Tony Wang (left) and Mr Mohamed Rafeeq (right).
ByEsmond Lee
MONEYCHANGER WHO LOST RM90, 000 WORTH OF CASH HAD HIS MONEY RETURNED BY HONEST STUDENT
What would you do if you found a bag full of cash? Would you be the better person and return the bag to it’s rightful owner- or keep it for your own? As discouraging it may be, a large majority of people would keep the money and spend it for their own instead- given the current economical crisis and elevation in prices, this fact is not far from the truth.
However, for some people, who are as rare of a find as a nugget of gold in a coal mine, will return the money to it’s rightful owner despite how tight their financial situation.
Mohamed Rafeeq, a moneychanger, had a SGD30, 000 (RM90, 000) dent in his bank account, after his employee misplaced and lost an envelope containing the bundles of notes.
However, in just two hours after his employee lost the lump of money, the 50-year-old moneychanger went from panic and despair– to relief and gratitude when he discovered that 22-year-old polytechnic student Tony Wang picked up the envelope of money and handed it over to the police.
“I am left speechless by how honest he is,” the owner of Clifford Gems & Money Exchange at Raffles City told The New Paper.
On the afternoon of December 29th, Rafeeq’s 73-year-old employee had absent-mindedly left the envelope of cash in a public toilet for the handicapped.
“He told me he went back to the toilet within 15 minutes, but the envelope of money was no longer there.
“It’s big money. How can I not panic?“
“I chided him for leaving the envelope around like that. Our training rules state that money must be kept safely, and we must be very careful,” said Rafeeq, who is also the secretary of the Money Changers Association in Singapore.
The pair then rushed to lodge a police report at the Queenstown Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC).
Within two hours of lodging the report, Rafeeq received a call from Toa Payoh NPC telling him that the lost envelope full of money was found.
A wave of relief swept over him.
“The police told me someone found the money. They were very helpful. The inspector at Toa Payoh even comforted me and told me not to worry,” Rafeeq said.
Through the police, the moneychanger managed to get in touch with Wang, a Chinese national who came to Singapore in 2005 to study.
The final year marine and offshore engineering student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic had chanced upon the envelope when he entered the toilet stall shortly after Rafeeq’s employee left.
“When I saw the wad of notes, I freaked out,” said Wang. “I have never seen so much money. My heart beat very fast while I carried the money with me. It’s a huge responsibility.“
At Rafeeq’s request, Wang visited the moneychanger at his Raffles City shop a day after the incident. There, Rafeeq gave Wang $500 (RM1528) as a token of his appreciation.
Wang, who lives with his parents in his uncle’s four-room flat in Toa Payoh, was shocked by the kind gesture.
“To be honest, $500 (RM1528) is a lot of money to me. Even though he’s really appreciative, I felt he didn’t have to give me so much money. I don’t need that money.
“I just wanted the money to find its way back to its owner safe and sound.“
Wang was initially reluctant to accept the $500 (RM1528).
Said Rafeeq: “I had to force him to take the money. I told him the money is something from my heart and I asked him to spend it on his education needs.
“He came back within 10 minutes and tried to return the money to me again.
“He is a really kind and sincere boy. I really appreciate what he has done.“
Till today, the $500 is still sitting in Wang’s drawer, untouched.
“I don’t have anything I need to spend on, so I just kept his token of goodwill,” he said.
It goes without saying that Wang has a trait that is slowly dying out through the years- honesty.
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