7 Ordinary Malaysians Who Turned Out To Be Extraordinary Heroes For Others
These Malaysians show us that we all can do something for our community.
Published for Toyota, 26 Mar 2015, 06:09 PM
1. Kiran Kreer. Photojournalist Kiran Kreer raised funds to purchase solar powered lights for 5 Orang Asli villages that were affected by the recent floods.
2. Gary Liew. Gary runs a feeding programme for the homeless in the streets of KL. He mobilises groups of young volunteers every month to distribute food packets and also possible link ups to jobs.
Gary, the one holding the selfie stick, helps mobilise a street feeding programme with the help of volunteers every month.
Image via Gary Liew3. Raven Murugesan. In a Facebook status that was widely shared on social media, Raven gave a fasting cashier some juice and biscuits so that she can buka puasa.
4. Mr Tamil Nesan. Mr Nesan is a MyTeksi driver who lent all his money he had in his pocket to a distressed passenger who had left his wallet at home.
On 20 March, MyTeksi shared an incident that serves as a great example of kindness and generosity where most would not expect. The Facebook post detailed experience of a happy customer, whose name was not revealed, with one of its taxi drivers, Tamil Nesan. The customer had booked a taxi from Laman Ceylon to KL Sentral. However, upon arriving at KL Sentral, he realised that
1. He left his wallet at home.
2. There was no time to grab it, and
3. He didn't have cash for his journey to Singapore.
Panicked, he didn't know what to do. Seeing his customer in genuine distress, the MyTeksi driver then offered to lend him all the RM240 he had on him. Mr Nesan then asked him to repay the borrowed amount and taxi fare when he returned to Malaysia.
5. Mr Shamizon. Jay Sheelan recalls his experience on Facebook when traffic cop Mr Shamizon helped change his wife's car's flat tyre. Instead of accepting a token of thanks from Jay, he encouraged Jay to help others instead.
6. The Venerable Ajahn Cagino, a Malaysian monk and his friends who gave hill tribe children a place to call home. Malaysians from various backgrounds came together to help raise funds and design a green home for orphaned children in Thailand.
Ajahn Cagino (left) with landscape architect Ng Sek San (centre, in black) and architect Chris Wong (right, back to camera) discussing plans for the home.
Image via The StarCagino, 46, a former professional photographer, held a few exhibitions of his photography work in Malaysia in 2011, hoping to raise RM250,000 to build the children’s home; at that time, the children were living in rented accommodation. But unexpectedly, RM500,000 was raised. Some RM370,000 went towards the purchase of a 3ha plot of land, leaving only RM130,000 to build a house, says Cagino at a recent interview; he had returned to Malaysia with several monks from the Ajahn Chah lineage for Wesak celebrations in May.
thestar.com.myThe volunteers include award-winning landscape architect Ng Sek San; architect Chris Wong; landscape contractor Lau Jian Pyng; professional photographer (and Cagino’s former lecturer) David Lok; graphic artist (and Cagino’s former classmate) Joseph Foo; and film director Tan Yew Leong. They not only helped to raise further funds, they also found a donor who gave RM1.3mil; the anonymous benefactor is a Malaysian developer who is a Buddhist.
thestar.com.my7. The Silaturrahim Brotherhood. These biker guys took it upon themselves to cover up potholes on Malaysian roads through their own initiative to make sure motorcyclists don't get into accidents.
“You are all paid, but the Brotherhood does the work for free and without funds, so do something before it’s too late,” said the man, who was often known as Lando, when called by The Rakyat Post today. With just six group members, Azlan said money was not an issue. “Money comes and goes, but can you get a life back?” he asked when probed by The Rakyat Post.
therakyatpost.com
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