PETALING JAYA: The Covid-19 pandemic has affected and impacted many lives, businesses, industries and countries.
For one person, it also meant making a sacrifice for the greater good.
Mindy Jassal, 41, a former regulatory reporting manager with a bank in Kuala Lumpur, had known all along that when the pandemic first reared its head, her life would be impacted.
"I had been instructed by my superiors to prepare a list of at least half the staff in my unit that could be removed under the Mutual Separation Scheme that was to be carried out in the middle of the year.
"Naturally, my heart sank and I thought about my family.
"But I was also thinking about my colleagues and subordinates, those who are younger and had just begun a family."
Mindy said upon receiving the thumbs up from her husband, Paramjit Singh, 45, she volunteered for the MSS.
"I explained to him (Paramjit) that if I took it, then it could save two to three of my colleagues from losing their jobs.
"I felt that we were financially stable enough if I were to opt for it, and I also wanted to spend more time with our children.
"When I was working, I got to see them and spend time with my boys only during the weekends."
After she quit her job, Mindy knew that she could not just be a stay-at-home mum to her three boys and decided to pursue her dream of sharing food recipes passed down to her by her late grandmother, mother and aunts.
The move not only filled her time at home, but also became a means to support the family.
"I kicked off my cooking plan in October with dried prawn chilli paste, which was my late grandmother's recipe, and muruku as well as achi muruku.
"I had spread the word about what I was doing from my home kitchen through family and friends, as well as through social media channels.
"I can sell 150 to 300 bottles of dried prawn chilli paste every month, which is branded as 'My Granny's Foods', and the picture on the bottle is that of my late grandmother."
She said 2020 was an unprecedented year for everyone.
She and her family are thankful that they are healthy and able to get by comfortably.