How Foreign Workers Of A Kebab Stall Made Sure Marina Mahathir Got Her Lost iPad Back
The next time you are in Low Yat Plaza, pop on over to the kebab stall and say hello to a nice man.
By Mei Mei Chu — 16 Feb 2015, 06:23 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
It was 12 February 2015, Marina Mahathir was spending some time in Low Yat Plaza and stopped at a kebab stall for a quick takeaway. After ordering, she hurried off.
"My faith in humanity is always justified. Today I was at Low Yat Plaza, stopped at the kebab stall to get a takeaway and promptly walked off leaving my ipad in its case behind."
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An hour later, Marina's secretary received a call from a stranger - a man asking if she had left her "wallet" behind at the kebab stall. Marina checked and saw her wallet still intact, but her iPad was missing.
"About an hour later my secretary said she got a call from someone asking me if I had left my wallet behind. No I said. An hour later it finally dawned on me what my 'wallet' was supposed to be."
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The man turned out to be a Bangladeshi who works at the kebab stall. He had found her name card in the iPad case and called her office to let her know that he had her tablet.
"The kebab stall guys, all foreign workers, had found my card in my ipad case and called my office to let me know."
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Marina's office boy then returned to the kebab stall in Low Yat Plaza to pick up the iPad, but it wasn't as simple as that.
My secretary sent my office boy to fetch it.
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The kebab guys did not want to release the iPad to him. The reason was simple: how would they know he was genuine?
"At first the kebab guys (who are Bangladeshi by the way) didn't want to release it to him because how would they know he was genuine?"
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Marina's office boy had to prove to the Bangladeshis that he really works for her. He had to gain their trust.
"So he googled my photo and asked them if that was me and they said yes. They also believed him, upon seeing his muscles, when he said he was my bodyguard :)"
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The kebab guys listened and eventually returned the iPad to him, but not before treating him to a cup of coffee. However, because they were not allowed to eat or drink from the shop's supplies, they made him instant coffee they had bought themselves.
"But more than that, they then invited him to have coffee. And because they don't serve coffee at the stall, they made him 3-in-1 coffee from their own stock because they are not allowed to take (or eat) anything from the stall's stock."
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As they talked over coffee, the Bangladeshis shared stories of how they had to foot RM7,000 to get their own work visas because their employers would not do it for them. This was a notion Marina thought was preposterous.
"They then told him their sad stories, of how they have to pay RM7000 to do their own work visas because their employer won't do it for them. How does an employer employ foreign workers while refusing to get work visas for them?"
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Marina got her iPad back safely along with the case and everything in it. In a time when society typically stereotypes foreign workers as the reason for rising crime, the kebab guy's display of honesty and kindness touched her heart.
"Who says there aren't any honest people left?
Thanks kebab guys, I won't forget this!"
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Not only has the kebab guy restored Marina's faith in humanity, it also warmed the heart of those who came across the story on Marina's Facebook page
In the very last of three Facebook posts she dedicated to the kebab guys, Marina shared a picture of Munir Hossain, the kebab seller who returned her iPad
Marina hasn't had time to return to Low Yat Plaza to thank him herself, but invites everyone to go to the kebab stall at the basement food court to say hello to Munir Hossain and his colleagues, and tell them that she is very grateful
To show her gratitude, she asked her friends on Facebook to do one thing for the kebab guys:
"So I'm thinking that if you do go to their stall and buy their kebab, that would only benefit their employer but not them. If you really want to help them, then maybe buy them some food or drinks from elsewhere because that would directly benefit them. Thanks."
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