KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 17 — Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah took time off from his busy schedule to reply to a letter from a nine-year-old Terengganu girl who made him a loom band.
In the letter dated April 16, Dr Noor Hisham thanked Lara Khadijah McAfee for the lovely bracelet she made.
“My granddaughter is wearing it and she likes it! Your words are too kind but I am not doing it alone. I am lucky to have a great team with me to help our country.”
“Fellow Malaysians like yourself, have been a wonderful help by playing your part by staying at home,” he wrote.
He added that the situation the nation was facing would not be for long and told Lara not to be too worried while advising the Year Three SK Budiman pupil to study hard and keep up her grades.
“One day, it will be your turn to help Malaysia. Follow your dreams and work hard for it!” he said before signing off the letter as “from your new friend, Dr Hisham”.
Lara’s brother put photos of the letters written by his sister and Dr Hisham’s reply on Twitter today and it has since gone viral.
So my lil sister wrote a letter for Dr Hisham and sent it to his office. Then today got a whatsapp message with this pic of the official surat, Dr Hisham punya reply to my lil sis. He is so humble and I respect him a lot with what his contributions for our country. pic.twitter.com/IfXMRNaIDH
— iman (@imancullen_) April 17, 2020
her letter, Lara wrote that she made the band as a sign of friendship for her friends and she was giving Dr Noor Hisham one to thank him for all the work he did to help Malaysians to stay safe and healthy.
“Stay safe,” she wrote before signing off the March 19 letter.
Speaking to English portal The Star, Lara’s mother Mutiara Jusuf McAffee, said her daughter was excited when she received the letter from Dr Noor Hisham.
Mutiara, 46, said she always encouraged her five children to express themselves through writing.
They had couriered the letter on March 19, a day after the movement control order took effect.
