Caring Malaysians get together to send body 300km for funeral

 

The casket bearing the remains being unloaded from the Muslim hearse by Kuan Chee Heng on arrival in Puchong. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: In true Malaysian spirit, people of various races and religions got together to go to the aid of a Chinese man financially unable to bring the remains of his son back home to Melaka from Perak for a funeral.

According to a Facebook post by The Royal Singapore, the man  had travelled to Telok Intan, Perak, after learning about the death of his 32-year-old son.

However, he was crestfallen when told it would cost him at least RM1,600 to bring the casket bearing the remains of his son to Melaka for burial. The father was told to bring the body back by train if he could not afford it.

Fortunately, his plight was made known to Kuan Chee Heng, affectionately known as Uncle Kentang, who is well-known for his philanthropic deeds. He took to Facebook to write about the father’s plight.

Shortly after, a Malay man reached out to Kuan to selflessly offer the use of his hearse, regularly used for Muslim funerals, free of charge.

“He asked what the punishment was in the eyes of the Buddhists if he used a ‘jenazah’ van to send the casket. I told him: ‘We answer to God and not to man, no problem,’” recalled Kuan.

Kuan was touched that a Muslim man was offering to transport a non-Muslim body to help a family in need.

With the father’s approval, the Malay man set out from Ipoh and made the 200km drive down to Puchong, Selangor, to pass the casket to Kuan, who then took on the last stretch of the journey to the home in Melaka.

“This is Malaysia, this is us together helping to take care of a dead man and the needs of his poor family.

“We do this because we know there are people who can’t afford it,” said Kuan. - FMT