This made my day: Man befriends mute and disabled senior living alone in Admiralty

An act of kindness was the start of a friendship between two strangers.

On his way home from work on Monday (Dec 13), Muhammad Alfian Bin Abdul Ramlan, 27, chanced upon an elderly man who was pushing his own wheelchair.

Seeing that he was alone, Muhd Alfian offered to wheel him home and realised the senior, whose name is Kassim Bin Ramli, could not speak.

When they reached his flat, the elderly man asked him to stay.

With a pen and notebook, Kassim wrote down some words to explain his situation to the younger man. He lived alone and had few visitors. The elderly man also asked Muhd Alfian to teach him how to send a text message on his smartphone. 

Muhd Alfian agreed and even gave his phone number to Kassim, promising that he would visit him again. 

The unit operations executive shared his encounter with the senior in a TikTok video that garnered over 86,700 views and more than 200 comments within a day.

@fyxxn94

Today I helped him, he helped me instead.

♬ Kamado Tanjirou no Uta (From "Kimetsu no Yaiba") - ShiroNeko

"I gave him assistance but he showered me with love by giving me bread and a cup of ice bandung.

"He made me realise that I do have a heart," Muhd Alfian told AsiaOne on Wednesday.

The younger man's act of kindness earned the respect of netizens who left many heartwarming comments on his video. There were also others who encouraged him to contact social welfare organisations so that the senior could get help. 

True to his word, Muhd Alfian visited Kassim for a second time the following day, armed with some food and drinks for his new friend. 

Although his second TikTok video included some snippets of his interaction with the senior, it also revealed Kassim's heart-wrenching past. 

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Bless You Kind Soul ❤️

♬ колыбельная - Rauf & Faik

Using his notebook, he told Muhd Alfian he was beaten up by a stranger 22 years ago, which damaged the left side of his brain and left him paralysed. 

The elderly man used to live with three migrant workers who would help him with his daily chores but they have since left to start their own families. 

Now, Kassim spends most of his time alone and only gets yearly visits from his siblings. 

In the video, the senior asked Muhd Alfian to take him out for a walk whenever possible, a favour the latter said he couldn't turn down. 

"He was so happy that I came today. He cried and hugged me before I left," Muhd Alfian wrote.

He also started an online fundraiser to raise money to help Kassim pay for his daily necessities and medical bills. 

ALSO READ: This made my day: Man feeds tissue seller with disabilities in Bedok

claudiatan@asiaone.com