When the movement control order hit, demand for his produce dropped. The 32-year-old started doing odd jobs, even working at a nearby car wash, which later closed down.
Then he started clearing Chinese graves and made “decent” money during Cheng Beng. But his life took a turn for the worse just a week before Ramadan, when his home was razed in the early hours of April 6.
His prized mango, coconut and moringa (drumstick) trees perished in the fire, with other herbs that helped him sustain his livelihood with at least RM1,000 a month for the past five years. From his plants, he was able to supply produce, which he says were in high demand, to nearby restaurants.
Today, his family of three lives in a 10” by 10” storeroom of a door maker adjacent to his burnt-down house. Every day, Effandy, his wife, and daughter climb a rickety ladder to get to the top floor of a partially built two-storey store, where they sleep on a rickety, damp wooden floor.
The Penang government had offered the family an emergency-use flat unit for two months, which he turned down.
“We have been here for more than 70 years. My five siblings and I were raised here, and five generations of my family have lived here.
“I’d rather be around to keep an eye on my harta pusaka (inheritance),” he said when met by reporters outside his burnt-down home at an old village settlement known to locals as Kampung Paya, at the cul-de-sac of Lorong Sempadan 2.
Since the fire, Effandy has been hoping for assistance to rebuild the old cluster-type kampung home which had four separate units, with six families living in the 6,000 sq ft area. He said part of the land belonged to his grandmother, showing a recent land search to reporters as proof.
But there has been no help to rebuild his house and life has been difficult. At night, Effandy has to throw stones to avoid being attacked by snakes and rodents.
The family has an outhouse, which they use as a toilet, but due to the mains being cut off after the fire, there is no water supply.
Effandy, who has suffered from heart disease for the past 10 years and recently received treatment for Hepatitis C, and has been ill from smoke inhalation and having to climb a ladder daily to reach their cramped quarters.
A generous neighbour has provided them with electricity supply to charge their phones through an extension cable. For daily showers, a Chinese family across their home had offered their bathroom for showers and ablution for prayers.
Effandy’s wife, Salbilla Supriyadi, 41, once worked as a caregiver for an elderly man living nearby. But as Covid-19 fears grew, she was let go. Today, she looks for cleaning jobs, which normally pay about RM30 a day, but nothing has come around.
After the fire which razed their home, neighbours searched for help. The Penang Hindu Association supplied the family with milk powder, diapers, food and a fan for their cramped living area.
Association president P Murugiah said that although the state government, through local assemblyman Lim Guan Eng and Bukit Bendera MP Wong Hon Wai, had come to help with cash aid immediately after the fire, Effandy would be better off with a rebuilt home.
“We hope we can raise funds to build Effandy a new home,” he said after presenting RM1,000 to the family from the association.
Effandy said he had never received social welfare aid, but the Welfare Department had come to offer him food and a comforter after the fire. He said they have also registered him for aid.
He also said he had never received any zakat (tithes) aid before and had only recently registered as a voter to entitle him to state welfare benefits.
“All I want is help to rebuild my home by Raya.”
For those who wish to help Effandy, text us via WhatsApp on FMT’s Helpline at 019-389-9839.