— A senior citizen doggedly rides his bicycle almost every day to sell various types of frozen pastry products to earn an income in order to support himself and his wife during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
Starting out as early as 9 am, Husin Muhamad, 60, would cycle around until 12 noon in the Kampung Tengku Hussein Hujong area in Manjoi here and its surrounding areas yelling kuih!.. kuih! to attract customers.
Fondly known as Pakcik Husin, he said the products are stored in a styrofoam box to retain their quality and tied firmly to the back seat of the bicycle during his rounds in the villages.
“I sell various frozen puff pastries such as curry puffs, samosa, doughnuts, ‘pau’ and many more attract buyers.
“I will personally deliver the products to my customers’ homes if they order through the WhatsApp application, with no additional charges. Buyers from outside Manjoi will pick up their orders from my house or wait at certain locations,” he said when Bernama met him and his wife at their home in the village, which is located about three kilometres from the city centre.
He said the idea of cycling around selling pastries came about during a discussion with his niece last year as he enjoyed cycling and interested in venturing into petty trading.
“I opted to sell my wares using this electric bicycle because I am not good at riding motorcycles. It is also more relaxing,” he said, adding that he also wears a face mask in compliance with the stipulated standard operating procedure (SOP) of the MCO to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
He admitted that his sales were slightly affected by the MCO 3.0 due to the implementation of the Enhanced MCO in several areas in Manjoi from June 6 to 19.
The Parit-born Pakcik Husin said he made about RM200 a month from selling the frozen items sourced from suppliers in Changkat Jering.
He added that he had never raised the price of his frozen pastries, at RM6 a pack, even during the MCO as he was not interested in just making profits.
“Many of my customers praise me because I still sell my frozen pastries at cheap and reasonable prices despite the MCO. I am delighted with the comments as I enjoy selling them and hope more will become my customers,” he said.
Prior to this, Pakcik Husin was a contract laboratory storekeeper at the Jelapang Health Clinic here.
He also sells other supplementary food and drinks such as various types of coffee, canned drinks, potato chips, groundnuts and salted eggs to increase his income.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency