PJ Woman Says She Took Mutual Separation Scheme To Save 3 Of Her Colleagues' Jobs
She knew all along that when the pandemic first reared its head in January last year, her life would be impacted and she might be making a sacrifice for the greater good.
By Sadho Ram — 01 Jan 2021, 03:51 PM
A 41-year-old woman says she sacrificed her job by taking mutual separation scheme in order to save the jobs of three of her colleagues
The woman, Mindy Jassal, is a mother of three teenaged boys in Kelana Jaya.
She was working as a regulatory reporting manager with a bank in Kuala Lumpur.
According to Mindy, she knew all along that when the pandemic first reared its head in January last year, her life would be impacted and she might be making a sacrifice for the greater good.
"I had been instructed by my superiors to prepare a list of at least half the staff in my unit that could be removed under the mutual separation scheme (MSS) that was to be carried out in the middle of the year," Mindy was quoted as saying in a New Straits Times' report by Azdee Amir.
Mindy says when her superiors told her to prepare the MSS list for the staff in her unit, her heart sank and she thought about her family
Naturally, my heart sank and I thought about my family.
"But I was also thinking about my colleagues and subordinates, those who are younger and had just begun a family," the 41-year-old said, adding that she then decided to consult her husband.
She told her husband that she wanted to volunteer for the MSS
According to the mother of three, it was a decision her 45-year-old husband, Paramjit Singh, supported after she told him how it could save two to three of her colleagues' jobs.
"I explained to him that if I took it, then it could save two to three of my colleagues from losing their jobs. I felt that we were financially stable enough if I were to opt for it, and I also wanted to spend more time with our children," the New Straits Times' report quoted Mindy as saying.
"When I was working, I got to see them and spend time with my boys only during the weekends."
Mindy, however, knew that she didn't just want to be a stay-at-home mother to her three children and wanted to do something
So after taking the MSS from her job, the mother of three decided to pursue her dream of sharing food recipes passed down to her by her late grandmother, mother, and aunts.
"I kicked off my cooking plan in October with dried prawn chilli paste, which was my late grandmother's recipe, and muruku as well as achi muruku," she said.
In order to share the recipe, Mindy created a Facebook page and named it MyGranny's Foods.
The move has now become a means to support the family
She says that she had spread the word about what she was doing from my home kitchen through family and friends, as well as through social media channels.
"I can sell 150 to 300 bottles of dried prawn chilli paste every month, which is branded as 'My Granny's Foods', and the picture on the bottle is that of my late grandmother," she added.
Calling 2020 an unprecedented year for everyone, Mindy says she is grateful that she and her family are healthy and able to get by comfortably.
Mindy and her sons preparing bottles of dried prawn chilli paste at their home in Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya.
Image via Aswadi Alias/New Straits Times