Family of 16 cram into one-room flat, sleep in shifts

Father of 15, Abdol Wahab Musa, says his children drop out of school because their living arrangement makes it impossible for anyone to study. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, December 25, 2015.Crammed into a one-room flat at a people’s housing project in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, Abdol Wahab Musa’s family of 16 offer a glimpse of how the urban poor in the capital city make ends meet.

The 53-year-old father of 15 has been living at Projek Perumahan Rakyat in Sentul for the past four years, making a living from selling drinks, snacks and fruits – illegally – near Dataran Merdeka.

Space is so scarce that the family sleeps in shifts, taking turns to get some rest when other family members are out working.

Wahab’s extended family total 36, including sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren. For a short period after he secured the flat four years ago, all used the tiny apartment as a base.

Most of them moved out three years ago, and the hawker now has 15 people living with him, including his wife Ruslelawati Mohd Ali, 43.

As capital, Wahab used the RM700 he receives monthly in aid from Baitulmal, the state Islamic treasury.

Each night, they push three to five trolleys full of goods to the Sentul LRT station where they board a train to Masjid Jamek, and set up shop at Dataran Merdeka nearby.

“My children will start work selling every night from 10 until six in the morning. After that, some of us – my sons will sleep for a while before going back to work in the daytime,” he told The Malaysian Insider during a recent visit to his home.

The Malaysian Insider found Wahab with the help of non-governmental organisation Urusetia Menangani Gejala Sosial (Unggas) Kuala Lumpur, which is helping the family with some of their needs.

The family head said he could not work and has to rely on his children to run the business as he needed to look after Ruslelawati, who has a mental condition and was unable to use one hand because of an injury.

He said she sustained the injury after running into trouble with the authorities who tried to crackdown on their illegal hawking business two years ago.

Her mental state is also because of that brush with the law, after officers allegedly manhandled her.

She also has diabetes and high blood pressure.

“A doctor recommended that my wife stay at home and that I need to monitor her always to ensure she will not do anything harmful,” Wahab said, adding that his wife was able to obtain a disabled person’s card.

One of Abdol Wahab Musa’s children selling soda and snacks at Dataran Merdeka in the evening. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, December 25, 2015.Sleeping in shifts

The living room of the one-room flat measures 3.35m X 3.65m and functions as a store room for the goods to be sold.

It is also the bedroom, where a few of Wahab’s children, grandchildren and a daughter-in-law were sleeping during The Malaysian Insider’s visit.

When the cramped conditions get too unbearable, he said a few family members slept at a nearby mosque or at Dataran Merdeka by their mobile stall, or on a sidewalk.

“They say they are not comfortable sleeping in cramped conditions like this. But they will come home to continue sleeping after others have woken up.”

As for a bathroom, the family used a nearby petrol station’s facilities for a while when theirs was damaged.

Their toilet was fixed recently with the help of volunteers from Unggas.

Wahab said most of his children dropped out of school about 13. Living conditions at home made it difficult to study, while school expenses were too high for the family to bear.

“My 12-year-old daughter got 3A, 2B in the UPSR trial, but the actual result is not out yet.

“She also doesn’t want to go back to school because it is difficult to study at home.”

Eldest daughter Nor Hanisah, 30, however, has gone as far as completing a first degree at International Islamic University (UIA).

“But she doesn’t live with us. She doesn’t visit us. She just contacts us sometimes,” Wahab said with a hint of sadness as he spoke about his eldest child.

Few alternatives

Wahab hopes for a better future for his children and knows he cannot expect them to continue helping him with the hawking business.

“My children who are married have started their own lives, while those who still help me daily will eventually find permanent jobs and leave this business.

“For instance, my son who is a parking lot keeper and working at Speed Mart 99 rarely helps. He has to focus on his work.”

“This business, pushing trolleys with drinks and snacks, will end. Perhaps only my wife and I will continue working.”

He earns RM300 to RM400 in sales a day. After giving some money to his children and extended family, and covering other costs, he is left with RM50 to RM60.

Ruslelawati, in her better moments, sometimes cooks and sells nasi campur to help the family income.

Despite the higher cost of living in the capital city and a debt of RM3,000 in nearly two years of unpaid rental for the public housing flat, Wahab, who hails from Malacca, says he is better off staying in Kuala Lumpur.

He has no property or land back in his hometown, and earnings in the kampung would be more or less the same, he said.

He first came to the capital at the age of 16, where he met Ruslelawati, who was born in Perak but raised in Kuala Lumpur.

Unggas secretariat officer Zurianty Sudin said the NGO was not providing monetary aid to the family but focusing on education for the children and by fixing repairs in the flat as needed.

It is also looking at finding a larger place for the family to stay in.

“Education of the children is the most important because only education can change their lives,” Zurianty said.

Unggas was trying to enrol four of the younger children, aged six, eight, nine and 11, into a hostel for orphans and underprivileged children, and the 15-year-old in a vocational school.

“And we are trying to get the daughter who sat the UPSR this year a placement at Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) if her results are good.

“If they are to continue studying, they will have to be in a hostel in order to have better learning environment.” – December 25, 2015.