M'sians Have Come Together To Help This Car Wash 'Uncle' Buy School Books For His Daughter
"It felt good in a way that you made a difference in someone's life."
By Alyssa J. Oon — 09 Jan 2019, 12:58 PM
One man's ordinary trip to buy fruits may have just changed the life of a father who was working to buy school books for his daughter
Facebook user Adi W. Kamal was in Section 9, Shah Alam to buy fruits for his mother when a young girl of about nine or 10 years knocked on his car window and asked if he wanted to have his car washed.
"I said 'no' at first but she was wearing uniform sekolah (school uniform) [and] I remembered there [was] a man walking with a baldi air (water pail) and kain lap (wash cloth) on his shoulder and quickly I thought that must be her father. So I asked her, berapa (how much)?" Adi later recounted in a post on his profile.
After getting back out of his car, Adi followed the young girl - still carrying her school backpack - towards her father
He added, "She ran towards her father (the man with the baldi) with her school bag on her back at the end of the junction. The father then quickly heads towards me carrying his baldi full of water trying to walk fastest as he can.
"I then walked towards him and give him [money] and said 'please take this money, tak perlu cuci kereta saya ok' (no need to wash my car). I went back to the car and I felt so sad and realised how lucky we are."
Adi also attached the bank details of the father, Sukumaran Sanmugam, to his post, adding that Sukumaran was trying to buy books for his daughter to study in school
"He gave his account number from his wallet on a small piece of paper that's almost faded," Adi told SAYS.
"If you [saw] his wallet you'll feel sad, I kid [you] not. There's only [a] few ringgit as he dug to find his bank account number," he added, saying that he had told Sukumaran to check his account as a friend had also banked in some money.
Adi's post clearly struck a chord with Malaysians, as the post went viral within three hours, with multiple people making donations to the cause
As of writing, the post has been shared over 16,000 times.
"So many good-hearted people here. Doesn't matter which race or religion. I feel so proud to be a Malaysian here," wrote one commenter.
"At least he works to wash cars in order to find money. And he deserves it. May Allah bless you," another commenter wrote.
Someone also asked for Sukumaran's contact number to offer him a permanent job.
Other netizens also shared that they have seen Sukumaran around the area as well
"Saw him last Sunday. Same spot. But he brought along his little son, too. Chasing with the water pail and his two children."
"Yes. He and his children (if not mistaken one girl and one boy) always there and saw them many times. Weekdays or weekends doing [an] honest job. Responsible father and maybe no one can take care the children. That's why every time his children are with him."
Although the post is not available to the public any longer, Adi told SAYS that he believes the public has done their good deeds
"I didn't expect many people would respond as such," he said, adding that he has been bombarded with messages asking for Sukumaran's contact number and offers of permanent jobs for him.
"[It] felt good in a way that you made a difference in someone's life."