KUALA LUMPU: A story involving biscuits, bread and kuih bahulu has become the biggest lesson for a humanitarian activist here recently.
This happened when Amal Ehsan Care president Kelana Putra Muhamad met with an elderly man who was sitting outside a restaurant near the former's home in Kajang.
Kelana Putra said the man looked despondent when they first met.
"My wife had told me about the elderly man and how he always seemed to look sad. The man also could not walk. When I approached him, he told me that he was hungry and only wanted to have some biscuits, bread and kuih bahulu.
"He explained that whenever he was hungry, he would go to that spot in front of the restaurant. He said that food delivery riders who came to the restaurant to pick up orders would often help him out," he told the New Straits Times Press.
As the two of them talked some more, the elderly man asked for a copy of the Quran. Kelana Putra was taken aback by the request because coincidentally, he often gave out free copies of the Quran during humanitarian missions he joined locally and abroad.
"I went to my car and grabbed a copy of the Quran to give to the man, who later told me that he lived in a nearby house provided by Lembaga Zakat Selangor.
"I felt guilty and sinful because I had been passing by that restaurant every day whenever I made my way to extend aid to people in other places, yet I failed to to see what was in front of my eyes.
"The saddest moment was when the man showed me the frayed pages of the Quran which he had. At that moment, I was grateful that I had met him."
Kelana Putra said the encounter was a valuable lesson that taught him to be aware of his surroundings to make sure that no one in the community was left behind.
He said he intended to suggest to the elderly man to move into a care home if the latter agreed to it.