Rotiman : Dying business in the face of modernity?, buying bread from motorcycle 
Apr 14 2011, 09:42 AM, updated 15y ago
QUOTE
The Rotiman network
The Federal Territory Bread Vendors’ Association has only 100 members now, compared with 400 in its heyday.
The bread vendors who are still servicing the hundreds of housing estates in the Klang Valley are mostly retirees, but they do not mind working from 4am to 11pm every day with only a few hours rest in between.
Amanula Sikander, 62, said he was used to the long hours and if he did not work, he would feel bored.
Closely-knit community: Abu Bakar (right) having a light moment with Mohd Arief.
“I will deliver the bread as long as I can work. My regular customers still like to see me,” said Amanula, who has been selling bread around Kepong for the past 30 years.
Badre Alam, 72, raised his eight children with the meagre income he earned as a bread delivery man plying Jalan Ipoh.
“It’s been 50 years and I feel healthy working,” said the bearded grandfather with a stick of beedi between his lips.
He said the job was the only choice because he was illiterate.
Badre, who came from India, was grinning from ear to ear when he talked about his many grandchildren, but brushed off the idea of retirement.
The rotiman community is continuing to shrink as the city’s high cost of living has turned many away.
The two old rotiman are among 20 bread vendors who visit an old bungalow in Jalan Ipoh twice daily to replenish stock.
They have to share the bungalow’s rental that has increased to RM4,000. They also have to worry about fuel and repair, which will cost about RM300 per month.
Another vendor, Asokumaran Muniandy, 50, said they could make RM2,500 a month three years ago but now it is only RM1,500.
“People buy bread at hypermarkets now or near where they have dinner. Worse still, the commission is very little now,” Asokumaran said.
Without newcomers, even the association’s president Abu Bakar Abdul Samad felt that the rotiman business might soon die a natural death.
“It’s a tough job as they are exposed to the sun and rain every day earning only a pittance,” said Abu Bakar, who is now a bread factory’s distributor as 43 years of riding the bike under harsh weather had caused serious arthritis problems.
“I think the rotiman will just fade away when these seniors are gone,” he said.
The Federal Territory Bread Vendors’ Association has only 100 members now, compared with 400 in its heyday.
The bread vendors who are still servicing the hundreds of housing estates in the Klang Valley are mostly retirees, but they do not mind working from 4am to 11pm every day with only a few hours rest in between.
Amanula Sikander, 62, said he was used to the long hours and if he did not work, he would feel bored.
Closely-knit community: Abu Bakar (right) having a light moment with Mohd Arief.
“I will deliver the bread as long as I can work. My regular customers still like to see me,” said Amanula, who has been selling bread around Kepong for the past 30 years.
Badre Alam, 72, raised his eight children with the meagre income he earned as a bread delivery man plying Jalan Ipoh.
“It’s been 50 years and I feel healthy working,” said the bearded grandfather with a stick of beedi between his lips.
He said the job was the only choice because he was illiterate.
Badre, who came from India, was grinning from ear to ear when he talked about his many grandchildren, but brushed off the idea of retirement.
The rotiman community is continuing to shrink as the city’s high cost of living has turned many away.
The two old rotiman are among 20 bread vendors who visit an old bungalow in Jalan Ipoh twice daily to replenish stock.
They have to share the bungalow’s rental that has increased to RM4,000. They also have to worry about fuel and repair, which will cost about RM300 per month.
Another vendor, Asokumaran Muniandy, 50, said they could make RM2,500 a month three years ago but now it is only RM1,500.
“People buy bread at hypermarkets now or near where they have dinner. Worse still, the commission is very little now,” Asokumaran said.
Without newcomers, even the association’s president Abu Bakar Abdul Samad felt that the rotiman business might soon die a natural death.
“It’s a tough job as they are exposed to the sun and rain every day earning only a pittance,” said Abu Bakar, who is now a bread factory’s distributor as 43 years of riding the bike under harsh weather had caused serious arthritis problems.
“I think the rotiman will just fade away when these seniors are gone,” he said.
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