JELEBU: The deaths of his beloved grandmother and three close friends in 2018 and 2019 left him in a state of desolation.
To overcome his loneliness, he turned to syabu (or methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant drug).
The 26-year-old, who only wants to be identified as Abang Chik, is among the 290 clients (inmates) at the Narcotics Addiction Rehabilitation Centre (Puspen) in Jelebu, Negri Sembilan, one of the drug rehab centres run by the National Anti-Drugs Agency under the Home Ministry.
When reporters met Abang Chik at Puspen Jelebu, which was among the destinations covered during a recent media tour programme organised by the Information Department (Selangor and Negri Sembilan), he was busy kneading dough for the pineapple tarts he was about to bake.
“After my grandma and friends passed away, I worked at a phone shop but it closed down. Soon after that, my mother’s restaurant business also wound up due to various problems. I felt so frustrated and lonely and had no one to turn to for support,” he said.
In 2021, a friend introduced Abang Chik to “ice” or syabu. Soon, he became addicted to the potent drug.
Nine months ago, he landed at Puspen Jelebu where he is undergoing treatment and rehabilitation for drug addiction.
“I feel much better now. I also realised that there are people out there who are ever ready to support and encourage people like me to change (for the better).
“Even my family has become more supportive,” he said, adding that he was eager to open his own pineapple tart business once he is released from the rehab centre.
Puspen Jelebu’s specialties are its pineapple tarts and pineapple plantation, with its clients taught the skills to cultivate the fruit as well as to prepare the tarts.
The centre embarked on its pineapple cultivation project in October 2013. Initially, the fruits were either sold or processed into juice. It branched into making pineapple tarts in 2018.
Another client at the centre, Muhammad Faiz (not his real name), 26, sees good potential in the pineapple tart business and is eager to prove to his family and others that he can succeed with the knowledge he gained at the drug rehab centre.
“There’s nothing to stop people like me with a dark past from doing well in life,” he said. — Bernama
