Mary trudges on under the scorching heat, pushing her trolley, hoping against hope that she meets a ravenous customer wishing to buy a packet or two of her homemade nasi lemak.

Like many other Malaysians who are down on their luck, 45-year-old Mariamma – fondly known as Mary to her customers – lost her job as a cleaner after two staff at her company tested positive for Covid-19, resulting in the business closing down.

Reeling from the shock at first, Mary however bounced back, deciding to sell cut fruits at a nearby mamak stall, even if the most she could earn was RM30 a day to feed her family.

Meanwhile, she pressed on hoping to secure another cleaner’s position.

“I attended multiple job interviews, but no one was hiring due to the pandemic. Then my mother suggested I start my own business, and I thought why not sell nasi lemak?” she tells FMT.

Living with her mother and three children in a flat along Jalan Jugra, Mary’s routine these days involves waking up at 3am to cook the nasi lemak and fried mee hoon she will sell hours later.

“Watch this,” says Mary excitedly during FMT’s visit to her flat.

Using a length of thread that she gently pulls taut, she deftly slices one full-boiled egg into neat halves, explaining that this method makes a clean cut, and retains the shape of the egg white and golden yolk. No knife required.

By 5.30am, the mouth-watering sambal, boiled eggs, sliced cucumbers, fried anchovies, santan-rich rice and fried mee hoon are ready for packing.

She is out the door by 6.30am after carefully filling her trolley with the packets of food and saying a quick prayer in thanks for the day ahead.

“My friends and customers often tell me they have never seen a person sell nasi lemak in a trolley before, and that I’m the first,” laughs Mary.

While the trolley affords Mary mobility, lugging it down to the ground floor is quite a feat.

You see, Mary lives on the fourth floor of a block of walk-up flats which leaves her with no choice but to literally heave a heavy food-laden plastic box and the trolley down eight flights of stairs every single day.

“When I began this business three months ago, I sold 29 packets of nasi lemak and 10 packets of fried mee hoon a day.

“Thankfully, a lot of my customers have returned, saying they love my sambal so I upped it to 40 packets of nasi lemak a day,” says Mary, who thanked her customers for posting updates about her nasi lemak on social media as this has led to more customers.

According to Mary, on a good day, she can earn up to RM80 from her morning sales.

She explains that while the four-wheeled cart allows her to sell her packets of food on the go, being on her feet with no proper footwear for close to five hours every day, often leaves her feet painful and swollen.

And her days are long and hard. By 11am, Mary’s back home and after a quick shower, she begins cutting fruits to sell at a nearby mamak stall until about 5pm.

Life wasn’t always this tough, she says. It did take a bad turn however, when her 20-year-old daughter lost her factory job due to Covid-19 retrenchments and is still jobless.

Her husband, on the other hand, passed away six years ago from a heart attack, leaving her as the sole breadwinner.

“When both of my daughters were working before this, life was better. If they can get jobs again, it will definitely put my mind at ease and I will be able to finally rest my aching feet,” she says.

All her hard work goes towards the monthly household expenditure of about RM1,000, plus rental which costs another RM700.

As if that isn’t harrowing enough, the family stared hunger in the face during the Movement Control Order in March when they had no money to buy groceries. Thankfully, a kind neighbour stepped in to help.

Mary tells FMT that business can be unpredictable especially when the weather is bad. On rainy days when she is unable to sell off all her food packets, she donates them to the kids in the area.

She says it makes her feel good to see their happy faces when they receive a packet of food.

This hardworking mother has a dream of opening her own stall someday.

She says she plans to sell roti canai, nasi lemak and mee goreng for breakfast and mixed rice for lunch. In fact, Mary good-naturedly says she makes a rather mean roti canai.

“I’m currently saving all I possibly can from my earnings so I can buy a stall licence,” she says.

But as driven as she is, the road to setting up her own stall is proving to be a little bumpy. The authorities say it’s tough procuring a licence these days due to the pandemic, she says, leaving her to worry about her future.

“Everyone is dealing with their own difficulties and hardships now. So, if you see someone or a friend opening up a business, support them,” she says.

If you would like to support Mary’s small business and to help realise her dream of running her own stall one day, look out for her in Taman Desa from 6.30am to 11am.

Each packet of nasi lemak and mee hoon sells at RM2.

You can also call Mary at 017-3949800 to place your orders in advance.

To view Mary’s story in pictures, go here.