Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I'm Sorry

That one fine Sunday night in July this year, I walked my way from Masjid Jamek LRT station towards Puduraya bus station, a norm I’ve been doing for the past few months. Well, I’m a weekend husband/daddy who commutes from JB to PJ, then back to JB by express bus, almost every week. So that night, I headed to Puduraya once again, to hop on the coach, going back to JB.

A friend of mine has waited by the side of the double-decker bus, as we promised. I saw he was talking to an unknown guy, in his twenties. The look at that guy’s face transformed the hint saying that he was in trouble. My friend explained to me that that guy claimed he was in trouble and was trying to get some help.

The guy then told me his pouch got stolen. He lost all his money, bus ticket and mobile phone. He was visiting a friend at a university in KL, and was on the way back to Kuantan that night. He then said that he has lodged a police report about the theft.

I assumed he is one poor college or university student, with an unfortunate luck, wandering around at Puduraya, at almost 11pm at night, alone.

He asked me whether I can help him with some money to buy a bus ticket so that he can go back to Kuantan. Roughly RM25 was needed for the bus ticket, quite a small amount of money for some people I guess (not really for me at my current state of affair though). Unfortunately, I was not carrying much cash in hand, so I handed him RM10, with a little bit of guilt for not being able to help him as much as he needed.

I even said sorry to him.

And I then departed the bus, get a little bit of sleep, and by 3am I was already in JB. Life turned back to a normal week, once again. Just like any other weeks of a salary man.

Last night, the same friend of mine who was waiting for his bus at Puduraya, sms-ed me saying that he saw the same guy, doing the same thing – asking help (money) from other people.

Now I know, that guy lied to me. He pretended like having a problem, and faked every single story, for the sake of getting easy money from other people.

Yes I was angry as I read the sms from my friend about it.

No, I was not angry for losing RM10 to a loser like him.

And I won’t beat him to death if I happen to see him again. I can’t even recognize his face at the first place. I’m not that good at remembering names or faces.

But I’m angry because, it has created a stereotype thinking inside me to say that,

“Nik, never ever help any strangers who came to you out of nowhere and ask for money, for whatever reason or trouble they may have, and for whatever bad luck that they may have. Just don’t be bothered with them and just leave them alone with their problems”.

Now, that sounded very wrong, right?

And I assume some of you may have heard the same thing, where some people pretended having an accident, or having mugged, or just being snatched, and came to us to ask for a little favor or help.

Even worst, not only money that they are looking for. It may even be a decoy to kidnap us. And for ladies, they may be kidnapped, raped, and God forbid – get killed!

It’s getting difficult for us to tell which is genuine, and which is fake.

What’s really happening to our society today huh?

As much as I don’t like to judge or label other human being, I also don’t like to be cheated, repeatedly.

I will definitely think twice, or get more information and proof from any poor fella asking for my help, before I even start to consider helping them.

Or else, I’ll just say, ”I’m sorry”.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

its a question everyone shud be asking themselves. what's true to their heart. :) nice write up nikkie boy.. keep em comin

-missjewelz-

p.s. : and yeah, trash the stereotypers

Anonymous said...

just gotta be careful...!!!!!!!

EnAikAY said...

Thanks Julie.
Hope this kind of things won't happen to any of my families, or friends.

Let us all be extra careful.

P/s: I think that dude should take up triathlon or marathon laa, let him see the world differently...

ian yusof said...

yup nik, happened to me too. But the guy was asking for donation for orphanage home. He was dressed in kopiyah and jubah. I never trust people easily, so I asked for IC and donation permits, jabatan Agama sijil etc, he showed me everything and I was convinced. Then I went back to my car only to find out that the guy's car was parked just beside mine AND HE WAS COUNTING THE MONEY WITH HIS LEGS UP ON THE DASHBOARD (with aurat exposed lak tuh)!!!! So, instead of yelling and swearing at the top of voice, I politely told him that the money is meant for orphans and its A HUGE SIN to consume. I left the place.
p/s - I still do it sincerely whenever opportunities arise, kalau dia nak buat aper pas tuh, that's between him and God.
p/s2 - sorry, ter'hijack' your column lagi...hehhehe

EnAikAY said...

Ian,
Oh gosh! No wonder that day i saw on Metro paper saying about those people with fake 'donation letter' for orphanages.

P/s: It's ok. You TER-hijack secara sengaja is still ok, but don't MENG-hijack secara tak sengaja ok.. hahaha.

Thanks for sharing.

zulhassan said...

waaa selalu tak bagi duit tapi kalau ada orang kata dia tak ada duit aku belanja dia makan adalah. Baik bagi kat surau atau masjid je lagi bagus. Kalau bagi pun tak iklas baik aku tak payah bagi.

Area pudu raya memang tempat orang makan orang kalau boleh elak ke sana kecuali ada betul2 real punya urusan. Kalau anda wanita jangan pergi sendirian bahaya danger.

Alamak aku pun tergodam column ko lak heheeh....

kookykash said...

It had to happen one day, Nik.

But I always look at it this way, God is giving you an easy way to collect pahala. And insyallah, yang datang nanti akan berganda.

EnAikAY said...

Bro Zul,
Area Puduraya tu memang bahaya danger achtung abunai yennadey!

Ye, yg paling best ialah bagi straight forward kat masjid, atau surau, atau pegi sendiri kat rumah anak2 yatim tu kalau nak bersedekah kan? Bila la wa nak jadi lebih pemurah ni... Hmmm

Kash,
True also of what you've said.

"To give, and to forget"

fyrul said...

dont worry nik...
yg penting, niat ko baik...
Allah pasti balas dgn mende yg baik, & balas yg sebaliknya kpd org yg menganiaya ko... itu janji Allah kpd org2 yg sabar

iamsyah said...

ah, I have had my moments of being a weekend husband for a year back in 2004, commuting KL-Skudai... tough times, huh.

Anyway, agreed with Zul, I bought them food etc, but never money. Tapi dah bagi tu takpe lah, janji niat ikhlas. Lepas tu antara dia dan Allah, jawab le sendiri. Kita bersyukur sbb selamat...

deejay said...

Bro.. it had happened tome a few times during my uni days kat ukm and even when i was wayyy back at form 3. the bloke thought that i was working already and even followed me!! some people would just cheat and lie. its not that we dont want to help but we just have to be extra careful.

EnAikAY said...

Fairul & Syah,
Yes, yang penting niat biar betul kan?

Dr DJ,
The bloke followed u? Wuuuuu.. that must be scary dude...

Adzimi said...

I guess this has happened to all of us before. And i agree, yang penting niat kita baik dan ikhlas untuk tolong dia. What he does with the money, if he's dishonest about it, is really between him and God. God is great and will reward/punish in many forms.

EnAikAY said...

That's true bro.
We better check OUR intention and honesty, not others'.
I agree with u.