Going beyond the call of duty

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians have a habit of staring when there’s an accident. We stare, causing a traffic slowdown, and then we drive on.

When one of the 10 winners of Star Golden Hearts award, Abdul Muhsi Ramlan (pic), saw Teh Rui Yuan lying motionless next to his motorbike after an accident, he stopped to help.

“When I saw his face I just wanted to save him,” said the insurance agent. “I told the onlookers to help me carry him into my car which they did, but that was it. I rushed off to the hospital but nobody followed.”

In the car, Teh kept calling for his mother. After admitting the 17-year-old into the hospital, Abdul Muhsi went the extra mile and searched for the boy’s relatives and friends using social media.

“The hospital asked if I were the parent but I said I was a nobody, just someone who wanted to help. I wanted to try and contact them so I thought, what do we have now? Our generation has Facebook and Twitter.”

Fortunately, Teh was wearing his school identification tag. Abdul Muhsi quickly snapped a picture of it and posted it on Facebook with a note asking his friends to help find Teh’s parents.

“Thank goodness, after two to three hours of waiting, someone called,” he said.

After Teh recovered, he and his family visited Abdul Muhsi at his house after Raya.

“We’re still in touch. At that time, his whole family came over with a large hamper and we just sat down, ate and talked. There was even a card with his family photo!”

Teh isn’t the first accident victim Abdul Muhsi, 25, has helped. In 2012, while on the way to his university, he saw a Proton Wira with the front smashed.

“My friends and I took the victim in my car to the hospital. At that time, everyone else (the onlookers) just looked scared,” he said.

When informed that he was one of the winners of the inaugural Star Golden Hearts award, Abdul Muhsi was shocked.

“Everything I’ve done before was not to seek public appreciation and recognition,” he responded.

He is also involved in charity work in Gombak.

“Sometimes we bring bananas to the mosque or surau. I do charity work for orphans, one of them is called Liyana.”

Abdul Muhsi said he felt the community should come together in a greater show of solidarity.

“Right now we have come to the stage where we must stand together and help one another, regardless of our religion and race. Don’t think too long before helping others – just do it,” he said.