‘Iron lass' takes pride in tough-as-bricks job

The Star

16-05-2025

Compiled by TAN SIN CHOW AND R. ARAVINTHAN
IT is not common to see females taking up hard labour jobs but Farhana Husna Jailani has defied all stereotypes by working at a brick manufacturing factory, Harian Metro reported.
What started as 'for fun' and 'to gain experience' has become a full-time commitment and source of pride for the 23-year-old.
For two years, she shared her routine at the factory in Kota Marudu, Sabah, on social media.
'This job not only requires physical strength, but also mental.
'This is because all the processes of making this building material are done manually,' she said.
The Miri, Sarawak, native handles stone blocks weighing 3kg each while the gravel is 7kg.
'Every day, I complete about 300 bricks and blocks with the help of a friend. This is my daily work routine from 8am to 5pm,' she said.
Farhana, who holds a diploma in accounting, said she did not care about the type of job as long as it provided her with an income to survive.
She said the hard labour was nothing new to her as she used to walk with her mother to sell kueh.
'I come from a poor family and often help my mother with her business after school and on weekends. I also used to walk 10km to school which has made me tough,' she said.
Farhana hopes to own her own brick-making business one day. She advised people not to be picky about choosing a job.
> Social media influencer Kasih Iris Leona does not condone any act of bullying, even if it is against men who leave lewd comments on her social media account, Kosmo! reported.
'Usually when I get negative comments, I just respond in my mind because we need to 'move forward' and not bully people.
'I thank all parties who have supported me all this time but reject the act of bullying other individuals,' she said on TikTok recently.
The 22-year-old, better known as Leona, shared this after seeing many people supporting her when she received lewd comments from a man recently.
It is understood that the man disguised himself by using someone else's identity and left nasty comments about her body.
'I actually don't care (about netizen comments) but I understand that the individual used someone else's identity to the point of involving a university. I feel sorry for the real individual,' she said.
Meanwhile, in the comments section, netizens generally praised Leona's way of handling the negative situation.
(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)