GEORGE TOWN: A group of Malay Muslim men came to the aid of a distressed Chinese woman whose car had broken down in the middle of Jalan Kelawai here on Friday, by pushing it to the side of the road.
The men had been at a nearby mosque for Friday prayer.
Penang Island City Council member Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, who was at the scene, took a recording of the incident and uploaded it to his Facebook page.
“We must promote the tolerance shown. We live in a multicultural society. A car driven by a Chinese lady broke down in the middle of the road and caused a bottleneck at Jalan Kelawai. A group of Muslim men attending Friday prayers moved the car to the side,” was the post’s caption.
The video has since gone viral, with more than 37,000 views, 700 likes and 500 shares.
When contacted, Bakhtiar said that he was walking towards the mosque when he noticed that a white car had stalled on the road.
“The woman driver was standing next to her car, looking worried and lost, while the traffic behind her slowed to a crawl, and a few drivers honked at her.
“A group of about six men from the mosque then walked over to her car, spoke to her and then helped push her car to the side of the road.
“It was around 1.30pm, just as the sermon started, and many worshippers were still heading towards the mosque,” he said.
Bakhtiar said he recorded the scene and posted the video as he knew how much people love seeing such random acts of kindness.
However, he did not expect it to go viral.
“It warms the heart to see how people help each other, regardless of race and religion. It restores our faith in humanity,” he said.
Bakhtiar said that highlighting the incident is important, especially in the wake of the fracas in front of a surau in Johor Baru during Friday prayers, recently.
Last week, a non-Muslim motorist honked repeatedly when his car was blocked by vehicles parked on both sides of the road outside a surau in Johor Baru.
A group of enraged Muslim worshippers went after the car, damaged the vehicle and beat up the driver.