KOTA KINABALU: Countless people have been affected by the movement control order (MCO) since it was first implemented last March, many even losing high-flying jobs.
One of them is Helen Leong Siau Phing, a 20-year-old Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight attendant who was laid off after the MCO dealt a blow to the aviation industry.
What Leong does for a living now is a far cry compared to the days she was soaring the skies in the iconic MAS kebaya outfit, but she has not lost any sleep over it.
She is selling hinompuka, a traditional Kadazan delicacy of glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves, as well as health products online for income after she lost her job in August.
“I know some people might consider that as something like ‘falling from grace’ but I have no problem with it, I am not ashamed,” she told FMT.
“It’s certainly not as glamorous as what I used to do but there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’ve actually been selling hinompuka since my school days, helping my mother make them and distributing them to shops. And I’m used to a hard life and being independent.”
Leong said some people have actually looked down on her, “but I don’t really care because I don’t need to compare myself with others”.
“Everybody is a survivor and everyone will have their own paths and fate. Besides, what’s wrong with selling hinompuka anyway?” she said.
However, the former beauty queen admitted she was devastated when she lost her job, which she took up after completing secondary school.
Leong became a flight attendant in 2018 after Malaysia Airlines picked her and a handful of other finalists from the state-level Unduk Ngadau beauty pageant – the highlight of Sabah’s Harvest Festival – for an interview.
It was an eventful year for the Sino Kadazan from Penampang: She won the district-level Unduk Ngadau pageant to advance to the state finals, and was later hired by the national carrier.
“I am grateful for the opportunity and I enjoyed my time then but, sadly, the industry struggled after the MCO was imposed and we had no flights starting last April.
“The situation worsened and I was eventually let go on Aug 14, which was my birthday, so you can imagine how I felt.
“We were actually told a month earlier of the decision and I thought I was prepared for it. But when the day came, it really hit me and I became a bit emotional.”
But that is all in the past and the youngest of five siblings is only looking towards the future now.
Leong recently got engaged and is helping her fiance’s family look after a homestay in Ranau.
She intends to continue selling hinompuka once she returns to Penampang after the inter-district travel ban, imposed following the spike in Covid-19 cases, is lifted.
“I’m not sure what to do now but I’m taking things in my stride and as they come along. But I think I want to continue being involved in business because I am passionate about it,” she said. - FMT
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