KUALA LUMPUR: The story of a kind-hearted woman paying for the meal of an elderly man has touched the hearts of Malaysians.
Through the Facebook account @Nasi Kandar Sulaiman, it was said that the woman, who was also a customer at the restaurant in Air Hitam, Penang, offered to pay for the elderly man's meal.
"The woman first saw the elderly man heading towards the restaurant and she immediately went to the counter to offer to pay for his meal.
"The man only asked for rice with chicken liver. The woman then asked him to choose other dishes available, but he replied that he didn't have any money.
"She then said 'no worries, I will pay for it'. The man then took a serving of fish, rice and iced tea," it wrote in the Facebook post.
The post described that the man was very happy not because he got to eat fish with his rice, but because he felt that someone still cared about him.
The owner of the account wanted to share the story to convey a message that every human being, especially those who are capable, should share their blessings with those in need.
"I believe there are many more elderly citizens like this man out there and they always eat only rice because they cannot afford more.
"So, it is us, the younger generation, who should help them. Just being able to treat them to a meal is enough."
The post touched the hearts of many netizens, some of whom suggested ways for restaurants to improve themselves to help people in need.
"Restaurants are recommended to provide donation boxes at the counter for food charity to those who are unable to afford it. We often eat with various delicious dishes, and without realising it, we forget that there are still people in need," wrote @Zaki Wai.
@Azie Surip's suggested for the restaurant to print meal tokens consisting of rice, one protein, one vegetable, and a drink and make them available for purchase to anyone willing to donate.
"If someone doesn't have money to buy a meal, they can take one of these tokens and redeem a meal set that has been donated by another customer," he said.
