Amid the stupidity, 2 heart-warming Malaysian stories

 

It can happen only in Malaysia, I thought as I read about how some people had criticised a Muslim woman for giving her Hindu neighbour a lift to a temple.

My first reaction was: What’s wrong with these people? Shouldn’t she be praised for doing a good deed and being a bridge to harmony?

But then I remembered something I had written about in an earlier column with the heading, “The science of stupidity,” where I had quoted studies and theories about human stupidity.

I recalled the five laws on stupidity proposed by the late professor of economic history at the University of California-Berkeley Carlo M. Cipolla. One of the laws states: “A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.”

Nadia Farilla Abdul Rahman told the portal mStar earlier this week that she had been criticised for giving a lift to a friend and neighbour named Shaloo who had wanted to pray at a temple.

Nadia uploaded a short clip on TikTok showing her waiting for Shaloo who then enters the car. The temple can be seen in the background.

According to the report, Shaloo had requested Nadia to drop her off at the temple but Nadia waited until Shaloo finished her prayers to take her back home as it was nighttime and their houses were about 3km away.

Nadia told mStar she didn’t expect the video to be featured on TikTok’s ‘For You Page’. Neither did she expect the negative comments. She said: “When I received a comment asking, ‘Did you refer to an Ustaz before sending her to the temple?’ I was shocked.”

However, many others praised her for it.

As I reflected on this incident, my thoughts drifted back to the 1960s and 1970s when helping each other regardless of race or religion was the norm. A neighbour was a neighbour: She was not a Muslim or Hindu or Christian or Buddhist or Sikh or whatever – at least in Taiping where I grew up.

Good deeds were lauded because they were good deeds. No one paused to ask if their religious leaders would object because in those days religious leaders would be the first to encourage such good deeds.

Something is very wrong in a nation where people question the performance of a good deed. Today we live in a nation where some people even propagate the view that if there’s a choice for leader or a post between a Muslim and a non-Muslim, it’s the duty of a Muslim to select or support the Muslim even if he is not as capable or is ethically wanting.

I wonder what such Malaysians would say about an incident in Kerala, India, where the Muslim community allowed and arranged for a Hindu wedding to take place inside a mosque. The video clip of this has been circulating for a while now and a close friend sent it to me on Nov 25. It was the third time I’d seen the video clip.

A Kerala couple, Anju and Sharath, got married in the Cheruvally Jamaat mosque in Allapuzha in traditional Hindu style, with a Hindu priest conduction the rituals, in January last year. I won’t go into the details of the story except to say that in addition to allowing the wedding to take place, the mosque committee gave some gold and money as a gift to the couple, and that, as is Hindu custom, vegetarian food was served.

My friend, a Malay, noted that this would not happen in highly polarised Malaysia, and I agreed. He recalled how times had changed since we were young.

But it is a heart-warming story. So is the story of Nadia. To Nadia I say: Syabas. You have proven yourself to be a good neighbour and a good human being.

Nadia is another shining example of what Malaysians, and Malaysia, can be.

This is actually a good opportunity for Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is promoting ‘Keluarga Malaysia’, to show he is not just pushing an empty slogan. If he comes out in praise of Nadia, he’ll be sending a great message about harmony to all Malaysians.

My friend also told me of a heart-warming incident involving Malays, Chinese and Indians that happened on Nov 25.

His wife runs a cleaning service, employing Malays, Indians and Indonesia workers. Three days ago, one of her cleaners was caught on camera stealing food that had been delivered and placed at a pickup point at a condominium in Ara Damansara.

My friend’s wife rushed to the condominium upon being informed.

“On arrival, my wife saw the cleaner weeping and asking for forgiveness from the building manager and the resident concerned.”

According to the contract, the cleaner could be sacked but my friend’s wife wanted to hear her out in the presence of the management staff and a few residents who had gathered there.

“To cut a long story short, she had stolen the food because she hadn’t eaten for almost a day,” my friend told me.

The cleaner’s husband apparently was a drug addict who had been arrested only the previous night and he had used up all the money they had. She could not bear the hunger and so stole the food.

My friend’s wife was initially upset as all the cleaner had to do was call her and she’d have sent over some food. I know that my friend and his wife are kind-hearted souls.

The cleaner’s act of stealing had clearly tarnished the image of her company’s reputation for good, efficient and honest service.

As the cleaner was a good worker, my friend’s wife was considering her options, including shifting her to another place of work, when the affected resident, who was almost in tears upon hearing the sad story of the cleaner, said she forgave the woman.

My friend’s wife was delighted when the resident told her to give the cleaner a second chance.

“She (the resident) was even willing to buy the cleaner food for the next few days. My wife looked around and saw everyone nodding in approval. She was more than happy to retain the cleaner as she was a committed employee.”

This case of all’s well that ends well has a Malay employer, an Indian cleaner and a Chinese resident.

My friend concluded by saying: “Many Malaysians still have hearts of gold.”

Indeed, they do.

His words reminded me of the many Malaysians who reached out to help the poor and suffering during the peak of the pandemic when the movement control order was in place. There was a spontaneous outpouring of donations and offers of food and household supplies as ordinary Malaysians answered the white flag campaign to assist those in need.

Even today, many continue to help those who are suffering due to the impact of Covid-19 on their lives and livelihoods. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.