7 minutes
SINGAPORE: #Kitabersaudara. Food Not For Sale. From Ummah For Ummah. This Food For Charity. Malaysian Say ‘Hi’ For Me.
Those are the words written on a piece of a cardboard box tied to a man’s backpack while carrying two large blue plastic bags of an international furniture company containing 80 packs of food and 20 pieces of capati.
Who is this guy?
He is Arafat Mahyiddin, a Malaysian who is willing to help distribute food by travelling on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) with no delivery fee to help fellow citizens here who are in need.
“I usually do this on weekends as I’m working on weekdays,” he told Bernama who had an opportunity to follow his delivery journey last Sunday.
Based on the MRT map, Arafat, 37, will plan his journey to ensure smoothness so that the recipients would not have to wait too long for the food.
According to Arafat, 37, who started working in the republic in November 2018, he has a set of recipient list of about 100 Malaysians who are mostly working as cleaners and factory workers in the republic.
Asked why he needed to wear that placard, the father of three said otherwise he would not be allowed to be in the MRT as he would be considered carrying a lot of goods and would be required to use an alternative mode of transport.
“However, knowing these supplies are for charity...the MRT authorities and passengers started giving an excellent cooperation,” he said.
The man who grew up in Pahang said he usually takes the food supplies from a distribution centre in Pasir Ris at around 2.30pm before making his trip that will normally end around 7.00pm.
He will stop at no less than 10 stations all the way to Marsiling in the north that will cover areas such as Tampines, Bedok, Geylang, Kallang, Bukit Merah, Queenstown, Clementi and Jurong East.
The writer also helped to keep an eye on the two blue plastic bags when Arafat, a graduate of a university in Indonesia, stopped to perform Asar prayers at a staircase of one of the stations.
As of why he needs to deliver to the needy, Arafat said: “Some of them are at work...I can help save their travelling cost and time as they do not have to come to Pasir Ris which is located at the western end of the island.”
And why he is willing to take this responsibility, Arafat who works in the manufacturing sector said: “If there is a ‘pahala’ (reward from Allah), I beg it to be given to my late father. Otherwise, it is just to keep me busy so as not to think my kids and wife, too much.”
Interested in the art of photography, Arafat said the food was prepared by a group of Singaporeans under a slogan “Kita Bersaudara”.
“I had followed this charity effort ever since I was in Malaysia. So, when my employer wanted me to come back here, it also gave me the chance to join in this charity work,” said Arafat who did not make it to enter Singapore on March 18, the day the Malaysian Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented, and was only called by his employer to enter the republic in September.
One of “Kita Bersaudara” leaders, Mohd Razib Ibrahim who was met at the distribution centre in Pasir Ris said about 180,000 packs of food have been distributed to “Anak Malaysia” since last March with an average of 500 to 600 packs a day.
Mohd Razib said the group has helped “Anak Malaysia”, regardless of race and religion, since the move to tighten the borders by both Malaysia and Singapore was taken last March due to curb Covid-19.
“We get donations from various parties including a bank in Malaysia that operates here. With the donation, our friends who have a catering business will help cook a complete food worth three dollars per pack to be distributed,” he said.
Arafat and the writer ended their five-hour delivery journey at the Marsiling MRT station before having a plate of fried noodles, each, together with the last recipient Muhamad Yusri Said who works as a cleaner at a factory here.
“I am thankful that this supply can save a little on the cost of buying food every month,“ said Yusri, who had not returned to Malaysia for almost a year now.
The writer, who had witnessed and felt the difficulty of the noble effort, promised to get Arafat a trolley so that he would not have to carry that two heavy blue bags again. — Bernama
