In current and harsh times, one source of income isn’t enough to sustain a family in the face of adversity. A sole breadwinner, just like this man, will have to put in long hours of work and effort to support his family after his father suffered a stroke.
Mugilan Arumugam works as a mechanic during the day and turns into a “candy boy” as the sun goes down in Shah Alam’s i-city.
Working as a mechanic from 8am to 6pm and as a “candy boy” from 8pm to midnight would have sounded exhausting. According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), Mugilan though feels recharged by the joy he brings to his customers, in his second gig as a cotton candy maker.
He said;
I love this job. When I’m making cotton candy, I don’t feel tired and all my stress goes away. I love seeing the wonder and delight in my customers’ eyes, especially the children.
Mugilan is known for coming up with innovative designs for his cotton candies. The 24-year-old, who received the nickname “Candy Boy,” only started working in the trade last year, just before the Movement Control Order (MCO) went into effect.
He has perfected 18 cotton candy designs so far, including eight that he designed himself.
Eight of the designs are his own creations, including a panda, Hello Kitty, and six different flower varieties.
After his father, the family’s primary sole bread winner, suffered a stroke, Mugilan started working at Candy Snowy, a cotton candy stand, to earn more income and help support the family.
My father has done so much for us growing up. I did not want him to suffer or worry about us once he could not work, so I went to look for another job so I could help out.
Mugilan, who had always been intrigued by cotton candy, came across a work advertisement for a cotton candy maker at that time.
He now works six days a week and only takes a brief break to shower and eat dinner in between his two jobs.
I am happy just to see the smile on my customers’ faces, but when they compliment me on my designs and enthusiasm, it’s something else. It just means so much to me. It makes me want to do better and come up with new designs.
He is pleased that constraints by the government are being eased once more, allowing him to serve more citizens.
Mugilan is now saving as much money as he can in order to one day open his own workshop and cotton candy store.
“I will name my shop, ‘Arumugam Panju Mittai’ in honour of my father,” he said, explaining that ‘Panju Mittai’ is the Tamil name for cotton candy.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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