She started working for her father at 22 and has stayed with him for several years. Her salary has remained at just RM3,000 the entire time.
There is no EPF, no SOCSO, no bonus and no salary increase. Yet the workload covers almost everything, and somehow, getting scolded comes as part of the job too.
According to XUAN解忧树洞, her father is a very successful businessman and the family is financially comfortable. Ironically, he is extremely stingy when it comes to his own family.
He can be generous to outsiders, but when it comes to his wife and children, money suddenly becomes a sensitive topic. Whenever anyone mentions spending, he immediately complains that he has no money. At the same time, he keeps buying shop lots one after another.
He is constantly worried that his children or wife will spend too much of his money. Sometimes, the way he reacts makes it seem as though his own family is waiting for a chance to take all his money and disappear.
Once, the whole family travelled to the UK for her younger brother’s graduation. They were staying in a small town, but her father kept converting every price from pounds back into ringgit.
That was already tiring enough, but he also kept saying things like, “We could have just stayed home.”
Even meals became a financial calculation.
He would often calculate how much everyone had spent. At one point, he even took the family to Haidilao and expected each child to pay 20 percent of the bill.
When nobody agreed, he became visibly unhappy. Only after she offered to pay did his mood suddenly change. He started laughing and telling everyone to order whatever they wanted.
Now that tax payments are due, his stress has become even worse. Whenever he is in a bad mood, someone in the family becomes the target of his complaints.
Recently, he even talked about firing her to reduce expenses.
She could not help wondering how much difference RM3,000 would really make when she handles so many things for him.
Without her, there are plenty of tasks he would struggle to manage. Yet he would never consider paying someone else properly to do them.
She once finally told him that successful people should have a broader mindset and that being overly stingy could eventually push everyone away.
Of course, she was scolded again.
What hurts most is watching people who once left his business go on to become successful and wealthy.
She has been working for her father for years, yet somehow, the daughter who stayed behind has become the poorest one in the family.
Sometimes, all that is left is a bitter laugh.
Jovy Jing (ndreagoh@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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