Almost 30 years ago, and as a social experiment, a daily tabloid reputed for its sensationalism and activism assigned two male reporters to masquerade as street beggars.
The two dressed slovenly and strategically positioned themselves at a Chow Kit pedestrian bridge.
They slumped forlornly on the pavement, placed a cheap plastic bowl before them and pretended to look destitute. As soon as the crowd picked up, the social experiment took its course and by late afternoon, the two reporters, amazingly, collected spare change that was enough to buy a bucket of fried chicken.
The deception to acquire alms was repeated for another two days before the tabloid published the reporters' account, suggesting that our compassion is limitless, even if citizens get ripped off by confidence tricksters.
"Professional beggars", foreign-looking women tagged along by their grubby-looking children, and one-legged men or a motley crew of the wretched of the Earth, with arms extended, roam the inner cities.
By the day's end, a van arrives to pick them up as if they are factory workers finishing their shift of subterfuge before returning the next day for the same routine to cash in on humans with misplaced generosity.
We hate to say this, but Malaysian compassion is as much a vaunted virtue as it is a misplaced weakness. Anytime there's a tragic calamity, can-do Malaysians will rally to raise sizeable amounts of cash and kind for victims.
Perhaps the highest ever accumulated for a single donation drive was in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami — RM80 million or thereabouts.
One of the embarrassing aspects is that our abundant compassion is easy prey in a jungle of predatory scammers, who siphon a billion or so annually.
Yes, a billion! Some astounding examples: tricked over the phone while thieves notoriously burrow the unsuspecting victims' bank accounts right under their noses.
Officious-sounding callers convince their marks that they risk court appearances unless they cough up a hefty "fine".
Fraudsters have been tricking overseas victims since 2019, all under the protection of rogue law enforcers. And now this: a woman pretending to be a "mother" of her "cancer-stricken daughter", abetted by a "close relative", had raked in enough cash daily to buy mid-ranged link homes.
The scam caught many unwary and generous donors, who included VIPs, non-governmental organisations, politicians, newspaper staff and even a social media influencer with a huge following.
It proves our point: Malaysians will easily fall for a sob story. Or they get so possessed by greed that they lose perspective and fall victim to an old Nigerian email hustle.
There's a sucker born every minute, so goes the maxim exulted by mid-19th century American showman P.T. Barnum. He has a point: the precious lesson of don't ever get fooled.
To protect themselves, Malaysians must adopt a street savvy, anti-con job instinct that wields a foolproof ruthless streak to smell a stink. Be smart, yes, but don't lose our reputable benevolence for the misfortunes of legitimate victims.