IT was a proud day for six women when they were called upon to receive the Wanita Jana Rezeki 3.0 (WJR 3.0) grant from the state government at Komtar today.
Each received a grant of RM1,000 from programme adviser Lim Siew Khim, who is also the assemblyman for Sungai Pinang.
Lim said the main purpose of the programme was to give opportunities to women from the B40 group to generate income with their skills.
“This programme will also help this group of women to build a sustainable and unique business with quality products as well as expand their existing business.
“The WRJ 3.0 programme targets small entrepreneurs from the B40 group who run a home business.
“The state government is aware of their potential and is ready to help provide opportunities and a platform for them to dabble in business.
“By and by, with the hard work of the women, I believe you all will succeed one day in expanding your business,” Lim said in her speech before presenting the grants at the ceremony.
The six recipients were Sakinah Md Hashim (kuih karas), Siti Fairuz Noor Hazlan (acar ikan talang, sambal bawang bilis garing & chocolate biscuit), Sathyavani Marimuthoo (confinement curry powder), Nuraini Mohamed Radzi (kuah rojak), Norhasmira Ismail (pes oden kimchi, pes tomyam kung & shrimp chilli oil) and Amira Syaryati Mohamed Ghazali (bites bliss wantan – tomyam/salted egg/seaweed/BBQ).
The state’s initiative was successfully organised by the Penang Women’s Development Corporation (PWDC) for the third straight year.
Last year, the state government also helped the WRJ participants foot the booth fees amounting to nearly RM20,000 at the Penang Halal International Expo & Conference (PIHEC) 2022. It was learnt that they did exceedingly well in their sales.
According to Lim, in 2020 the state government, in collaboration with PWDC, launched the ‘Kuih Raya Project for frontliners’.
It was managed successfully by the Women’s Development Committee and Family (JPWK), which helped many women who were then affected by the movement control order at that time. Because of this success, it led to the introduction of the Wanita Jana Rezeki programme.
Lim also thanked the Penang Chef Association for being their strategic partner and also for helping in the food tasting during the programme.
PWDC chief executive officer Ong Bee Leng said it was not easy for the participants to change or accept new ideas after years of being entrenched in their ways.
“But we have some success stories because they never give up. So, we are happy to see their efforts bear fruit,” Ong said.
A former WRJ participant, Norma Md Hashim, also gave an inspiring testimony of how she overcame her shyness to achieve some good sales in her ‘kueh siput’ business before introducing two other products, namely ‘tempeyek’ and ‘kacang shandong’.
Story and pix by K.H. Ong
