Pak Ali used to be an ordinary lorry driver in Sungai Nibong, Penang and his wife Mak Fatimah is a housewife. I made around RM900 each month, with the occasional bonus of RM100-RM200 for overtime. Even before we were married, my wife and I had spoke of oneday being able to be our own bosses. With our kids coming at that time, it only made financial sense for us to try to dig ourselves out of this hole, we couldn't have gone on like this. So we saved for a few years, then talked to my wife and in-laws about it, and ultimately decided to start selling nasi lemak out of our car. Of course, we didn't start off great in fact, no one does. It was difficult to adjust to going to bed at 7-8pm and rising up around 3am to make the bungkus-bungkus nasi lemak at first. Pak Cik Ali admits that there were times when things became worse when the government intervened in their business. We've attempted several times to get a vendor licence, but we've always been turned down. We were primarily selling out of the trunk of our car. There was usually controversy whenever the authorities came by to check on the authenticity of our operation. They'd show up, examine our place of business and if we couldn't provide our licence, they'd seize one of our items, such as a stove or a table. This was a common occurrence back then. We had to buy new goods whenever they were confiscated since the impound charge was frequently more expensive than buying a new lost item. To say the least, it was a trying period. Pak Ali and his wife cycle of being impounded and summon continued month after month. After 4 years, the pair moved to a van and subsequently to a "pasar malam truck". Despite this, they were unable to obtain a vending license. But even though we kept getting kacau, we continued to operate macam biasa the next day. We had to lah, no choice. So after approximately 8 years, we were able to afford a food truck, this red one that we are all familiar with today. We were finally able to get a license because we were now serving from a food truck rather than our car! And after we did, there were no more issues with the authorities, resulting in a big cost reduction. "It's been a piece of cake since then". Unfortunately, MCO hit and had to close for 2 whole months. We were fortunate enough to be able to pick up where we left off when we eventually reopened. Covid took away a lot of things, but he didn't take away my passion for Nasi Lemak ! To be honest, I think business was better for us during Covid than it was before. Because everyone now spends more time at home, tapau culture has grown in popularity. Customers used to buy nasi lemak in modest amounts maybe one or two packets before the MCO. However, since Covid we've had consumers purchase multiple packets of nasi lemak to present to friends & family. That was really beneficial to business. Despite the global pandemic, I believe it has allowed individuals to be more mindful towards their loved ones, resulting in more thoughtful and caring actions, even if it's as basic as purchasing them nasi lemak. That seems extremely wholesome to me, and it's one of the many pleasures of this job. At the end of the day, you can't expect your business to prosper without a few hiccups. Right now, we envision this red truck as more than just a location to grab your evening dinner for everyone in the neighborhood. Every evening at 4.30pm /5pm, the same faces gather here and queue, it's almost like our own community here, where strangers were years before. That has been our goal from the very beginning, to have the common love of Nasi Lemak amongst Malaysians bring more meaning than just food.
