It has been a roller coaster ride since 1st Jan 2020, a ride we all want to end as soon as possible. The year filled with surprises that no one would ever wish for.
The bushfire in Australia, World War 3 tension, passing of great sports personalities, actors, academicians, and finally the deadly virus.We all had a fair share of fear sneak-in within us everyday we stepped out of our home to seek livelihood, the fear of viruses.
The number of cases still fluctuating in Malaysia and stay home, stay safe, keep 1 meter distance have become the new mantra to life.But we need to admit it is not a year to forget but to remember.
There are not only sad stories everywhere but also a fair share of inspiring stories happened around us. We get to notice how a common person is able to inspire hundreds of people to not give up and strive hard to sustain a balanced life.
A glimpse of hope created by these individuals gave so much positivity this year which was very rare to be felt.
First of all, Ustaz Ebit Liew.
Well especially in 2020 we all became very familiar with this word appearing on various media platforms.
He is an entrepreneur and most importantly a good human being. With 4.9 million followers on his instagram account he never failed to raise the eyebrows of many Malaysians.
He became even famous for his good deeds during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.He started to deliver essential needs for the needy people all around Malaysia and also takes the credit for sending 10 tonnes of basic food items to aid Sabah during a spike in covid cases.
He also sets up a food bank at all his convenience stores ‘ElewsMart’.
It has become a norm to tag Ustaz Ebit Liew whenever someone sees another suffering in any of the social media platforms.
They believe their local hero would arrive for the help and this has been made true in recent days.
Many news portals have covered a story of a family in Penang living in their car for the past few months which created ample sympathy among Malaysians and people trying to give a hand to pull the family out of their tough financial situation.
As we can see in the comment section of all the posts, the majority of the people tagged Ustaz Ebit Liew and with no surprise he helped the family with all the essential needs in 2 days of time.
His inspiring story during this pandemic period teaches us one important life lesson ‘We rise by lifting others’.
Another individual that took the news media by a storm is Kavievanan Subramaniam.
An engineering graduate at the age of just 23 took the initiative to become an entrepreneur by selling Masala Tea on his bicycle. It is not a fairy tale story of him, there is hard work, creativity, and attitude behind the success of his business.
He graduated and started to look for jobs but fortunately he did not get a job and this idea pops up. He did not tell his parents until a day before he went out on the street to sell his special flavorful masala tea afraid of rejection from them but eventually he managed to convince them.
For the first few weeks he tried out cycling around and selling his tea just to check the market.
His persistence bought him regular customers and social media made this young entrepreneur an idol to many youngsters.Today he sells almost 500 cups a day by just cycling around the hotspots of Kuala Lumpur.
He taught us “Life is what you make it”.
Finally we will look at Uncle Kentang,
The guy behind RM0.10 sen Taxi service, RM1 funeral hearse and RM1 transit home.
His name is Kuan Chee Heng and affectionately known as uncle kentang. He came from a very humble rubber tapper family and has been an entrepreneur and policeman.
He took the initiative to help the needy since he was young. He firmly believes there is no specific time or place to do charity and one should strive to help fellow men at all times.
He’s other charitable deeds include the ‘Pasar 10 sen’.initiated to help the less fortunate to buy pre-loved items only at RM 0.10.
People like him are quite a rare gem to be found on this planet earth and we must be proud and blessed to have Uncle Kentang in our neighbourhoods.
Kuan Chee Henag a.k.a. Uncle Kentang teach us “Keep the less fortunate in mind”
And that is not the end of our local inspiring figures, there are many of them out there bringing change into people’s lives.
Let’s end the year by giving a thought and prayer for the people that inspired us to lead life no matter how difficult it is.