School Pocket Money Back Then: Lessons from 30 Sen

Every morning before my children leave for school, I try to make sure of one thing.

I greet them, hug them and kiss them. Then I make sure each of them has pocket money for school.

This morning, as I handed them their money, my thoughts suddenly drifted back to my own school days and the pocket money I used to receive.

My school allowance was just 30 sen.

Today, hearing that amount, we might wonder,

“What can you buy with 30 sen?”

If we handed our children 30 sen today, they might not know what to make of it.

But around 1990, when I was in Year One, that was what I took to school every morning. It was what my family could afford at the time.

My School Allowance Was Just 30 Sen

My father had passed away. My mother worked in a factory and raised all six of us as a single mother.

So, with 30 sen in my hand, I went to school.

Twenty sen bought a packet of nasi lemak, fried noodles or fried rice vermicelli. The remaining ten sen bought a syrup drink.

Enough.

It was not much. But it was enough.

Looking back, that word, “enough”, carries so much meaning.

That small amount gave me something to eat and drink at school. Today, I also understand more deeply the sacrifices behind every sen my mother gave me.

My Late Grandfather’s Kindness in the Afternoons

In the afternoons, we children in Johor attended religious school.

The money from my mother had already been spent in the morning. There was nothing left for food or a drink in the afternoon.

But Allah had blessed me with my grandfather.

My late grandfather would sometimes give me another 20 or 30 sen. That was enough for a drink, kuih bom or tempeh, which cost around ten sen back then.

It was a small amount. But it meant so much to a little boy.

To this day, I remember those gifts. They remind me of my grandfather’s love, expressed in the simplest of ways.

Twenty sen. Thirty sen.

Yet I have carried those memories into adulthood.

Once I Received; Today I Give

Thinking about all of this moves me.

Ya Allah, how quickly time has passed.

The little boy who once held 30 sen on his way to school is now handing pocket money to his own children.

Sometimes, we only realise how far Allah has brought us when we pause and look back.

We remember where we came from, the people who cared for us and the hardships we went through.

I am grateful that my children do not have to go through those same hardships.

At the same time, there is one thing I hope they learn:

Do more than enjoy your blessings. Learn to appreciate them.

I want them to know that every gift has value. There is effort behind it, and love from the person giving it.

Just like the 30 sen my mother used to give me.

Having More Does Not Always Mean Having Enough

The older I get, the more I think about my mother’s sacrifices.

Her factory wages were a little over RM300. With plenty of overtime, she might earn RM500 or RM600.

That was the income on which a single mother raised six children.

When I think about it now, I wonder,

“Masya-Allah. How did Mum make it enough for everything?”

We had food. We went to school. We had clothes.

We grew up and carried on with our lives.

I do not fully know how my mother managed every sen back then. But today I understand more clearly the weight of the responsibility she carried.

These memories also make me reflect on the blessings in what Allah provides.

Some people earn little, yet feel at ease in their lives. Others earn more, but still struggle with the feeling that it is never enough.

I, too, need to keep reminding myself:

Having more does not always mean having enough. Having less does not always mean hardship.

As I work to earn more, I also want to learn to care for and appreciate what Allah has already entrusted to me.

So that as my blessings grow, my gratitude grows too.

Learning Gratitude and Appreciating Our Blessings

This story of 30 sen is a reminder to myself.

To remember to be grateful, to give to charity and to fulfil my obligation to pay zakat.

And not to become so busy chasing what I do not have that I forget to appreciate what is already in front of me.

Children we can hug every morning. Food on the table. The opportunity to work. Blessings we can share with our families.

As I go through life, I am learning that wealth means more than owning a lot.

There is also wealth in a heart that can still say,

“Alhamdulillah… what I have is enough.”

Perhaps that is why I still remember my 30 sen school allowance to this day.

Its value was small. But those 30 sen taught me about hardship.

I learned about a mother’s love.

I learned about a grandfather’s love.

I learned about having enough.

And in the end, those 30 sen taught me what it means to be blessed.

Alhamdulillah.

May whatever Allah entrusts to us today grow not only in amount, but also in blessings.