Recently Jocelyn Chia hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. Her lack of empathy and sympathy in making a joke about the MH370 tragedy and our beloved nation has shocked and angered many. Harith Iskander, Malaysia’s very own actor and comedian has this response for Jocelyn: “We may be a developing nation but when it comes to thoughtfulness and kindness, we are definitely first world.” And this is not a joke. It is a fact.
Let us travel down memory lane a little. During the Covid 19 pandemic, when the nation went into lockdown, many were in a dilemma. Many households could not even have food on their tables. What did we do? Aid quickly came to those who raised white flags to indicate their need for help. Food tables were set up at various locations for those in need to collect some groceries, food packets and drinks.
Then there were floods in many parts of Peninsular Malaysia. Many were struggling just to get to safety. People from all walks of life organized themselves and helped using their personal vehicles, boats and resources. ‘Abang Viva’ shone as a real hero. With only RM50 in his pocket and a boat strapped to the roof of his Viva car, he drove all the way from Malacca to Selangor and Pahang to help the flood victims who were stranded in their homes.
What about the foreigners who came to Malaysia and needed help? A German cyclist who was determined to cycle all the way from Singapore to Alaska stopped by at a petrol station. While resting there, he asked a woman who passed by where he could have some lunch. There was no place near the petrol station where the cyclist could have his lunch. So, the random lady came back with a packet of lunch for him. Luca, the cyclist was speechless. He then recorded in his TikTok video: Something like that never happened before to me.”
Then there are also those little acts of kindness happening every day, like helping an elderly person cross the street, giving up your seat in the bus or train for another person or just buying a drink or a packet of food for a person in need. I am sure if we stop for a while and reflect, we can recall many acts of kindness, empathy and thoughtfulness shown to our fellowmen.
So, fellow Malaysians, truly we may be only a developing nation compared to many but we are first-world in thoughtfulness and kindness. Let this shine wherever you may be!
Mei Wong
Mei Wong is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
