16YO Teen Selling Nasi Lemak Gets Social Welfare Dept’s Attention After Pictures Of Him Selling Food At LRT Setiawangsa Goes Viral
Mohammad Ilham Mohd Fazil had been helping his family sell nasi lemak and pulut panggang since he was still in primary school to make ends meet.
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Several Social Welfare Department representatives yesterday visited Mohammad Ilham Mohd Fazil – a 16-year-old nasi lemak and pulut panggang seller at LRT Setiawangsa – to learn more about the difficulties that his family is facing and the assistance that can be channelled to the family.
This is according to lham’s oldest brother, Mohammad Firdaus Mohd Fazil, 20, who said that the welfare department is looking at ways to ease the burden that his family is facing.
Firdaus was met by TRP yesterday evening, soon after the Social Welfare Department had met him and his younger brother at the LRT Setiwangsa station.
He said that had been helping his mother, Rita Nasri, 45 to prepare the food that Ilham’s been selling every weekday at the LRT Setiawangsa since he was still in primary school.
Firdaus, who stopped schooling before taking his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination four years ago, told TRP that selling nasi lemak and pulut panggang had been his family’s main source of income.
Their parents, added Firdaus, had split a few years back, and he and his two younger siblings, including Ilham, had been living with their mother at a one-bedroom house in Keramat.
“We have four siblings and Ilham is the youngest. One of his brothers is in Kedah now living with our grandmother,” he said.
He said that Ilham had been taking the train to LRT Setiawangsa to sell the food that he and his mother prepared.
He added that the family’s household income is about RM1,500 monthly, including the Baitulmal aid received by her mother, who hailed from Medan, Indonesia.
The Baitulmal aid however may be stopped soon as her mother’s visa is running out.
“We’re raising funds to pay for it (my mother’s visa) now,” said Firdaus.
And like every other child in the world, Firdaus only wanted the best for his mother and hope that he be able to take care of her and the rest of his siblings.
“I just wanted for her to be able to rest at home and let me take care of the rest,” he said.
Meanwhile, Firdaus also thanks public members who had been helping out the family to buy books and school supplies to ensure that his siblings can get the education they needed.
“Despite helping our family selling these foods, Ilham doesn’t miss school.”
Firdaus also said that LRT Setiawangsa is the only location where his brother sells nasi lemak and pulut panggang nowadays, where he started at 4.30pm every weekday.
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