Driving is simply a way to get from one place to another but for one Zai Bakar, it’s an opportunity to help others.
In a Facebook post published on the Do Good Asia Community page, Zai recently shared her account of how she offers free rides to those in need whenever she can.
She wrote that she drives every day – be it for work, to send her children to school, or just to get to her next destination.
The 50-year-old property agent said: “When I drive, I will look around to see [if] anyone needs me to send them to their destination.”
In her post, Zai said that she would look out for folks such as the elderly, or those with walking aids or wheelchairs. She would also approach children who don the same school uniform as her own kids, and their parents.
Recently, Zai came across an elderly uncle standing by the side of the road under the hot sun. “I happened to drive by him, and I decided to make a U-turn,” Zai wrote.
When she approached him, the elderly man told Zai that he had come from the polyclinic nearby, and was waiting by the side of the road to flag a taxi so he could head home. So she offered to send him home. “He looked so happy,” said Zai.
Other stories you might like
Speaking to The Pride, Zai added that the elderly man, who was using a walking aid, was carrying many bags of medicine.
“I turned on my hazard light and stopped in front of him to ask him where he was going,” Zai recalled. “He said he was headed home, in Sembawang, and had been waiting a long time for a taxi to no avail.”
Zai also recalled how she faced difficulties trying to help the elderly uncle into her car, as he was unable to fully bend his knees. “I had to ask him to turn and face me, and then sit backwards into the car, and slowly shift his legs one at a time, into my car,” Zai said.
When Zai reached Sembawang, she helped him out of his car, and unfolded his walking aid.
But her act of kindness didn’t end there.
When Zai found that the elderly man hadn’t had his lunch yet, she offered him ten dollars to spend at the coffee shop nearby.
“After that, I sent him to the lift and I went home,” said Zai.
Zai added that she has been offering others a ride since 2004, and hasn’t come across anyone who abused her kindness.
“I just [wanted] to share there are people out there [who] need us,” she wrote.