Jenny no longer believes in letting fate
decide her life for her stating, “If I had given up then, I would have died a
long time ago when the doctors had given up hope on me and advised my mother to
get a coffin.” Jenny Pong is a middle-aged women of 49 years, who has grown up
in poverty, lost people dear to her, undergone trying times and has had both
legs amputated. She is an incredible woman, a perfect example of perseverance
through hardship and strength through suffering.
At a young age of 12 years old, Jenny had
to drop out of school in order to help her family due to their poverty and
financial issues. By the mere age of 15, she was already working in a factory,
packing tyre tubes, to help ease the financial burden of her family. She would
also wake up very early every morning to collect ‘pucuk pakis’ (fern shoots)
which her mother would then sell in the market. Growing up in a simple house
with a simple lifestyle has humbled Jenny even more so now, after her amputation.
She is now more empathetic towards others and delights in the opportunities to
help other people through hardships and sadness. With many problems and
illnesses in her own body, such as leukemia, kidney problems, diabetes and
chronic spinal pain (not to mention she suffered from a heart attack), she is
able to feel towards those going through the same pain as her. She is an
inspiration to many others who suffer from new spinal injuries and she helps
relieve their pain and sadness through talking it through with them.
Just because Jenny is disabled you would
have thought that it meant she was out of doing house chores. Wrong! Jenny
continued to do house chores almost immediately after her ordeal such as dusting the
furniture, preparing breakfast in the mornings, and even playing babysitter to
her nieces and nephews. These chores are challenging to begin with, but
Jenny had to do it on her stomach, with no legs and using a trolley as her only
form of movement from place to place. But thanks to her mother’s insistence and prompts in
making her do all the chores, she became stronger. “If it
had not been for my mother’s strength and pushing, I would not be able to face
the future with the determination I have now. Self-pity and depression were never
far away.” Jenny is also grateful to her mother, as she now does not like
people to feel sorry for her, so she can show people through her actions that
she is not someone who needs sympathy.
Jenny has dreams like any other person, and
hers is to be first and foremost a chef and own her own restaurant. Regardless
of being short of two limbs, Jenny has a passion for cooking and is actually
very good at it, according to sources. She has stoves placed on the ground and
on small shelves for easy use and access. She is very independent in cooking.
In the video below, Jenny taught her niece how to prepare Udang Lemak.
She has never shown any complaints to the inconveniences she has to face when cooking but
rather revels in being able to cook regardless of circumstance and situation. Jenny’s
second dream, one that is very dear to her, is to be a motivational speaker,
reach out and speak to people/victims who have either suffered from the
same illnesses, diabetes, spinal injuries, as her or are going through a tough
time due to said illnesses. Her wish is to combine both dreams and create a
restaurant attached to a motivational centre.
Everyone will go through some sort of test of hardship in their lives,
no one is exempted. It is the way you handle and overcome the situation that
will determine the type of person who you will become. Take the hardship as a
difficulty and give up, and you will end up as someone who wallows in self-pity
and depression. Take the hardship as an experience and a lesson learned, and
you will end up as someone who grows in their wisdom, strength and happiness.
Life will give you a tough hand, the choice lies within you on how you will deal with it. When you fall down, will you simply lie on the ground
forever, or will you take the initiative and pick yourself up and carry forward
to pastures anew?
Written by
Nadiah Mohd Nasir
11 April 2015
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