Elderly man orders dinner for 8 but dines alone in Malaysia restaurant

For some, having dinner with the family can be viewed as repetitive, unremarkable or even a chore at times.

However, this Malaysian man did not seem to take it for granted after he was seen having a 'family meal' of sorts at a restaurant.

What's heartbreaking is the elderly man ordered a meal for eight but in actual fact, he was alone.

Facebook user Zupi Bakhtiar, who was at the same restaurant that night, posted what he saw on the social network on March 18.

The story came under the spotlight on Monday (April 25 ) when Malaysian radio station Zayan posted about it, garnering 255 comments and 1,000 shares at the time of writing. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/zayan.my/posts/1650530015309568[/embed]

Zupi's family had arrived at the restaurant at 10.30pm and after ordering their food, he noticed the elderly man from afar.

The elderly man, in a grey top, could be seen arranging the chairs, plates and cutlery around his eating area.

"At that point in time, I didn't think anything of it. But after a while, it got a little weirder as he would carefully re-arrange the positions of the chairs and plates in an orderly fashion," the post read.

Other diners were beginning to take notice of the elderly man's odd actions as well.

Zupi then spoke to a waiter and was told that the elderly man is a frequent customer.

He goes there two to three times a week and would order a meal for eight every time. He'd pay in full and should there be leftovers, he'd request for it to be packed, said the waiter.

In his post, Zupi said: "We don't know if his family is still alive or not. It was at this time that my wife began crying. My children also got sad."

It reached a point where his children had to console his wife.

Some netizens were equally inconsolable, with one sharing a rather similar experience.

"Since my dad passed away, I prepared a set of dishes for him for the first Chinese New Year reunion dinner. I know people must think I'm mentally ill, but I really can't eat without him. I only did it once and after that my mental illness got better. Over time, I just stop thinking about dad," the Facebook user shared.

Other netizens had differing views as to whether it would be advisable to approach the elderly man.

One netizen said: "[I would be] willingly [to] pay for all eight meals and give him my time if dining in wasn't a concern for me".

However, Zupi told Malaysian media company Wau Post that he hopes that netizens will not disturb the man and allow him to have his meals in peace.

He requested that the location of the restaurant be kept private out of respect for the elderly man.

amierul@asiaone.com