Proud to be part of the community
New immigrant to Singapore Alastair Hughes found himself faced with a kind Singaporean who helped his family when his car broke down on the Malaysian highway. The Singaporean went out of his way to help the family and gave them a lift back home.
Find out what more the good Samaritan, Mr Arik Yuen, did to allow Mr Hughes to feel proud being part of the Singapore community.
Truly Singaporean good Samaritan
OUR car broke down on the Malaysian highway about 130km from Singapore while we were returning after a short holiday recently.
I left the vehicle on the road shoulder and began to walk towards the nearest emergency phone. A Singaporean motorist spotted the Singaporean number plate and gave me a lift in his car to the phone. I thanked him and he continued on his journey.
But the emergency phone did not work so I walked back to my car and family. The traffic police arrived and we called the Malaysian Automobile Association, but an ensuing confusion left us waiting for hours.
Out of the blue, the same kind Singaporean who gave me a lift to the emergency phone reappeared. He had driven almost the whole way back to Singapore but turned round and came all the way back to assist us. He helped us to sort out the tow truck and drove my family and myself in his car behind the tow truck to an industrial estate in Johor.
We had to wait there for another couple of hours for a different tow truck to take us across the border to Singapore and the Singaporean insisted on staying with us to make sure we were safe.
He also insisted on giving my wife and two daughters a lift back to our home in Singapore while I went in the tow truck with my broken down car.
When I eventually returned to Singapore, the Malaysian truck driver could not find the car workshop where I had agreed to deposit the car for repairs and by then, it was late in the night.
And for the second time, the kind Singaporean appeared yet again and helped me find the workshop and then insisted on giving me a lift back home to my family.
We could not thank the man enough, but he answered our gratitude with a simple observation: 'If we cannot help each other then who is going to help us?'
Our Singaporean good Samaritan is Mr Arik Yuen of Holland Avenue. We have been living in Singapore for 11 months and this has made us very proud to be part of the community.
Alastair Hughes
Source: 18 November 2009, The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Permission required for reproduction.