Woman accidentally discards her gold jewellery
We rarely bat an eyelid when it comes to discarding items from our homes that we no longer have use for. But it’s a whole different ball game when we accidentally throw away valuable items that aren’t meant to be thrown out.
This Malaysian housewife in Penang almost had a tale of her own to tell, after she accidentally threw away a pouch of gold jewellery while she was tidying her house. Fortunately, she managed to recover it with the help of sanitation workers, who dug through piles of rubbish for four hours to find her jewellery.
Gold jewellery discarded by accident in the midst of cleaning
On 20th February 2022, Rohaya Ismail took to Facebook to recount how she had accidentally thrown her gold jewellery into the dustbin.
The morning before, Rohaya was in the midst of cleaning her house while holding onto a bag of valuable gold jewellery she had bought before she was married. When her four-month-old son started crying, she hurried over to change his diapers and absentmindedly placed the pouch of jewellery next to the used diapers.
Image credit: Yaya Ismail
When she was done with her task, Rohaya gathered the soiled diaper to throw away – but mistakenly threw out her jewellery along with it into the dustbin.
It was only after the garbage had been collected by the sanitation workers that she realised what had happened.
Image credit: Yaya Ismail
Frantic, she called upon her brother Mohd. Yusuf Ismail to help her locate the garbage truck of Majlis Bandaraya Seberang Perai (MBSP).
She wrote in her Facebook post that her brother had to chase down a garbage truck at Teluk Air Tawar. He proceeded to plead for the sanitation workers to help locate her jewellery.
Graciously, MBSP agreed to look for her gold, despite knowing that the job would not be easy.
Image credit: Yaya Ismail
Several MBSP workers had to head to Tasek Gelugor Cleaning Operations Depot at 9AM the next morning to rummage through a humongous pile of rubbish – which we can only imagine to be incredibly foul-smelling.
It was about 1PM when her tiny bag of gold was eventually found.
Image credit: Yaya Ismail
Gratitude for the effort of the MBSP workers
Rohaya mentioned in her post that she was ready to accept the possibility of her precious gold not being found, as she was aware that looking for her tiny bag amongst the gigantic pile of rubbish was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Image credit: Yaya Ismail
But the efforts of the sanitation workers saw her jewellery miraculously recovered from the garbage pile. Rohaya was ecstatic when she was informed of the discovery, and extremely grateful towards the workers who had spent time to search for her gold.
“I am so lucky that there are workers like them who are extremely trustworthy and sincere in doing their jobs. I do hope that their attitudes can be an inspiration to everyone, and that they will be rewarded accordingly for their effort,” she wrote in her Facebook post.
Image credit: Yaya Ismail
Despite the workers’ refusal to accept her money, Rohaya shared that she insisted on rewarding them with some cash as a token of appreciation for their efforts.
Image credit: Yaya Ismail
Not all heroes wear capes
Sanitation workers have the tough responsibility of clearing our rubbish and keeping our streets clean. Apart from getting their jobs well done, they also look out for the public too, such as these everyday heroes in Penang, who went above and beyond to help this woman who had almost lost her valuable items.
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Cover image adapted from: Yaya Ismail and Penang Kini