Instead, the hardy 71-year-old is out and about under the scorching heat, collecting discarded cans and boxes to earn a living. Her reason for doing it? She does not want to be a burden to her children.

Two years ago, the mother of two was retrenched from her job as a cook in a school canteen in Seri Kembangan.

At her age, Chong found it hard to find another job and she did not want to trouble her children by depending on them, and so she began collecting recyclable trash, earning a meagre RM10 to RM20 a day.

“Sometimes, if luck is not on my side, I only make RM3 per day. But there have also been days when I do not earn anything because I didn’t go out of the area to scavenge.”

Chong said she did not want to compete with others who scavenge for a living, so she does not venture far from her area.

She lives with her son who works as a cleaner. Her daughter is married and lives with her husband.

“With the money I earn, I can buy food,” she said, adding her son takes care of the rent and any additional expenses.

Chong says she does not care what people think about scavenging as long as she was not a burden to her children.

And while Chinese New Year is very different for many, Chong says it will be like any other year for her family.

“As usual, we do not have new clothes, we just cook a few dishes for dinner with the family. I have been saving a little money from selling the cans and boxes to buy some Chinese New Year snacks.”

For the next few days, Chong will be taking a well deserved break but on Monday, she will be out again to look for cans and boxes.