<figure id="attachment_3221711" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3221711" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3221711 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/c2d32eb8-lifestyle-anchovy-emel-pic-281125.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3221711" class="wp-caption-text">Nurmalasari Tianggi&#8217;s anchovies are sold across Kunak, Semporna, Tawau and other parts of Sabah, and she hopes to be able to export them someday. (Bernama pic)</figcaption></figure>
KOTA KINABALU: Despite relying on traditional methods to process anchovies, Nurmalasari Tianggi from Kampung Pengkalan Laut near Kunak earns between RM5,000 and RM7,000 a month.
Nurmalasari, 31, told Bernama that the dried-anchovy business run by her family since 1994 depends entirely on manual labour.
Her father sets out to sea as early as 3am to buy anchovies directly from local fishermen, paying around RM280 for a large basket, and returns home between 7am and 8am.
The fresh anchovies are then boiled for about five minutes before being sun-dried. Once dried, the anchovies are sorted by size, a process carried out collaboratively with her family.
After sorting, the product is ready to be sold to customers across Kunak, Semporna, Tawau, and other areas in Sabah.
“Typically, customers purchase between 100kg and 500 kg of anchovies a day,&#8221; said the mother of three. &#8220;We store them in jute sacks, each weighing around 23kg.
“All of our customers so far have been satisfied with our anchovies because they are clean, and we occasionally run out of stock due to high demand.&#8221;
Nurmalasari added that during the off-season, particularly in April, fresh anchovies are sometimes unavailable for processing.
Looking ahead, she hopes the relevant agencies can provide support in the form of a boat engine, a stove for boiling anchovies, and a sorting machine to speed up production.
“If possible, I hope to establish my own brand of anchovies and export them out of Sabah,” she added.

MatchPoint Times

Traditional methods lead to steady yield for Sabah anchovy seller

Nurmalasari Tianggi from Kg Pengkalan Laut near Kunak earns up to RM7,000 a month, thanks to her family business that has been running for over 30 years.

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