The Malay Lady Who Offered Me Help
Last evening (Thursday, September 1i0, 2020) it rained heavily
all afternoon from around 2 pm – 7 pm with flashed floods over Kuala Lumpur and
the surrounding areas.
I was then at the terminus of Light Rail Transit (LRT) at
Gombak Station at around 4:40 pm waiting
to board the free Selangor Bus home after going to Sunway for hyperbaric Oxygen
Therapy for my recurrent leg ulcer due to venous stasis.
The rain was so heavy and the pavements and road where the
bus was parked at the LRT some 40 meters away were flooded ankle-deep that I
was unable to go to the waiting bus without wetting my feet which was dressed
and bandaged.
I attempted to across, but a Malay gentleman warned me the pavement was flooded and slippery.
Since I was elderly in my 80’s carrying with
me a light portable chair, he then held my arms from the raised flooded pavement
I was standing onto the sheltered part
of the road where there was less water. I thanked him many times before he left.
My wife who was then with me managed to wade through the
small flood to reach the bus to tell the driver I was unable to cross.
I then waited there for at least 10 minutes. Suddenly a
Malay lady, probably around her late twenties or very early 30’s approached me
and asked me:
“Uncle, do you need
help”
I was taken aback. These were the only 5 words she spoke.
But there were words written in diamond from her golden heart that embedded into
my heart.
Love in Action:
I gently held her arms, addressed her as lady, and told her my problem about my leg ulcer, and that I could not reach the bus. She told me it was not a problem. She shall go and tell the bus driver.
I told her not to because
she would wet her feet. She saw my legs in socks, and hers too. But she insisted. She immediately translated her words into action. I was truly moved by her
charity.
When she returned from the bus towards me after
telling the driver, the bus started to move towards us. I had only time to thank her
profusely and asked for her name which she told me, but I have forgotten. I
hope she reads this.
But those just five words she spoke – “Uncle, do you need
help” entrenched so deeply and gratefully into my heart for the entire that evening
till 2 am before I slept still thinking about it till now as I typed this story nearly
24 hours later.
I did not even ask her to help me. She appeared suddenly from
nowhere and offered me help. I recall what Jesus said to a Jewish man of law
who asked Jesus who is “my neighbor?”
Jesus then answered with a parable about a Good Samaritan as
described in Luke 10:25-37. These verses exemplify the ethics, helpfulness and
hallmark of Jesus who has never failed to help the sick and the lame.
“And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord,
if You are willing, You can make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and
touched him, saying, I WILL; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed” (Matthew 8:2-3).
This Malay gentleman who held my arms and the Malay lady who offered me help were of different race and religion as Muslims, and I am a Chinese, and Christian.
But when I was in need instantly they gave to me
without me even requesting. They were very clear examples of being Good Samaritans.
Whom do you think God shall reward respective of race and religion, and whom shall I remember forever?
The Persistent Thought:
When I safely came home and bathed last night this thought
of love and charity persisted. Then suddenly
I recalled when still bathing that some nearly 6 hours earlier at around 11:10
am that same day, but at the next last LRT station (Taman Melati Station) before
the terminus Gombak station, I saw a very elderly and a very fragile Indian
Muslim lady sitting alone on the footsteps of Melati Station selling titbits in
a small biscuits eking out a living. Her plight touched my heart
I saw her sitting there on the same spot the previous
morning struggling alone earning out a living. I ignored her then, and went on
my way to seek hyperbaric oxygen treatment for my legs.
Strangely some 6 hours later the same day at the next terminal station this Malay gentleman and lady helped me. It was a long 1 hour 5 minutes journey by LRT from Sunway to the terminal station, but it was at the end of that long journey an angel appeared in my life.
That uncanny feeling what I did for that elderly lady just one stop earlier in the morning. It was an unseen Hand at the end of that long journey
The Voice of Love and Charity:
A still small voice in the bathroom suddenly spoke to me about that
event. I suddenly recalled.
Their small acts of love and charity shall always be remembered by me. It may not mean much to the giver, but it remembers and remains eternally into the hearts of the recipients, at least for me for the rest of my life, for it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
1 Corinthians 13:13 speaks on love and charity "now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love".
My Joy and Peace from Previous Experience:
I clearly remember in the early 1960’s as a student in Aligarh
Muslim University in the central part of India where the winter months were
very cold and dry. I remember seeing young children, boys and girls wearing
thin and torn clothes begging in the streets on cold winter nights.
As I was only a student with not money for myself, but seeing them out there in the cold seeking and begging, their needs were far, far more than mine, I could not afford to ignore. I could only afford giving them a rupee or two each time.
How could I have slept peacefully and blissfully on my hotel bed each night with the images of the children out there begging me in the cold winter nights. Their plight would have haunted me all night.
It reminds me of the the story of The Little Match Girl Hans Christian Andersen wrote I read in school.
But it was a joy and peace for me thinking about them all
night when I returned to my hostel room that I have a little food to them though I could only afford a little
The joy and peace rewarded to me was tremendous. It was not the tiny amount of money I gave
them, but it was the very peaceful feeling, and happiness given to me to allow
me to sleep peacefully that night knowing that they could at least buy themselves a little
food to warm them up on
those cold nights while I slept peacefully in a hostel. No powers and wealth on Earth can buy that
Though I gave so
little which was the best I could afford as a student, but it was the reward of
peace, contentment and joy I received (Mark 12:41–44, Luke 21:1–4). Somehow
they return to you. This always happen to me. Each time we gave, peace and happiness were our returns and spiritual gains
Peace, happiness, blessings and contentment as well as
respect we receive from others in life do not come from our physical wealth or any power,
position or status we hold, but it is this small and very simple act of charity
and love in our hearts that shall eternally be imprinted into our hearts, soul
and body even if the body leaves us. But the soul remembers for all eternity.
I have actually wanted to relate this experience inside one of my WhatsApp chat groups about this Malay lady who helped me even without me asking on a rainy day, but I thought she would never know it – my immense gratitude and thankfulness to this Malay lady.
So I have decided to publish her five golden words “Uncle, do you need help?” into my blog, hopefully this will reach her that has etched into my heart, till our souls leaves.
I believe sometimes angels do appear mysteriously in human forms.
I thank you a million, Young Lady whatever your name I asked of you, but cannot remember. Forgive me.
Lim ju boo
016-3460316
