ALMOST a decade ago, actress Ezzaty Abdullah was on a different professional trajectory. A student at Universiti Teknologi Mara, Ezzaty was studying Tourism Management with a goal of working in the local tourism industry that was quickly expanding at the time.
To supplement and ease her financial burden, Ezzaty acted in several TV commercials throughout her studies. She said the producers of the TV commercials would often call and ask her to act in television dramas, but she would reject them as studying was her main focus.
Towards the end of her studies, Ezzaty received an offer to work with a tourism magazine.
“I was to start work in August. I finished my studies in April and was going to graduate in July. I told my boss I was willing to act temporarily just for the money.
Ezzaty began acting in small roles for dramas purely for the income as she had no interest in acting at the time.
“When I started acting, I still had the offer (for the tourism magazine). Several months later, my interest in acting had grown significantly, so I decided to continue,” Ezzaty told theSun.
Aside from the income, one of the reasons Ezzaty stayed on in the movie industry was due to the working environment on the set. She said everyone had fun despite the long working hours.
Roadblock
With her career steadily progressing, Ezzaty married actor Azwan Kombos in 2016, and had a child soon after.
When asked whether motherhood had affected her acting range, she replied: “So far no, as I have yet to play the role of a mother.”
Although life was smooth sailing, Ezzaty’s career and personal life went through a tumultuous change when the pandemic struck early last year, just like for everyone else.
“As an actress, Covid-19 affected me a lot as acting was my primary source of income, and my spa had to close during the movement control order,” she said.
However, a light at the end of the tunnel came unexpectedly in the form of a new business, which she started with her husband.
“I first began cooking mee udang (prawn noodles) because of a craving I had during Ramadhan last year. Even though I know how to cook different Malay dishes, I did not know how to make this dish. So after finding recipes online, I cooked my version of prawn noodles and surprisingly, many people liked it.”
She said her dish became a hit with her neighbours after she gave them some during the movement control order (MCO) last year. She said it was commonplace
in her neighbourhood then to cook and share food among one another. The actress posted pictures of her dish on Instagram and was amazed to receive positive feedback.
“My neighbours were keen to order my noodles and asked me if I was running a business, but I told them no,” Ezzaty said with a laugh.
“Because we were all struggling during the first MCO, I jokingly asked on Instagram: ‘If I open up for orders, would anyone be interested?’’
The actress thought there would only be at most five orders. Instead, not five minutes later, there were 60 orders.
“Because we felt it wouldn’t be right to ignore the requests, I cooked 30 portions. It was initially chaotic making such a large quantity. Nevertheless, we kept going and when we received positive feedback, we decided to continue. By the fifth day, there were more than 100 orders daily.”
Not the end of the road
Coming out of 2020, Ezzaty claimed she learnt to be quick on her feet when it came to surviving.
“ As for me, I’m lucky that I found a solution to my financial woes, especially paying the rent for my spa and staff salary as there was no incoming money during that time,” she said.
“I bet that everyone is doing the same thing to survive. I did sell other dishes before I came out with the mee udang. The truth is, we have to be ready emotionally and financially, as we never know what will happen next.”
