ONE DOESN’T need to understand Tamil to understand what is going through the mind of Sangeetha Manimalar – the iron lady behind the “Akka Nasi Lemak Viral” craze – which has made headlines across major social media platforms since mid-April.
Her facial expression and body language not only speak volume of physical exhaustion to churn out 500 pax (weekdays) to 900 pax (weekend) of her specialty coconut milk rice, but the sheer emotional burden that her little body has to endure from cyberbullying and online harassment stemming from the sudden meteoric rise of her food business.
After having toiled for the past 13 years, the mother of two boys whose husband has been disabled by an accident last year has recently braved herself to spill the beans of her life’s hardship once and for after jealous quarters assume that she is living a lavish lifestyle with the portrayal of long queue of customers who patiently wait seven hours to patronise her food.
In a touching TikTok video of 9:32 seconds, the 34-year-old Sangeetha revealed that contrary to what her online detractors think of her, she is still very much her old-self – living in a rented house, cramped with her disabled husband and two young children.
As the sole breadwinner of her family, she works tirelessly to make ends meet day and night to personally supervise every aspect of food preparation to the extent that she has to rely on her rundown red Proton Saga to transport her to and from her stall.
Unfortunately, the car’s windows cannot be rolled down, trapping the smell of the delicious dishes she serves.
“The car reeks with the smell of chicken and prawn. I can’t afford to pay someone to wash my car, so I have to do it myself daily. Because of this task, I don’t even have time to eat,” explained Sangeetha, addressing observation by people that she’s losing weight and looking frail.
Good deed ‘weaponsied’ by cyberbullies
Recently, the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA) under the Prime Minister’s Office (JPM) has come forward to offer Sangeetha “few kitchenware and camps” to better manage her business since it went viral.
This has, however, led to some netizens questioning why such assistance was offered to her instead of those who applied earlier. Some went to the extent of claiming that nasi lemak proprietor was “is earning a lot and not in the B40 status”, hence financial aid is unnecessary.
“The negative comments from these netizens made the Akka depressed,” tweeted Thiban Subbramaniam who is the special functions officer to the Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
“The fact is she is B40 and still struggling although she started to earn decent income since her business went viral. She is still paying her debts from the money she earned. Recently she moved into a rental house since she was forced to move out of a relative’s house that she stayed before.”
Added Thiban: “MITRA looked at her situation and immediately offered her the necessary help. Some are out there commenting and labelling the Akka greedy for taking government assistance from MITRA.
“This explains her outburst in her video. For me, as she was at the edge of success, MITRA gave her timely assistance before she fell. The others who applied (earlier) also deserved to be helped. I spoke to her earlier and she is strong now.”
Indeed, Thiban’s side of the story would lend more credence to Sangeetha own affirmation that she genuinely deserves government support to overcome her difficult life circumstances.
In a heartfelt plea, she appeals to people not to be judgmental and to refrain from assuming her life is smooth-sailing based on viral videos of her seemingly success story. She appeals to their empathy, urging them to consider the struggles she faces behind closed doors. – May 19, 2023
