He may be poor, but he’s not greedy

Honesty is its own reward: Supt Ng handing over the green packet of money to Cheah at the Kampar police district headquarters.

KAMPAR: He may work in an industry that turns trash into cash, but Cheah Keng Keong will not be tempted to take pocket money that is not his.

The recyclable material collector did not think twice about returning RM4,000 to the rightful owner after stumbling upon the cash in a sling bag in Bandar Baru here.

The 47-year-old swiftly handed over the money to the police.

Cheah said he was heading to the nearest petrol station with his daughter on Tuesday when he saw a few RM5 notes on the ground in front of a school at 1.20pm.

“I stopped my motorcycle to pick up the notes. Just then, I saw a dark-coloured sling bag on the road and found more cash and a wallet in it.

“I didn’t know how much was in the bag, but I knew that I had to hand it over to the police, who would be able to contact the owner because there were identification documents in it,” he said.

Cheah said he may be poor, but he was not greedy and such behaviour was definitely not something he wanted his five children to pick up.

“I told my daughter that we must not keep money that belongs to someone else.

“I also felt worried that with so much money in the bag, the owner might have needed it for an emergency or to see a doctor,” said Cheah.

Kampar OCPD Supt Ng Kong Soon said they were able to trace the bag owner.

“The owner, a religious school teacher, was around the Tapah area when we called. He came over right away to retrieve his bag.

“He was so touched by Cheah’s honesty that he gave him some cash as a reward,” he said before presenting a green packet of money from the teacher to Cheah at the Kampar police district headquarters yesterday.

Supt Ng will propose that a certificate of appreciation be awarded to Cheah for his act of honesty during the coming Police Day celebration.