A Malaysian man had a pleasant surprise when he brought his mother for her Covid-19 vaccination appointment last week at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL).
Yudistra Darma Dorai, despite being a self-proclaimed critic of how the country handled the pandemic, posted in a Facebook group ‘AstraZeneca Volunteers (Malaysia)’ expressing his praise for his experience at the vaccination center.
“It was my mum’s appointment today for her AstraZeneca shot and taking her for this wasn’t easy,” he wrote on Thursday, 20 May.
“From getting there, parking, walking to the right hall… Plus, reassuring her all the time as she had seen something on BBC about the risk of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” said Yudistra. He had also shared that his mother has asthma, walking difficulties, and dementia.
To top it all, Yudistra was not a particularly patient person. When they got inside the centre, they saw long queues.
Look at that queue! (source: Yudistra Darma Dorai – Facebook)
Yet, just as they found the right queue and were getting in line, his mother needed to use the restroom. So, Yudistra asked a young man nearby, in a Civil Defence Force uniform where the toilet was. The blue-clad officer answered it was 400m away, and then just turned around and walked away.
(source: The Malaysian Reserve)
This irritated Yudistra, but just as he was about to ask his mother to hold it in, the officer came back with a wheelchair! The officer then gently asked her to sit in it, to which she refused pridefully.
“I was about to lose my temper with her when the young man signaled me to be quiet,” said Yudistra.
The young officer asked his mother what she used to work as. Upon discovering that she was a teacher, he gave her a speech about how she has served the nation and now it was the nation’s turn to give back.
She then smiled and got into the wheelchair.
“After that, not just for my mum, but for all old folk, it was Golden VIP all the way,” Yudistra remarked. He also shared how his mum felt embarrassed and apologised whenever a queue was held up for her, but people smiled back and said “no problem”.
The vaccination and the process leading up to it was smooth sailing! (source: Yudistra Darma Dorai – Facebook)
Yudistra was impressed at how everything was smooth sailing, what more that the fantastic ushers, medical staff, and doctors were all volunteers.
“Rarely in a government milieu have I said ‘thank you’ so much and meant it,” he expressed.
