Sweet sips and even sweeter prices
IPOH: He has been selling lassi for almost two decades. When he first started, a lassi was RM2. Today, his yogurt-based drink is a mere RM2.50.
'As prices of ingredients have gone up over the years, I've had to raise my prices, but only by 10sen at a time,' said yoghurt seller M. Murali, 56.
'I don't want to increase it too much, as I want to try to ease people's burden. I think the prices of my drinks are among the lowest in town,' he said when met at his roadside stall in Taman Mas, Buntong, here.
Despite rising costs, Murali firmly believes in keeping his drinks affordable for everyone.
He said a takeaway packet of his mooru (traditional spiced yogurt-based drink) is priced at RM1.80.
'When I started the business about 19 years ago, my mooru was sold at RM1,' he said.
Murali used to work in Singapore as a technician between 1991 and 1995. He returned to Ipoh to work in a factory before finding himself out of a job in 2000.
At one point, he sold santan at the main wet market in Ipoh.
'One hot sunny day, I noticed that many people would drink mooru. So I thought why not start something small to help people cool down in the heat?
'I only had a capital of RM30 but that was enough to prepare a single pot,' he said.
His mooru often sold out within 30 minutes, and this motivated him to continue.
Six months later, he began selling lassi, experimenting with various fruit flavours and letting his children try them before offering them to customers.
These days, Murali earns between RM3,000 and RM4,000 a month.
On weekdays, he can get about 100 customers, and up to 300 on weekends.
However, sales can be unpredictable, and he cannot operate on rainy days. His wife M. Gowri, 53, helps out at times.
The couple have three children – M. Thishan, 24, who is pursuing a degree in software engineering, M. Shantini, 21, a nursing diploma student and M. Dhinasah, 19, a foundation programme student.
'My wife works as a company administrator. She helps whenever she can while all three of my children would pitch in during their semester break,' said Murali.
He also has a buddy, R. Maniam, 63, who helps him at the stall which opens daily from noon to 5pm except for rainy days.
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