There is a kind of passion that galvanises her whole being when this woman speaks about her perjuangan struggle). At 50, she believes that it is not your social disposition, race or mental capacity that will weigh you down, but it is your attitude, your kesedaran (awareness) that will determine your place in society.

Salasiah binti Man is a makcik with a radical past. She worked with the Women's Crisis Centre (WCC) in Penang from 1996-97. If you had met this woman there, you will find her to be a most perplexing human being.

There are other women in that organisation who can boast of a colourful past, exciting experiences and impressive academic achievements. But it is Salasiah who will most probably capture your attention and earn your admiration.

She hails from Parit Buntar, Perak coming from a very poor family. Her parents were padi farmers who earned a meagre sum just enough to feed the family on a daily basis "Kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang", recalled Salasiah of her childhood days.

On weekends, while she was still studying, she slogged in a palm oil estate for only RM1.50 per day to make ends meet. When her parents could no longer afford to send her to school, she dropped out when she was in Form Three and worked as a housekeeper.

Then her mother fell sick. She stopped work for six months but had to resume work again in a prawn factory after her mother died. Her father died shortly after that and she was left to fend for herself and her sister alone.

"But it is these sufferings, this poverty that has brought me awareness and helped me help the poor and oppressed, especially workers," she said.

Despite her setbacks, Salasiah is a cheery gal. She has this bellowy, hilarious loud laugh. "But when I cry, I cry alone". This, Salasiah insists every time you mention her late sister's name.

Her sister, who was suffering from mental illness "returned to Allah" three years ago at the most crucial point in Salasiah's life. She found her sister sprawled on the floor of their kampung house in Parit Buntar one evening, blood oozing from her eyes, nose and ears. Because her sister lived alone (Salasiah was in Penang at that time), none of the villagers knew what went wrong.

Change of fate

Other than her sister, she had no one else at that juncture. Salasiah was devastated. Weeks later, without the slightest hint or notice, the inescapable hands of fate decided to clamp down on Salasiah's dignity and her economic status as well.

A sudden change in job designation and later termination as a Shelter Coordinator (for WCC) for an offence she claimed she did not commit - claiming for overtime. Salasiah suspects that the reason she was unfairly treated was that she had questioned the management.

Salasiah has initiated legal action but her case is still pending three years after her dismissal. The Industrial Court will only hear her case at the end of the year.

"But I will not give up. I will fight for my rights," Salasiah said with determination.

"If I can't do this (fight for my rights) for myself, how am I in the future going to help others who are in the same boat," she added.

A lot of what Salasiah says, thinks and does today have to do with her 'radical' past. She left her home at 20 and hit the road for the bright city lights of Georgetown, Pearl of the Orient, with hardly any money in her worn-out purse but with lots of "keyakinan" (faith), she recalls.

Other young maidens like her were lured by better wages and freedom in a far away land but Salasiah headed for the city, " to struggle for the rights of workers to form an electronic workers union".

Knowing that Salasiah comes from a lowly educated background, many could hardly imagine that she would have so much determination and fire in her blood.

Active unionist

Yet this woman helped organise a union at her workplace in Parit Buntar and fought the battle for better wage terms for her colleagues. The metalware factory where she had worked for eight years delayed paying their employees every month. Salasiah contacted the Metal union and told them of the workers' plight. She was advised to form an in-house union.

After six months of hard work, the union was formed and Salasiah was elected the vice-president.

Then an incident happened where the president of the union was suspended for allegedly distributing sports related pamphlets. Salasiah led a protest against the factory owner for three days. On the third day, the employer locked-out the protesters. The workers picketed outside the factory for three months forcing the factory to shut down.

That was when Salasiah left for Penang. She joined a Young Workers Project in 1983 and attended workshops and helped organise sewing and cooking classes for housewives and factory girls. From 1984-89, she volunteered with a youth and community service organisation.

Here, she helped conduct awareness and motivation programmes for farmers, fishermen and factory workers. She also acted as a 'referral guide' to those who needed assistance or counselling. Most of the programmes were related to workers' rights and health and safety at the work place. Some of the workshops were co-organised with the National Youth Council and the Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang.

While volunteering, Salasiah supported herself by tailoring and selling herbal medicines. "I do not need much (money) to survive, I live a simple life," she said.

She later joined the Family Planning Association from 1989 to 1994 and conducted educational programmes in factories.

Yellow unionism

In 1985, Salasiah was once again in the forefront of a workers' industrial action in Penang - the famous case of Mostek, where more than two thousand employees were retrenched. She recalled that workers picketed for weeks and took the state government to task for allowing the retrenchment to take place.

That was the recession in the mid-80s when about 30,000 workers were thrown out of jobs. In Penang alone, about 12,000 workers from the electronics and textile industries were retrenched.

Contributing to the economic recession then was the falling demand for the country's agriculture products such as rubber and palm oil, and also tin.

There was also a decline in the production of microchips as chips produced in other countries became more competitive.

Salasiah contributed to the picket by gathering friends, colleagues and other activists to attend the protest. She helped organised placards, posters and banners. Her home, which was also where the youth and community organisations made their office, was bustling with activities throughout the picket.

"It was wonderful, exciting and inspirational to see such spirit and fellowship among the workers.

"Malays, Chinese, Indians, Sabahans, Sarawakians - we were all united for the same cause," said Salasiah with eyes twinkling.

"Workers these days are simply not aware just how much power and might they have in their hands!" she added.

'I am there in spirit'

Salasiah is a staunch supporter of Parti Rakyat Malaysia as she believes that..."this is the only political party that is sincere in fighting for workers' rights" and "the party's multi-racial policy is what Malaysia needs today".

"The lawyers and unionists who helped us when we had problem with employers were mostly either members or supporters of PRM," she recalls.

Salasiah is disappointed that until today, electronic workers have been unable to form a national union. She is dismayed with the kind of yellow unionism that is being practised these days where union leaders are happier to "negotiate, talk and discuss" with their capitalist bosses and government officials but with no effective solutions in sight.

However, she beamed with joy upon hearing that the Malaysian Trade Union Congress had initiated several activities, like a picket outside the Human Resources Ministry in October last year to demand recognition of their unions and speedier clearance of the backlog of dismissal cases, which like Salasiah's, have been pending for more than three years.

Salasiah glanced shyly at the man beside her. She is recently married and like most women, she has chosen to devote the rest of her natural life to her husband and has left the activists' scene to concentrate on building their home. She now resides in Sungai Buloh.

"I am there in spirit," she said. "At every workers' gathering, picket, demonstration and protest. There is no other way but to unite and show our bosses that we mean business ... until bosses appreciate their employees enough to treat them as equals," she stressed, as her lawyer husband, Daud, gave her a knowing smile.

SUSAN LOONE is a malaysiakini journalist.