The Poor May Not Be Envious Of The Rich After All

When we’re busy going about our everyday lives, we sometimes forget that there are many of those who are less fortunate than us, struggling just to get by.

With the recent commotion against the claims made by the Prime Minister, Dr Mahatir Mohamad with regards to the poor, an Ustaz by the name of Musyetaq shared a heartbreaking story on Twitter of a mother, barely able to pay for her son’s school fees.

Harini aku menangis.

Waktu pendaftaran, tiba-tiba si Ibu ini kata " Saya bayar rm30 dulu boleh Ustaz. Duit saya tak cukup nak bayar. Boleh kan "

Aku jawablah " Boleh puan, saya faham awal tahun ni ". pic.twitter.com/58qX153NLp

— Musyetaq 💕 (@AbeMusytaq) January 6, 2020

The conversation between them started with the mother asking politely to the Ustaz to pay for her son’s registration fee in installments

"I pay RM30 first Ustaz. I don't have enough money to pay.” She said

Ustaz Mustetaq understood that is was the start of the year and there’s probably a lot of pending payments to be made.

Then, si Ibu ni bercerita : " Ye la, awal tahun ni 6 orang anak saya masuk sekolah, sekaligus. Dengan bayar roadtax kereta. Lagipun suami sorang je kerja. Gaji cukup2 makan ". Tiba2 dia menitiskan air mati depan aku.

Weh aku ni dah la lemah dengan air mata.

— Musyetaq 💕 (@AbeMusytaq) January 6, 2020

The mother then continued, “It’s the beginning of the year and I have six children registering for school. At the same time, I also have to pay for my car’s roadtax.” said the mother with tears in her eyes.

Dia sambung lagi " Ini je saya mampu bayar Ustaz, insyaAllah bulan depan saya cuba bayar habis "

Aku jawab lah " tak apa puan, saya faham. Apa2 boleh bagitahu saya. "(Sambil cover air mata).

— Musyetaq 💕 (@AbeMusytaq) January 6, 2020

She added " I can only afford this Ustaz, God’s willing, I'll try to pay in full next month"

The Ustaz replied, holding back tears "It's okay, I understand. If there’s anything I can help, just let me know”.

He later revealed that the mother has a 7-year-old son that won’t be attending school this year since the family couldn’t afford to pay for his school fees.

As a teacher, Musyetaq had seen many similar cases, one of which involved a grandfather barely able to pay for grandchild’s school fees after the boy lost his parents.

Sebenarnya ramai yang susah. Tadipun, ada pakcik tua datang. Daftar dekat aku. Dia kata " saya bayar yang ini je dulu ye. Sebab tak cukup duit. Saya atuknya. Saya jaga dia skrg, sebab mak ayahnya dah tak ada "

Yang ni aku dengar luluh hati. Ya Allah.. 😭

— Musyetaq 💕 (@AbeMusytaq) January 6, 2020

Musyetaq’s story has since gone viral, with people expressing their sympathies and highlighting the plight of the poor here in Malaysia.

sebenarnya keluarga yang gaji 3/4k sebulan ni bukan cukup pun tapi minima syarat nak mohon bantuan adalah 1k untuk seisi keluarga bukan semua 3/4k tu mampu trust me my family also tak layak nak mohon dan kami bukan hidup senang pun tapi bila cuba mohon selalu syarat tak lepas

— 235 like your (@MeZakuan) January 6, 2020

Politicians yang makan duit rakyat ni tak rasa bersalah ka kalau masih ada rakyat yang lagi memerlukan waktu era ekonomi macam ni

— 🦸🏻‍♂️ (@alanrslee) January 6, 2020

Even popular actress, Adibah Noor, clapped back at the Prime Minister’s statement, saying that the poor may not even have the time to envy the rich.

mereka tak dengki pun pada yg kaya dan mereka tak malas.
besar kemungkinan tak ada masa pun nak fikir apa org lain fikir.
bacalah... https://t.co/nzj5qf1xKi

— ADIBAH NOOR 🇲🇾😼 (@adibahnoor) January 7, 2020

Many have reached out to Musyetaq in response to his story and put in their donations to help both the mother and the grandfather.

We wish for the two families to get the help that they need and hope that this story will serve as a reminder to all of us to be more compassionate and kind to those who are less fortunate than us.

By: Siti Farhana Sheikh Yahya