[Watch] Teen Survives On Instant Noodles, Works After School To Support 83-Year-Old Grandma

Their story moved Human Resources Minister Steven Sim that beyond providing immediate financial assistance, he made a more profound commitment—adopting Wan En as his godson.

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In a small kitchen cluttered with instant noodles, 15-year-old Wan En carefully counts the day’s earnings—just RM20 from his after-school job at a char kway teow stall.

It’s not much, but every ringgit matters when you’re the sole provider for your elderly grandmother.

Six years ago, when his mother’s coffin was carried away, his grandmother explained that his mom was going somewhere far away to sleep for a very long time.

Too young to understand death, Wan En, who was nine at that time, simply nodded.

This past Chinese New Year, tragedy struck again when his father succumbed to heart disease, leaving the teenager completely orphaned.

His 83-year-old grandmother revealed to Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim during a recent visit that while Wan En doesn’t cry in front of her, she hears him sobbing quietly in his room every night.

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Finding Grace in Hardship

Despite her frailty—she can barely walk unassisted—the grandmother does what she can, giving Wan En RM5 daily for school meals.

The conscientious teen spends only half, bringing the remainder home to help buy food.

Their story touched the Human Resources Minister so profoundly that he’s taken extraordinary steps to help.

Beyond providing immediate financial assistance of RM10,000, Sim has made a more personal commitment—adopting Wan En as his godson.

Sim, Penang DAP chairman and touted as the next Penang Chief Minister, explained that Wan En needs a father figure at this age, visibly moved by the boy’s resilience.

When Sim learned that Wan En loves basketball and plays on the school team—and that his father’s unfulfilled final wish was to buy his son a basketball—the minister quietly purchased one, completing a promise on behalf of his late father.

As his grandmother held Sim’s hands with tears streaming down her weathered face, she made one desperate plea – about her grandson’s future should she no longer be around.

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