Photo: Facebook (Fahmi Fadzil)
Social media is always unforgiving, especially towards those who hold positions of power.
Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil felt this when he jokingly tweeted about a car that was in pretty bad condition. While some found the humour in it, there were others who took it the wrong way. One Twitter user, in particular, claimed that the driver of the car was her friend, who worked as a GrabFood driver and single-handedly took care of his parents. She also asked Fahmi not to mock him.
Photo: Facebook (Fahmi Fadzil)
Taking the advice to heart, Fahmi decided to look for the guy and apologise to him, while also helping him out in any way he could. With the power of social media, he found the owner of the car, Mr. Yap Chi Hoe.
Initially, Mr. Yap refused to meet, so Fahmi simply considered it a closed chapter. A few days later, however, Mr. Yap initiated contact and they met.
As it turned out, Mr. Yap lives in Klang, works as a lorry driver, and his parents are no longer around. To top it off, he also doesn’t know anyone by the name of “Riza Tan”, the Twitter user who claimed to be his ‘friend’. The condition of the car was due to an accident Mr. Yap was involved in on 8th September, when his car was hit by a lorry container from behind. Because he had an appointment, Mr. Yap decided he would just drive his car despite it being in that condition.
Photo: Facebook (Fahmi Fadzil)
From their meet up, Fahmi also discovered that Mr. Yap had vision problems that could lead to total vision loss. He then made up his mind to lend as much help as he could.
With help from Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Mr. Yap was accepted as a pro bono case as part of their CSR project. He was then diagnosed with chronic retinal detachment in one of his eyes while the other eye required laser surgery.
The surgery, which commenced on 15th October, went smoothly. To make things even better, the insurance company will be helping Mr. Yap with his car, which was totaled.
Meanwhile, the Twitter user who claimed to know Mr. Yap saw it as an accomplishment, because without her, he never would have gotten that surgery. While we are not sure lying is a smart move, the story does have a pretty happy ending.
Social media truly does have a lot of power!
