Good deed: A young settler walking towards a vehicle with water and food for one of the many travellers driving through the settlement.
PETALING JAYA: A group of young people from Felda Lakum in Pahang earned praises from the public after they selflessly raised funds among themselves to make travellers passing through their neighbourhood feel welcome.
The settlers noticed unusually high traffic coursing through the area recently as out-of-towners took a detour through the settlement, about 30km from Bentong, on their way back to Kuala Lumpur following heavy rain that caused floods on the highway, mStar reported.
With the village packed with cars, Felda Lakum youth leader Mohd Rohaizanizam Mat Rodzi immediately thought of a small gesture to make the strangers feel comfortable.
“Coincidentally, my team members were playing volleyball when they saw many unfamiliar cars entering and leaving the area, maybe to find some food because they’d been stranded on the road for a long time.
“We discussed it and pitched in our own money to buy them bread and water so they wouldn’t be hungry on their journey, ” said Rohaizanizam, who together with his team of more than 20 youths, worked in turns from 6pm to midnight distributing food and water to stranded travellers.
He said he lost count of how many packets of bread and bottles of water were distributed, but believed they may have bought all the bread and bottled water from every shop in Felda Lakum.
Rohaizanizam, 37, also did not expect that their small deed would be recorded and shared online, but he hopes the now-viral video would inspire others to offer help in these difficult times.
“What we did was out of sincerity and you don’t have to be anyone big or famous to help people.
“ Just do what you can. We do feel that we have gained some satisfaction from helping others, ” he said.
The video of their good deed was posted on Twitter by one Hazidi Badarudin on Jan 4, and was retweeted 23,000 times.
Hazidi said his sister recorded it on the family’s journey back from Kuantan after attending a wedding.
“I was not with them, but according to my sister and mother, they saw a group of people on the side of the road and only found out the villagers were distributing food and water as they got closer to the site. She took a video of it as our father drove, ” he said.
Hazidi added that his family finally arrived home after 11 hours on the road, and the family was very grateful for the gesture.
“We found out that the settlement was called Felda Lakum from reading comments online. We will never forget their kindness and we pray that God will reward them, ” he said.
Did you find this article insightful?
100% readers found this article insightful
