Stemming from her personal experience, Chong Sheau Ching now heads a community of women who earn their living from home.

Sheau Ching is the author of Stories For My Mother, a column featured in a local English daily which she penned for 13 years. She started a group called Mothers for Mothers and wrote books to guide women who are interested to earn a living from home. Sheau Ching then went on to start an online group of the same nature. She reveals that there are some 15,000 members of eHomemakers, an online community of home-based entrepreneurs.

REBUILDING TWO LIVES
After spending 14 years with United Nations as project manager, field offer and policy planner, Sheau Ching decided it was time to focus her energies on being a mother. For a while, it seemed like the perfect life. Sheau Ching and her husband started a training company which operated from home. Two years later, Sheau Ching’s husband decided that he wanted out of the marriage. When the partnership dissolved, she was left needing a job. After attending interviews and hearing negative responses from many companies, Sheau Ching decided to write an article about jobs that mothers can do from home, which was published in The Star in 1998. This led to a regular column in The Star and the beginnings of a network for mothers and a host of others who wanted the option of working from home. “There are so many things that we can do from home that will generate some income, from catering to copywriting to tailoring.” For those who are Internet-savvy, Sheau Ching suggests combing through it to find out what people are selling. “The more you find out, the more you will realise how do-able a home-based business is.”

DETERMINATION AND GRIT
Sheau Ching knows this is only the beginning and there is much that needs to be done for home-based workers to be treated fairly and taken seriously. After nine years of advocacy to the Malaysian government, eHomemakers has finally convinced the cabinet to adopt working at home as an option for women and disadvantaged persons. Sheau Ching is now the only NGO representative in the national committee to draw up guidelines for setting up home offices in Malaysia. The group is sourcing for funds and corporate partnerships, all to help women set up their home-based businesses. For a lot of women who have undergone hardship and are left to care for their families, a home-based business would be the start of a new life. For more information, visit www.ehomemakers.net. You could also email registration@ehomemakers.net or call 03-7726 5271.