BY: Michelle Liew
With the Movement Control Order (MCO) in place, everyone barring essential workers are stuck at home.
Due to the inability to eat outside or having no time to churn up a meal, food deliveries have been our go-to and in fact, for some of us, the food delivery person is the only person we meet during this lockdown.
For Dayana Reza, she managed to have a memorable conversation with a Foodpanda ‘Pink Walker’, a delivery person who sends all their orders by foot, last week.
Hailing from Kuala Lumpur, Dayana shared her experience in The Republic of Bangsar Facebook group and her story garnered massive attention ever since. She reiterated the importance of practising random acts of kindness.
“Do a random act of kindness every day, even if it is just a warm greeting, a smile, or a silent prayer for another,” she wrote on June 17.
“I don’t know if it is fate, but I got [the same Foodpanda walker] as my delivery warrior twice in a week. First for my nasi kerabu and second for my nasi goreng kampung today within the area.”
After receiving her food delivery during the first time, Dayana passed the Pink Walker an Apollo cake and a wafer biscuit as a token of appreciation. The man replied, “Thank you so much, Miss. It really made my day.”
With the Pink Walkers walking in the scorching hot weather just to make extra income, Dayan thought it was the least she could have done.
The next day, it was her luck that she met the same deliveryman again. She gladly gave him the extra nasi goreng which she ordered in preparation for whoever delivered her food. As he was not expecting such a kind gesture, the deliveryman started to tear up at the offer.
“I was so touched and had a moment of reflection [too] when he started tearing up. He was so grateful and it was just not an easy sight to see a kind man break down in the midst of his work.”
“I held my tears back and only cried my eyeballs out to my mum over the phone as I went back up to my house,” she adds.
Dayana then discovered that the man’s name was Ramesh and he had been working with Foodpanda full-time for close to a month.
She got to know later that his name is Ramesh and that he has been working with foodpanda full-time for almost a month now. After Dayana’s viral post, she contacted Ramesh again, who was grateful for the netizens’ kind words and sent his warmest regards back.
It is apparent that Ramesh lives in Puchong with his girlfriend while his family is in Johor. He does foodpanda deliveries by foot as he does not own a motorcycle. The 41-year-old takes public transport to the city centre daily to the KL Gateway-University station, where he is based.
Dayana reminded everyone that a little act of kindness will give a lasting impact.
“I humbly ask for anybody else here, if you do have some extra funds from your business or your job, or if you happen to have room for another mee goreng or Ramly burger, one random act to belanja (treat) someone can go such a long way.”
“I hope more of us can do this to really support and be there for one another in these tough times. Some of us still have our jobs, some of us still can survive and put food on the table, yet some are really struggling and living day to day,” she said.
“Even if you can’t donate or get a meal for someone, it is okay, just always be kind to these riders and random strangers who are making an honest living to get our essentials or needs to us during this pandemic.”
Dayana’s encounter is a reminder to all of us that no single job is as easy as it seems and there is no harm in reciprocating the deed especially during times in need such as a pandemic.
