Do Good Whenever You Can
By: Benny Lim
Tags: Humanity, Do Good, Warm Heart, Kindness, Good Deeds

This year has been quite a rollercoaster for many of us. From natural disasters happening at the beginning of the year to the current pandemic that we’re all facing. Not to mention, the crazy political scenes across the world as certain politicians try to stay in power.

It’s a crazy and unpredictable time for all of us, but above all, it’s also a very scary time for all of us.

When my country was put on lockdown back in March, it felt like something you’d see in the movies. Everything was dead. The roads were empty, offices, schools and the majority of shops were closed. The only things allowed to open were eateries (only for take-away) and supermarkets for people to buy groceries. Even then, there was a limit as to how many people could be inside the vicinity at a time.

It felt like a ghost town for most of the parts. People were not even allowed to chill outside of their houses. There were so many cases of people getting a warning and even fined by the police forces doing their rounds — just for sitting directly outside of their house gates.

Many followed the SOPs put in place by the government and many were scared to go out, in fear of catching or spreading the virus.

It’s been 7 months since the lockdown happened and while things have improved since then, my country is now seeing the third wave of infections.

Just as businesses were slowly picking up, just as people were trying to get back on their feet again, things have started to crumble yet again for quite a few of them and that’s why, if you can, if you have the opportunity to do so, do a good deed whenever you can.

An unexpected good deed that I was able to do today was to help a small food business near where my in-laws are living. 3 weeks ago, the government enforced another lockdown in my country but only for selected areas. My area was one of it. But because I needed to travel for work, I was not in my area when the lockdown started.

My wife and son were also out and therefore we were able to escape the lockdown. However, due to the lockdown, we were not able to go back home. Therefore, we decided to stay at my in-laws as their area wasn’t placed on lockdown. We’ve been here since. Because my office is located in an area that was placed on lockdown, all employees in my company had been ordered to work from home until the lockdown is lifted so it’s worked in a way where I don’t really need to be at home.

Over the last 3 weeks, we’ve been trying our best to just stay indoors as much as possible. I’d go out once every 3–4 days just to buy groceries and other household necessities. Even my son’s school had to close for a while and everything shifted to online classes.

However, being a weekend today, we didn’t feel like cooking and thought to eat some takeaway food instead. Have a change of taste for a change. And so, the wife and I went out just before lunchtime to the nearby restaurant to buy some dishes for lunch.

On the way back, we passed by a few roadside stalls that were selling some drinks and pastries/delicacies. Seeing that it’s been a while since we last had some, we stopped by one that was selling home-made doughnuts. This lady and her partner were selling 5 pieces of doughnuts for RM10 (roughly $2.50) and they looked delicious. We decided to buy 5 to have for tea time later. The moment we told her we were going to get 5, she started to repeatedly say thank you to us. Apparently, we were the first to buy from her stall since morning. I guess that explains why there were still so many doughnuts left.

As she was packing the doughnuts, she just kept repeating thank you to us and telling just how much she appreciates it.

Without a second thought, I asked if the doughnuts were OK to be kept in a fridge and eaten much later? When she said yes, I immediately ordered another 5 pieces and she just started crying — which caught me and my wife off guard.

Again, she kept saying thank you between her sobs and told us how much it meant to her.

Bear in mind, RM20 isn’t that much money. In fact, RM20 is roughly $5, which is how much I’m paying every month for my Medium subscription. But to those who have been going through so much hardship since the pandemic struck, it could be a lot.

When she finally finished packing up the doughnuts for us, she kept saying thank you and said that only God could repay us for what we’ve done for her. It sounds dramatic but I guess it really meant that much to her.

As we were driving back home, I just couldn’t stop thinking about how that lady reacted and it reminded me to always do good, no matter how big or small the gesture is — but to always do as much good as we can.

It may not have seen as a big deal, but to them, it was.

I will forever be grateful for how I was able to make such an impact on someone today. It felt good to know that I was able to make someone’s day and I will never take that for granted.

It will also serve as a reminder to me (and hopefully to all of you reading this) to always do good whenever I can.

Because even the smallest of gestures can go a long way.