Kota Kinabalu: A Malaysian man went viral after he was spotted prostrating out of gratitude at an airport upon reuniting with his family whom he had not met for one and a half years when he was stuck in Singapore during the island nation's border lockdown in response to the pandemic.
The man also met for the first time his second child, a girl, who was born when he was stuck in Singapore and whom he did not know his wife had been pregnant with when he left home for work.
"When I first set off, I didn't know my wife was pregnant. When I got the news there, I wanted to go back but the border was closed," Singapore social news site Mothership reported the man as saying.
"Over the next 1.5 years, all he could do was wait," the report said further.
When the borders reopened on Apr 1, the man wasted no time to go home to Malaysia.
Their first child, a boy, was still very young when the man left for work in Singapore.
In the video, the boy is seen running to his father before hugging him, while the mother carries the girl.
The four then embrace.
"I feel so sorry, the elder boy was just a baby at the time when I left, and now that I'm back, I'm really grateful for it all," said the man.
Muslims are encouraged to perform "sujud syukur" or prostration out of gratitude as an expression of thanks to God.
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