By Dr Rahim Said
After the story of Kamaruddin and his wife turning RM100 worth of flour and sugar into RM600 worth of bread, my inbox hasn’t stopped buzzing.
Even Finance Minister II joined the applause: “A light read that made me smile, of an enterprising couple who capitalised their RM100 from the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA). An economic lesson from a kitchen in Alor Setar. Sometimes, it is the receiver who decides whether he got a fish, or a fishing rod.” https://lnkd.in/g987RqJM
Readers were not only inspired but also quick to pitch me new “business plans.” One said, “If bread can multiply six times, imagine what minyak gamat can do.”
That caught my attention. Gamat — the humble sea cucumber — has long been Malaysia’s natural miracle.
Dried gamat sells for about RM10 a piece. With RM100, you could buy ten. With know-how, a pot, and patience, those ten pieces could be transformed into bottles of minyak gamat worth much more.
Of course, as one cheeky reader noted, “Bro, use your own RM10 to buy gamat kering from Thailand. Use the RM100 from MyKasih to buy minyak masak kelapa sawit from the participating outlet!”
Here’s the math: a single dried gamat can yield several bottles once boiled and infused. Sell each 10ml bottle at RM20–RM30, and suddenly RM100 has the potential to multiply into RM2,000–RM3,000 per kg. That’s not pocket change — that’s the seed of a small enterprise.
But let’s be clear: like bread, it’s not magic. It’s sweat, skill, and persistence. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out,” said Robert Collier — and whether baking or bottling, someone must do the hard work.
The idea alone brought smiles. The same adviser reminded me of a Langkawi brand that began small with gamat. Today, its founder is a multimillionaire. Proof that, as the saying goes, “Great oaks from little acorns grow.”
So, what’s the lesson here? RM100 is never just RM100. In the right hands, it becomes more than aid — it becomes opportunity.
Today bread, tomorrow minyak gamat, next week maybe Musang King ice cream. Stranger things have happened in Malaysia. And perhaps, the Madani government really has handed the poor not a fish — but a fishing rod.