Muna aims to champion the plight of single mothers, by empowering them and providing them with a platform where they can learn, grow and earn an income.
To break the cycle of poverty, we first need to empower those who are economically disadvantaged by providing them training so they can earn a more sustainable income, believes entrepreneur Muna Munirah.
It is with this in mind that the 39-year-old CEO of a digital network platform set out to champion the plight of B40 single mothers.
She hopes to empower them by providing them a platform from where they can “learn, grow and earn” to make a better life for their family.
“During the pandemic, we saw many negative things happening: The number of divorces and domestic violence cases increased, and many people – including single mothers – lost their jobs. Even after the restrictions were lifted, many hadn’t recovered,” she says.
“Post-Covid, in 2023, we launched a programme for women and we found that it attracted a lot of single mothers – around 800 out of the 1,000 participants – in their 20s to 30s, and their children were very young.
“One of the issues these single mothers had was not being able to take up formal or full-time jobs.
“Their primary concern was who was going to take care of their children at home?
“Having limited funds, they couldn’t afford to send them to a child care centre or nursery,” says Muna who co-founded Qwork with her sister Dr Mimi Aminah Munirah, in 2017.
“We discovered most of them only earned a meager income doing domestic chores such as cleaning, babysitting, etc in their neighbourhood, besides the help given by the government and various NGOs.
“So we started a pilot programme called Marketing Squad in 2023 to help them become micro influencers through social media platforms such as TikTok and Meta,” she says.
“This was because we saw that they are also Gen Ys or millennials – same as my sister and I. We’re all born between the early 1980s and mid 1990s, technology is a part of our daily life, and much of our activities are online,” she adds.
According to Muna, many of the women in the Marketing Squad programme were Internet savvy, had social media accounts, and some of them were already selling stuff online. Photo: Qwork
The women, according to Muna, were Internet savvy, had social media accounts, and some of them were already selling stuff online.
“We wanted to help them further leverage their reach and empower them financially.
“So we conducted training to guide them on the types of content to produce for Facebook and Instagram, and how to create videos for TikTok,” she says.
What’s next
This year, the duo plan to proceed with the second stage of the programme to help these single mothers upskill themselves further.
“For most B40s, the perception is that the only way to break the poverty cycle is to take up a loan to study and upskill themselves, and to ensure their children have a good education.
Qwork started a pilot programme called Marketing Squad in 2023 to help participants become micro influencers through social media platforms such as TikTok and Meta (Facebook and Instagram).
“But that is a long-term plan,” says Muna. “For the here and now, we are offering them free upskilling for gigs that are already there in the market.
“This is a simple and direct solution for them to earn an income because they also need to survive meanwhile,” she says.
“We ask them what their aspirations are and where they see themselves in the future, then we provide training and recommendations accordingly,” she adds.
Qwork also became a Gig Partner in SOCSO’s Orang Bekerja Sendiri (OBS) Programme.
“The essence of informal work is you don’t have the formal benefits of working for an employer such as medical and hospitalisation benefits, days off, etc.
“With our partners, we’ve gotten some funding to empower such gig workers by providing them with social protection. So, in case anything happens, they’re protected.
“We wanted to create an environment where Malaysians can thrive even if they’re in the informal work or gig economy,” she explains.
Empathy for others
Muna says that she wants to contribute to society, be it in a big or small way.Muna who is from Kuala Lumpur, comes from an upper middle class family of five siblings (she is the third/middle child) born to a former lecturer father who now runs his own production house and an accountant mother who now does volunteer work with an NGO.
She has a special needs brother with Down Syndrome, and says that her background has given her more empathy for people.
Despite living in an urban area, Muna is no stranger to seeing poverty around her.
“Although we lived in a regular house in a residential area, just five minutes away was this squatter area which I had to pass by daily. I saw urban poverty firsthand, as a child,” she recalls.
“And, even though the squatters were subsequently relocated to PPR flats (low-cost housing for the poor), I remember asking my mum, ‘where did they go?’ because as a child, no matter what it looked like, that area was their home, and it had been demolished,” she adds.
Muna realised from a young age that while there are efforts to provide the poor with proper homes, it doesn’t and can’t end there.
“There is so much more to be done,” she says.
“Our research reveals that these PPR flats were being inherited over the generations. But, when the government first started the programme, it was meant to be a stepping stone to something better.
“The B40s were not meant to stay there forever. Rather, they were meant to end the cycle of poverty and move on.”
“There are many people – such as the government, NGOs, and others, including us – trying to help the B40s, and hopefully, collectively, the help given will enable them come out of poverty and improve their lives,” she concludes.
