She had to rebuild her life after losing her husband. Now this mother of 3 helps others find their footing

Yet Ms Zarina also knows what it is like to need help herself suddenly.

WHEN LIFE TOOK AN UNEXPECTED TURN

On Jul 14, 2008, Ms Zarina received a call telling her that her husband, a despatch rider, had been involved in an accident and that she should go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

“I was quite calm when I reached the hospital,” she said, “but then we were told to go to the mortuary, and I realised he was gone.”  

On the day her husband was buried, her oldest child had to sit for an O-Level paper. There was barely time to grieve. 

As her late husband was the family’s sole breadwinner, Ms Zarina, who had been a housewife for about 15 years, suddenly had to raise their three children on her own. They were then aged 16, 14 and nine.

“Losing someone just like that, it took me three to six months to come to terms with what was happening,” she said. 

“I also had to reset my life and my priorities.” 

In the months that followed, she had to settle her husband’s estate, wind down the delivery business they had been building and navigate paperwork she had never handled before.

More immediately, she needed an income. For the first time, she considered seeking financial assistance. 

She had some savings and wanted only temporary help, but recalled being questioned about her home and the family’s assets. She left without applying. 

The experience would later shape her belief that people in crisis sometimes need help not indefinitely, but just long enough to regain their footing.