Photo of woman sheltering senior citizen from heat melts hearts
A photo of a woman who sheltered a senior citizen from the heat in Ipoh, Perak has gone viral, having been shared for over 16,000 times on Facebook since Wednesday.
The heartwarming photo, which was first shared by the septuagenarian's granddaughter, shows three individuals standing in front of a bank while waiting to be allowed to enter the premises.
As they had to wait under the scorching weather, the Good Samaritan was photographed using what looked like a plastic folder to cover the head of the elderly woman who was in front of her.
It has since received over 27,000 reactions on Facebook as of 11am today.
"On behalf of my grandmother and family... I would like to take this opportunity to thank the lady who was holding a file in her hand for protecting my grandmother from the hot sun while they waited outside the bank for a long time.
"The reason why I'm sharing this (is because) during this period, still there are people out there who never differentiate among races and respect the elders from different races," said the granddaughter Privitha Maimaran.
Contacted by Malaysiakini this morning, Privitha said the photograph was taken in front of Maybank in Menglembu, Ipoh sometime around 11am on Wednesday.
She said that her grandmother, Lachumi Arunasalam, 78, had some business to do with the bank and was sent there by her cousin.
"My cousin had to wait in the car as she needed to babysit her children, whom she brought along.
"Those who wanted to enter the bank had to queue up before being allowed to go in, as per Covid-19 SOP. This was when my cousin saw the lady helping to cover the head of our grandmother from the hot sun.
"She immediately took a photo which she then sent to me," said Privitha.
Since Covid-19 pandemic hit the country, health authorities have imposed strict guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This includes limiting the number of customers in business premises at any given time and requiring every individual to register themselves and having their body temperature screened.
According to Privitha, she had since managed to contact the helpful woman on Facebook to express their appreciation.
