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After winning awards so early in her career, journalist Sarah Voon should have felt that she was on the right path.

But instead, at just 24, she faced a "quarter-life crisis".

Despite her early success, she said she never had “a sense of self-fulfilment" and that she was "doing the right thing".

So at 25, she quit her plum job and started volunteering full-time for an organisation which works with single mothers.

Paid a nominal fee for her service, Voon now earns almost 10 times less what she made in her previous employment. But life has never been better, she said.

"It was really a blessing to join Bless. I have helped bless others and at the same time I am being blessed," she said.

This is her story in her own words:

I worked for almost three years as a full-time journalist and received two journalism awards. It was my first-ever job, but I never had a sense of self-fulfilment, a sense that I knew that I am doing the right thing.

In September last year I really felt like I was going through some quarter-life crisis. So cliche, I know... and I only turned 25 this year so I thought, 'Oh my God it's coming a bit early!'

So I quit my job with no back-up plan, nothing to fall back on, no savings, nothing! I just quit and decided to do stuff for charity.

My mum has been doing charity for 10 to 15 years, so I decided to volunteer full-time.

(The organisation I started volunteering for, Bless) wanted to pay me, but I turned it down. Finally I agreed to take a token sum, which is fine, because I really wanted to do something that's bigger than myself.

When I started doing charity, it became about the community that I am impacting.

I work with a team who come from very different backgrounds. We work with single mothers who need jobs. We also sell second-hand goods and the profits go towards our causes.

The warehouse I work at is massive, dirty, dusty, and has so many items that need to be sifted through, as well as need cleaning.

It takes a lot of humility to clean the warehouse too, especially with just a fan and in our hot weather. We have to wear face masks because of the dust.

Because I’m a little bit more tech-savvy, I've assisted Kedai Bless make an online presence through the web shop, as well as market the brand and upload the content.

It's been six months here and I am feeling good. I know I can do even better, but above all, I just want to know that I am making an impact.

It was really a blessing to join Bless. I have helped bless others and at the same time, I am being blessed.

'You don't need a lot of money'

I realised that through quitting my job and now freelancing that I don't really need a lot of money as long as I am still living with my parents.

I just need RM500 - RM600 a month, despite earning 10 times that and spending it all without saving anything previously at a full-time job. And now, getting just RM700 a month, I manage to actually save!

And thank God, I don't have much financial commitments, besides the RM400 monthly payment for my Perodua Axia.

I have just been getting so much freelance writing jobs from different companies and am still freelancing with my previous employer!

One freelance story helps cover my phone bill and my car loan repayments and with the RM700 token sum, that's all I really need. I don't need anything else.

I also get a lot of invitations to write food reviews and if not that, I just eat simply at home.

Can you imagine what kind of lifestyle I was living before and how much quitting my job really changed me?

(For those considering changing paths) I would say go for it... quit. If you're not happy, there's no point staying (at your job) and ask yourself what life lessons are you learning?

For me, it came to a point where I couldn't take it anymore and I just had to quit. I didn't care if there's no money tomorrow, I just need to get out today!

Some people might think I am selfish, I might agree with them, but life has its own way of working things out.

Somehow, I feel like this is the right way for me to serve and I am really using my expertise in media contacts, writing and marketing skills to help Bless.

When you are serving God, you will be blessed. You will be richly rewarded for your service and it's just something that I have wanted to do, too, since young − to serve.


This stor was first published on the HUMANS OF KUALA LUMPUR Facebook page. In this photography project, Mushamir Mustafa takes pictures of random people in Kuala Lumpur, who share with him a story from their lives. It features on Malaysiakini every weekend.

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