Going the Extra Mile

Marissa helps people. She says that in the Philippines, if someone asks for help, you try your best to help. She came to Malaysia from the Philippines in the 90’s to work as a domestic helper to support her family back home. At that time, she had a brother and sister who were going to college. Being the seventh child in a family of 10 children, she knew first-hand what poverty was like. 

This reality hit home for Marissa, when some of her siblings became addicts. Her nephew and niece had abandoned their father because of drug addiction. “Their family would share only one sausage a day. Their electricity power had been cut off for a year because they couldn’t pay the bill, as the father was not working. I said, ‘no need to give birth if you cannot afford it’. They buy drugs, but not food.” 

Her husband worked as a clerk in a government agency that looked into the resettlement of the rural poor to developed areas, and Marissa worked as a part-time cleaner. They had a daughter, and rented a house together with an Indonesian family. They weren’t earning a lot, but they were able to make ends meet.

When Marissa started out as a part-time cleaner, she would charge around RM35 for eight hours of work.  When her employer saw the hard work she put in, he began to increase her wages – from RM35, to RM40, to RM45 (she now charges about RM25-30 for about four hours of work, depending on how much work is needed to clean the premises). Marissa’s client base grew through word-of-mouth referrals by her employers, and all of them were good to her. She worked for Malaysians and expatriate families, including Koreans, Japanese, and Germans. Because of her good work ethic, and rapport with her clients, Marissa has been supported in many unexpected ways, and she thanks God for this. 

Marissa believes that education can give you a strong foundation for your future, which no one can take away from you. When you don’t study, it is very difficult to find a job. And you won’t have good standing in society, she said. 

In the Philippines, the issue that is robbing children of education is drug addiction. Children as young as seven to ten years, easily become addicted to drugs.

This reality hit home for Marissa, when some of her siblings became addicts. Her nephew and niece had abandoned their father because of drug addiction. “Their family would share only one sausage a day. Their electricity power had been cut off for a year because they couldn’t pay the bill, as the father was not working. I said, ‘no need to give birth if you cannot afford it’. The children’s food, you can provide, but their studies, cannot. They buy drugs, but not food.” 

Living in Malaysia

When Marissa was working in Kuala Lumpur, she followed a friend one day to a beauty pageant in Bukit Bintang, organised by the Filipino community. And there, she caught the attention of a Malaysian man who thought she was Malaysian. He spoke to her, but she ignored him as she couldn’t speak Malay. He was persistent. But she wasn’t interested. She went to Hong Kong to work, and returned to the Philippines. But the man pursued her in both countries. “He tried to find me, but I told him I really don’t want this. I think he went to Hong Kong about three times,” said Marissa, who, at the time, had a boyfriend, a Filipino headmaster. And they were planning to get married. But her marriage plans came to an abrupt end when the boyfriend suddenly called it off a few days before the wedding, without any clear reason.

So, Marissa returned to Hong Kong to work. But the Malaysian man pursued her again. They finally married in Malaysia. Her husband worked as a clerk in a government agency that looked into the resettlement of the rural poor to developed areas, and Marissa worked as a part-time cleaner. They had a daughter, and rented a house together with an Indonesian family. They weren’t earning a lot, but they were able to make ends meet.

When Marissa started out as a part-time cleaner, she would charge around RM35 for eight hours of work.  Thinking her rates were okay, she didn’t want to waste her time not working. But when her employer saw the hard work she put in, he began to increase her wages – from RM35, to RM40, to RM45 (she now charges about RM25-30 for about four hours of work, depending on how much work is needed to clean the premises). Marissa’s client base grew through word-of-mouth referrals by her employers, and all of them were good to her. She worked for Malaysians and expatriate families, including Koreans, Japanese, and Germans. Because of her good work ethic, and rapport with her clients, Marissa has been supported in many unexpected ways, and she thanks God for this. 

Help in a Time of Need

My boss asked, ‘if you cannot work, how do you survive?’ She bought us some wet and dry food online from Taman Tun KL, and gave me some money – about RM200. It’s a lot.

Then, on her own initiative, Marissa decided to assist her community during the pandemic as not much help was coming their way. She searched the Internet to find aid and tried calling around. Some of her neighbours were shy about receiving aid, because it felt as if they were begging. But she told them:

What for you shy to ask? You didn’t steal, and you need to eat. And it is not like you are begging, because they advertised: If you need help, you can call us. If you steal, isn’t that worse?

Several food aiders showed up in her neighbourhood in vans distributing rice and dry food. Some also assisted in rental payments.   

I helped the people – the Indonesians too, who worked at the school which was then closed.

Some of those receiving aid were hesitant and afraid to have their photos taken and their identity documents recorded, but Marissa helped them to understand that this was merely for accountability purposes with the funders. Getting help was also not a smooth task as some aid-providers were selective in the communities they wanted to help.