This story was first published on SAYS.
His story should give us all hope that with grit and determination, we can make it out of any tunnel of life. He dropped out of school at Form 2 despite doing well in his studies because his mom could not afford to pay his school fees. With two younger sisters and an elderly mother to care for, Muhd Alatas took it upon himself to find a living and put his sisters through school.
A young 15-year old boy then, Muhd Alatas worked all kinds of odd jobs that paid poorly. Finally, with some savings, he packed up and left for Kuala Lumpur hoping to find more opportunities. Things didn’t turn around for him. He bore the brunt of living in poverty in the urban capital.
This dark season saw him surviving on RM3 per day for food. All he could afford was Maggi Mee. Some days he had to break a packet of noodles into half so that he had something to eat for the next meal.
Riddled with difficulty, Muhd Alatas recalls even living under a flyover near Simpang Tiga, Batu Caves. The sheer determination to make a living for himself drove him to try various jobs and learn a spectrum of new skills on Youtube and Google.
Where is Muhd Alatas today? Hear him speak.
Read the full story on SAYS.
