said that the title has invited cynicism and negative perception in the community.
However, Mya said, the slanted view was ignored and taken seriously because he knew the real intention was to do business to earn a living.
“My nasi lemak has the name Mamamia, but because people have said that (widow’s nasi lemak), we can’t shut people up.
“I was badly criticized, some people think I want to snatch people’s husbands but I always tell them, don’t worry because I’m not a pushover,” she said.
She said, there are times when she gets hurt when her status is looked down upon, but tries to think positively by considering it as part of the advertising method.
The mother of two said that she started doing business near her home in Sentul at the beginning of last year to increase her income.
“At first I only took orders from home but due to the problem of late cancellations in addition to the COD (cash on delivery) process which was a bit cumbersome, I decided to do business on the side of the road.
“The reception received was encouraging, initially only 200 packs, now orders can reach up to 1,000 packs a day.
“There should have been more bookings but some of them had to be rejected because there were not enough staff,” she said.
Share Mya, Mamamia’s nasi lemak is cultivated with the family where the sambal is cooked by her mother using an old recipe.
“Usually we cook around 4 in the morning then start doing business around 7.30 in the morning until we finish.
“I started doing business with my father and now I am also helped by some other family members.
“For the long term, there are also plans to open a store because there is demand. We are currently identifying some potential locations, but not in the near future because we are still working towards that,” she said.
Mya added, she is more inclined to do business than work for a salary because his interest in following up has a family background that also runs a food business.
