Fire of life still burns bright
Rahayu Mokhtar; Interview by Satiman Jamin
2008/09/26
INTO each life, some rain must fall, and sometimes when it rains, it pours.
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| HELPING HAND: Puteri Wangsa state assemblyman Datuk Abdul Halim Suleiman and Rahayu Mokhtar inspecting her razed shop on Tuesday. |
But I am thankful that all the trials and tribulations of life had made me stronger to face the challenges that have yet to come.
The fire that razed my curtain tailoring shop on Sept 13 on the second week of Ramadan had given me a forced leave from the continuous sewing work which was my routine since the first day of the fasting month.
The free time gave me ample opportunities to reflect on my past and how I had arrived here. I realised it was by the grace of God that I had achieved so much in life, some of which I had never dreamt possible.
I started working in the service industry as a promoter with the traditional Indonesian cosmetic house Mustika Ratu, where I learned all the basic aspects of cosmetics and makeup.
It was while working as a promoter that I met my husband, Ismail Abdul Halim, who was working as a cashier at a supermarket chain.
My big break came in 2002 when I decided to go for a curtain design, cutting and tailoring course to cut the boredom that had consumed me since I quit working to take care of my children.
I started making my own curtain and soon, I was taking orders from my neighbours. Before long, I had a steady stream of customers who heard of my curtain-making venture through their relatives and friends.
My husband was a car salesman at a time when the car market was very bad, barely making any sale for weeks.
With a bleak car market and seeing the growth of my home-based business, my husband did not hesitate when I suggested he resign to help me with the marketing side of the business.
My husband’s marketing effort paid off, resulting in an explosion of orders which saw us moving into a shop lot as it was no longer viable to operate from home with four sewing machines and mountains of cloths.
It was during the fasting month when we moved into the rented shop, our business buoyed by the non-stop orders for curtains especially for Har Raya.
We were jubilant and thankful to God that He had shown the pathway to us, for we never forget that all our effort would have come to nought if He so decreed.
This year, we had arranged and planned to complete all the orders for Hari Raya a week early as we wanted to make our own festive preparation, a promise we made to the children last year when we had to work to clear unfinished orders even as the sound of takbir proclaiming the arrival of Aidilfitri filled the air.
However, it was not meant to be as the curtain display, finished stocks ready to be delivered to our customers and rolls of cloth in our shop were destroyed in a fire at 2am on Sept 13, the newest and most harrowing lesson that life had given me thus far.
Breaking other people’s hearts and hopes was the thing I hated most and I cringed as my customers react in silent horror when I told them over the phone that their Hari Raya curtains had literally went up in smoke.
I am fully aware that things could have been worse because my three children did not sleep near the curtain display that fateful night as they usually did.
Friends, relatives and neighbours have offered words of comfort and I am thankful for the circle of humanity around me that had made the ordeal more tolerable.
Even Puteri Wangsa state assemblyman Datuk Abdul Halim Suleiman visited our shop as soon as he got the news and offered to give assistance in dealing with the various agencies in the effort to start our business anew.
In his capacity as a committee member of the housing area Parents-Teacher Association, my husband had referred others who needed assistance to Abdul Halim before. Thus, his friends had informed the assemblyman about the fire without my husband’s knowledge.
All the support that we received had made us more resolute to rebuild our business and life, and we are confident that we could rise from the destruction stronger and hungrier for bigger success.
Yes, the fire had destroyed my business, but the fire of life in me is stronger, galvanising my resolve to rebuild my life from the ashes of the painful experience.
Rahayu Mokhtar is a curtain designer and tailor whose shop was featured in Johor Buzz on Sept 5, a week before it was destroyed in a fire.
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