Woman Helps Neighbour By Buying Grocery Items For Them

Woman helps neighbour who raised white flag

The pandemic hasn’t been easy to navigate. But Malaysians have been putting their best foot forward by coming to the aid of individuals struggling to make ends meet during these trying times – as shown by the Bendera Putih campaign.

A woman in KL happened to come across a thoughtful Malay woman shopping for necessities for her Chinese neighbour who had raised a white flag. The Malay woman was praised by netizens for going out of her way to help her neighbour – to the point of asking for help selecting a suitable soya sauce in a wholesome show of consideration.

Woman shops for neighbour, taking into account preferences

On 4th July 2021, netizen @CarolYong took to Twitter to share a conversation she had with a shopper at a grocery store.

woman helps neighbour - @carolyong twitter screenshot
Image credit: @carolyong

According to the post, the Malay woman had stopped her to ask, “Which soya sauce do Chinese people usually go for?” To this, Carol responded by recommending a soya sauce brand she personally thought tasted good.

Carol shared with The Smart Local Malaysia that she was intrigued because she thought that the question was unusual. Most confused shoppers would ask where something was located, and “not about preferred soya sauce brands,” she said.

Carol then said that she went on to point out other tinned foods the woman “could consider getting for a Chinese household, such as canned corn, baked beans and mushrooms.” The woman had also wanted to know if there was a particular brand of rice the Chinese community typically preferred – a thoughtful gesture that both her and Malaysians online praised.

Image credit: @CarolYong

After thanking Carol for helping her out, the woman explained that one of her neighbours had flown a white flag as part of the Bendera Putih campaign. She wanted to help them out, as she was part of a committee in her neighbourhood reaching out to aid struggling individuals at this time.

While shopping for necessities for a particular neighbour in need, she caught the attention of Carol – and Malaysians online – with her thoughtfulness. She took minute details into consideration as she gathered grocery items for her neighbours, who may have different preferences, even asking other shoppers for their opinion.

As such, Carol said that she was touched at the woman’s kindness, but nonetheless saddened at the need for the Bendera Putih campaign. But with Malaysians known to be a caring bunch, she feels that Malaysians’ “beauty, spirit, strength and resilience shines through in these tough moments we are going through. As long as we keep our semangat kejiranan (harmony) and tolong–menolong (help one another), we will weather through this storm together because this is the Malaysian spirit.”

Netizens applaud thoughtful woman shopping to help others

Netizens were just as touched by Carol’s account of the woman. Her tweet amassed over 24,000 likes and 19,000 retweets at the time of writing – something that she didn’t expect would happen. She simply decided to share the story of her conversation with the woman, as her kind and humble actions was worth noting, and hopefully bring smiles to Malaysians who may came across her tweet.

One netizen tweeted, “Super proud moment thinking about how Malaysians will definitely come together in times of need. This is what Malaysia and Malaysians are truly about. Thanks for sharing an amazing story! Thanks makcik for being so considerate.”

Woman helps Chinese neighbour - comment
Image adapted from: Twitter

Another netizen said, “This akak literally went out of her way to donate the best stuff [crying face emoji]” while also adding the hashtag #KitaJagaKita.

Image adapted from: Twitter

Some also said the incident made them proud to be Malaysian, including this Twitter user who tweeted, “Sincerely hope that everyone is in this together. We Malaysians can get through this – MUST get through this! Thanks [for] all the kindness and love that’s spread around. I am so proud to be Malaysian.”

Woman helps Chinese neighbour - comment
Image adapted from: Twitter

Woman helps neighbour by shopping for essentials in consideration

Malaysians have been looking out for each other while we’re weathering out the pandemic together. This is shown by many with the rampant spread of the Bendera Putih campaign, of which this thoughtful woman was a part of. We applaud her for going the extra mile to take into consideration details, such as brands while picking out grocery items for Malaysians in need of aid, which most would typically overlook.