KLANG: Life for Indonesian Sri Muliani Surbakti and her Malaysian husband Mahendren Manogara was a major struggle until she literally discovered the magic of social media.
The mother of two narrates how desperation and abject poverty due to her husband’s meagre income as an oil palm estate worker had driven her to create a lifestyle vlog (video blog).
“We lived hand to mouth as after various deductions, including for loans he had taken, my husband’s salary every month would only be about RM150, ’’ said Sri Muliani, 30, who lives in the estate’s workers’ quarters in Sungai Siput, Perak with Mahendren, 41, and their two children Maha Letchumi, 4, and Mageshvareen, 2.
She now makes between RM5,000 and RM10,000 monthly from her family lifestyle YouTube vlog.
Sri Muliani’s vlog contents are mostly about her family’s activities ranging from outings to cooking their daily meals.
Her most interesting vlogs are the ones which show how Sri Muliani and Mahendran turn to nature to source for food such as fishing in the estate’s ponds and waterways as well as seeking out wild plants which can be made into food.
One gets to see the abundance nature offers as sustenance for those who are willing to seek from her vlogs.
Sri Muliani also vlogs about how the family plants its own vegetables around the house.
She said she had tried many things, including selling clothes from door to door, but nothing took off as the couple did not have a car to peddle their ware.
“One day, more than two years ago, the idea to create a family vlog struck me as I sat mulling on what I could do to help supplement our family income.
“At that point, I was just too tired and fed-up of struggling to make ends meet and saddened to see my husband work so hard for us, ’’ said Sri Muliani who came to Malaysia as a factory worker in 2013 from her hometown in Medan, Indonesia.
Sri Muliani, who was a qualified and certified midwife in Indonesia, before coming to Malaysia, said her first few vlog entries had only a handful of views.
“I was shattered and seeing my dejection, my husband suggested that I vlog about what we had gone through, and the documents we had to prepare, before getting married, ’’ said Sri Muliani.
That vlog, she added, received more 30,000 views and was shared very widely which paved the way for her to acquire a following on social media.
“There were many people wanting to know the procedures we had to undergo as well as the forms we had to fill-up at both the Malaysian and Indonesian Immigration Departments before getting married, ’’ she said.
Her audience started to grow from then on and is still increasing.
Besides getting an opportunity to follow their daily lives, the chemistry and fun banter between the couple as well as their children’s quips, also makes Sri Muliani’s vlog interesting.
In the vlog, Sri Muliani often refers to Mahendren ‘Darling Saya’ (my darling) or Singgam Saya (My Singgam) after the Tamil action movie character ACP Singgam made popular by Indian movie star Surya Sivakumar.
The bubbly and witty Sri Muliani’s vlog now has 129,000 subscribers and she has uploaded 836 vlogs on her YouTube channel Kakak Sri Di Sini (Sister Sri Here).
Of his wife’s ingenuity, Mahendran says he is truly blessed to have met and married Sri Muliani.
“She is very intelligent and hardworking and this motivates me as well.
“My neighbours tell me I am lucky to have such a smart wife, ” said Mahendran who had quit school and started doing odd jobs when he was in his early teens.
The couple met eight months after Sri Muliani arrived in Malaysia through social media application WeChat and married in April 2014.
With her social media earnings, the family has managed to upgrade their lifestyle and have bought furniture, electrical appliances, a car as well as 12 heads of cattle and 15 goats, which they rear in the estate itself.
The couple had also recently bought property back in Sri Muliani’s village in Indonesia.
“Social media has changed our lives. I come from a very poor family and my husband comes from a humble background as well.
“When we married, we were also very poor and had next to nothing but now we are able to plan our future as well as provide our children good food, nice clothes and toys as well as just about anything they need.
“We are truly thankful, ’’ said Sri Muliani.
To watch Sri Muliani’s vlogs, visit: https://youtube.com/c/KakakSridisini.
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