In the blink of an eye, the 45-year-old became a single mother to four children, aged six to 13, and the family’s sole breadwinner.

Desperate to provide for her children, Nursahana saw an opportunity to put food on the table regularly while observing the “iddah”, or Islamic mourning period after the death of a spouse.

Just a month earlier, on July 23, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had announced that all adult Malaysians would receive RM100 each under the SARA programme. A total of RM2 billion was set aside to be distributed to 22 million citizens.

Nursuhana, who had quit her job in a printing shop last year to take care of her husband, turned to her hidden entrepreneurial skills to start a business selling a local favourite — the iconic “Ice Cream Malaysia” — a simple dessert loved by most Malaysians.

The RM100 she received under the SARA programme served as seed money for her enterprise.

“I used the money to purchase condensed milk and fresh milk, using them as ingredients for ice cream of various flavours,” she told FMT.

She sells the homemade dessert, at RM1 and RM1.50 each, from her home in Kepong, while also supplying to a nearby petrol station. She makes four sen for every ice cream she sells.

The small and modest effort now serves as a source of income for her family.

“The SARA aid itself may not be much, but if used wisely, it can serve as capital (for a business) to help increase our income,” she said.

Nursuhana is thankful that she is, at least, able to support her family until the “iddah” period is over.

The money from the one-off SARA aid may be spent on 14 categories of essential items at over 7,300 selected retail outlets. The deadline for purchases is Dec 31.

This is over and above the Subangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) aid of which Nasrul was also a recipient before he died.

While the RM100 may seem like an insignificant sum, for those like Nursuhana, it represents a start in meeting challenges as a single parent.