THE 18-year ordeal of Norida Akmal Ayob, 45, has cast a spotlight on a silent crisis: an unknown number of Malaysian women remain stranded in “dire straits” across Indonesia, unable to afford the journey home.
According to Kosmo, many of these women share a similar trajectory – falling into financial ruin after marrying local men in Lombok and finding themselves trapped by the high costs of returning home.
“Money remains the main factor, as earning is difficult. My children and I were at the mercy of locals to get by,” Norida explained from her hometown of Kampung Bukit Sapit in Lenggong, Perak.
Norida’s own journey began nearly two decades ago when she moved to Lombok with her then two-year-old daughter, Nur Fateen Akmadiana.
After her husband divorced her, she was left to fend for herself, working as a sweeper to survive.
While she eventually gave birth to a son, Muhamad Sabani Daniel, in Indonesia, the prospect of returning to Malaysia remained a distant dream due to the expense.
Her return on Feb 14 was finally made possible through the combined efforts of her family and the Member of Parliament for Lenggong, Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, who is also the Deputy Home Minister.
Though she returned with her daughter – now 20 – her son remains in Lombok.
Despite the bittersweet separation, Norida expressed immense relief at being back on Malaysian soil.
“I am happy to celebrate Ramadan in my hometown with my family after living so long in Lombok,” she said.
> Newly divorced actor Kamal Adli conceded that living alone was not easy as he missed his sahur this year, Harian Metro online reported.
“It’s ‘very’ (difficult) to live alone. Before this, I had someone wake me up (for sahur).”
He admitted defeat on the first day of Ramadan when he didn’t notice the sound of his mobile phone alarm and missed the sahur time.
Kamal, 40, revealed this incident through a post on Threads.
Despite not having sahur, the ex-husband of actress Uqasha Senrose is still enthusiastic to continue fasting.
“Happy fasting, everyone. I’m also fasting; it’s okay. Hmm ... First day of holding back anger,” he wrote.
This year marks Kamal’s first Ramadan as a divorcee after divorcing Uqasha on Jan 12 at the Federal Territories Syariah Lower Court.
(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)
