Najib Praised 'Wan Azizah' In His Budget 2018 Speech. Who Is She?
The prime minster was referring to an entrepreneur sitting in the observer's gallery during the tabling of Budget 2018.
By Tang Ruxyn — 30 Oct 2017, 01:43 PM
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak made a special mention of a 'Kak Wan' when tabling Budget 2018 at the Dewan Rakyat last Friday, 27 October
During the 2018 budget presentation, Najib praised 'Kak Wan' for her achievements and tenacity in overcoming life's challenges.
"We are sympathetic and are amazed at the resilience of a person named Wan Azizah... better known as Kak Wan... who had gone through so many challenges in her life. But she had patience and she persevered," he said.
Najib's comments stirred a commotion in the Dewan Rakyat, as he appeared to be teasing opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is popularly known as Kak Wan.
Najib was actually making a reference to a poultry entrepreneur by the name of Wan Azizah
Continuing his speech, Najib said, "It seems that Kak Wan is with us today. Therefore, let's give an applause to Kak Wan Azizah Wan Salleh, who is up there."
The prime minister was actually citing Kak Wan, who was sitting in the observer’s gallery, as one of the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) programme success stories who had benefitted from the government initiative.
Najib revealed that Kak Wan is a self-made millionaire who turned an initial RM500 loan from AIM in 1993 into a booming poultry business today.
The name 'Wan Azizah Wan Salleh' became an instant hit following the incident as the public started talking about her success story
Bernama reported that the 45-year-old businesswoman and her husband, Mat Yazid Jusoh, used to struggle to earn enough money to support their family when they were working as farmers.
Those days, the couple lived in a house with their three children and paid a monthly rent of RM70.
"We thought of various ways to increase our income before deciding to go into the poultry business, raising chicken at the back of our house. My husband and I would go village to village to sell the chickens," Wan Azizah, affectionately known as Kak Zah, was quoted as saying.
Things took a turn for the better after a friend introduced Kak Zah and her husband to AIM
Initially, the couple struggled to even sell five chickens a day but they persevered. At one point in time, Kak Zah and her husband would travel from one village to another on an old motorcycle just to sell those chickens. Some days, they weren't even able to make together enough cash to buy food for the day.
However, through the ups and downs they stayed together until there was more demand but there was a problem - they had very little money left for the business capital.
"Thank God, it was then that I was introduced to Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) by a friend," she reportedly said.
It was learned that Kak Zah and her husband took on a loan from AIM so that her husband could set up small stall by the side of the road near their home. Since then, their business have continued to expand as they took on several loans from AIM as much as RM50,000 in order to cope with the market demands.
Today, Kak Zah and her husband sell almost 900 chickens a day and they have regular customers throughout Kelantan
"Thank God, with more than 20 years in the business now, I have nine employees with an average sales of 900 chicks a day. I have also built a comfortable home to live with my six children," said Kak Zah, who owns, 'Ziza Ayam Proses' which is located at Banir Belikong in Selising, Kelantan.
It was also reported that Kak Zah has diversified her business by selling wet items and other daily necessities by constructing a grocery store next to her chicken processing shop.