Many low-income earners finding it hard to cope with rising cost of living

A tough life: Hawker Aminah Zaidi is finding it hard to cope with life due to the rising cost o f living. -SAIFUL BAHRI /The Star

EARNING a meagre income of RM1,400 as an air-conditioning serviceman, K. Krishnamoorthy is finding it difficult to pay for his family’s daily expenses, let alone buy new school supplies for three of his school-going children, aged between eight and 12.

The 30-year-old father, who has another 18-month-old child, said money was never enough no matter what.

“My priority is buying milk for my youngest and ensuring we have food on the table.

“As for school supplies, I only buy them when really necessary.

“Even then, the children have to take turns to buy things as I cannot fork out so much at one time,” he said, adding that the children used hand-me-downs as well as pre-loved items given away by others.

Life goes on: Krishnamoorthy playing with his children and also Sivabalan’s children. Looking on is Valli (left).

Krishnamoorthy said he relied on loans from his employer to get by.

“My employer is a good man. If not for him, I cannot imagine what would have become of my family.

“Every now and then, I am forced to ask him for an advance in salary, which he allows graciously,” he added.

His wife, G. Valli, 34, said just recently, the family had to endure a few days without electricity when power supply to their rented home in Gunung Rapat was cut off.

“Again, my husband had to ask his boss for a loan to settle our outstanding electricity bill,” said the disabled housewife, whose eight-year-old daughter is also disabled, being a polio victim.

Valli added that things had been especially difficult for the past five months as they had not received the monthly RM300 aid for their daughter.

“We would have used that money to prepare her for school as well as to stock up on food to prepare meals for the children when they go to school,” she said.

Shopping: (from right) Mohammad Azmi and his wife Rosmahura Ariffin, 40, with their two children after buying school uniforms and groceries.

The couple’s family friend, A. Sivabalan’s four-year-old son will be attending kindergarten when school reopens.

“I earn a daily wage of RM60 working as a contract worker for a renovation company.

“To prepare my son for school, I took on extra shifts.

“At present, I can still cope but I cannot imagine life when my other children start schooling as well,” said Sivabalan, who has another girl, aged three, and a one-year-old son.

Not only do parents have to fork out large amounts of money to prepare their children for the new school year, many have found that prices of school items have actually gone up.

Sitting idly at her roadside stall waiting for customers, hawker Aminah Zaidi told The Star that she and her husband could only afford to buy half of the school supplies needed by her three school-going children.

“We have not bought them everything that they need even though school reopens soon.

“We have been saving up but whatever money we managed to save was not enough,” said the 41-year-old mother, who has three other children who are already working.

Tough life: Sivabalan says that he is coping now but he cannot imagine life once his other children enter school. With him is his youngest son.

Aminah said life was tough for the family.

“Business is not good while my husband earns very little as a delivery man.

“It is infuriating that the price of everything, including school supplies, keeps going up whereas our income keeps dwindling.

“Like us, others are having a hard time and are trying to save money by limiting the number of times they eat out,” she added.

Ambulance driver Mohammad Azmi, 46, who had just returned from a trip to the Mydin Hypermarket in Meru to buy school uniforms for his two children, lamented that he had used up almost RM300 even though he had chosen items that were cheapest.

“I bought them only a set of uniform each and some stationery as I simply cannot afford more.

“They will have to reuse their old uniforms,” he said, adding that the same items would have cost him only RM150 before this.

Things are even more difficult for Habizah Anjang Hashim, with seven children.

Habizah, who earns a living by selling sweets and soft drinks at a small roadside stall, said her children would not get any new uniforms or bags.

“They will just have to make do with what they have.

“This way, we only have to pay for whatever necessary such as fees or exercise books.

“It is already difficult enough to survive with seven children, it is impossible to buy them new uniforms, which cost about RM50 now, each year.

“The price of everything is going up, everything except for our income,” said Habizah whose husband is a lorry driver.

Barely coping: Habizah who sells sweets and soft drinks is finding it very hard to pay the higher prices for school supplies.

To keep spending at a minimum, hawker Nurihalizi Ahmand Tajuddin has bought new school uniforms and school supplies only for her youngest child, who starts Year One tomorrow.

“My two other school-going children are in secondary school.

“They will have to reuse their existing uniforms although I had to get them new school bags because theirs are already worn out.

“I have learned my lesson to choose bags which are of better quality even though they cost a bit more.

“At least they last longer,” said the 45-year-old mother of five.