A street vendor got his start by walking around with a basket and singing the Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) football team’s theme song. Now, he only sells curry puffs and is a big name in the food and drink business.
Jasmin Pannoot, who is 49 years old, went about 10 kilometers every day for the past seven years to sell his curry puffs, which are also called “epok-epok” in Johor. He did this around Dataran Pontian and Laman Diraja Pontian, especially at night markets.
Kosmo says that Jasmin started the Karipap Ale-Ale business with only RM40 after several other businesses he tried failed.
“In the beginning, it was difficult to get rid of the shame of being a street vendor, but for the sake of my wife and 7 children, all that shame was thrown away for the sake of survival,” he said.
Jasmin had been through a lot, like not being able to move his hands for hours after holding the basket with his curry puffs in it.
So, he bought a cart so he could keep selling his “epok-epok.”
“To meet the demand, I had then opened a shop under the guidance of the Rubber Smallholder Authority, which was able to produce about 2,000 to 5,000 epok-epok a day,” he added.
His hard work paid off, and now he can sell between RM60,000 and RM80,000 a month, and sometimes as much as RM100,000 during school holidays.
He has also been able to find jobs for about 15 people, some of whom are young adults.
This proves that hard work and commitment do pay off.