As painful as it must have been to see his parked car damaged, a man couldn’t help but be moved by the honesty of the culprit.
Facebook user Tong Yee recounted that he had found a piece of paper slipped on his car’s windscreen upon returning back to his vehicle on Wednesday (Sept 23) morning.
Instead of a parking ticket, it was a note scribbled by someone who admitted to having knocked into the back of Tong’s car. An inspection revealed that his car’s bumper was indeed dented and soiled.
Fortunately, the culprit had left his contact number to settle the matter. In a series of WhatsApp screengrabs shared in his post, Tong’s exchange with the other party — a man by the name of Shamsul, presumed to be a migrant worker — had been pretty pleasant.
Genuinely apologetic and wanting to make amends with Tong, Shamsul was open to suggestions on how to proceed, admitting readily that it was due to his carelessness that the accident took place.
Impressed by the integrity, Tong mentioned that $200 would be enough to repair the small dent and that if any further costs were incurred, he would top it up himself. When Shamsul requested to make the payment the next week after his salary gets wired in, Tong said that a monthly instalment of $50 would be fine too.
Tong had been so impressed by the other party’s honesty that he invited Shamsul for dinner.
“I have not met you yet but I want to say that you really encouraged me,” Tong addressed his post to Shamsul. “I’ve been quite stressed recently. But you brought me a release that I needed. I will do my utmost in making sure you are honoured for your integrity.”
”And if you really are a foreign national working here, then bless you. It’s a privilege to have you working with us,” he added.
The exchange between the two has clearly made a mark on Facebook — Tong’s post garnered thousands of likes and shares.
[embed]https://www.facebook.com/tong.yee.79/posts/10160238543547891[/embed]
Some have even been moved enough, they offered to cover the cost of repair. Tong assured that a friend owns a car repair shop and wants to do the repairs at cost, so the payment should be very manageable.
ilyas@asiaone.com