[VIDEO] ‘Kongsi Rezeki’ a way to show gratitude to our frontliners

FASTING for a whole month every year for Muslims, known as Ramadhan Ya Karim – which many term as a gift from Allah (SWT) – sees Muslims all over the world racing to do good deeds, resulting in a phenomenon known as ‘Tamak Pahala’ here in Malaysia. 

Among the blessings traditionally observed during this auspicious month is spending time in old folks’ homes, breaking fast with orphans or children of Tahfiz schools, underprivileged families, feeding the homeless and treating the courier riders who work tirelessly to get our food to us.

For 32-year-old Muhammad Nurfais Azmi – fondly known as Acak – the experience of being a courier himself has given him a unique approach during this holy month by planning a surprise invitation to a Grab Food rider to break fast with him when the rider comes to deliver his food. 

Dubbing it as ‘Kongsi Rezeki’, Acak confessed to The Vibes that he had the intention of inviting a Grab Food rider for quite some time and managed to execute it only during the second week of Ramadan.

“Being a courier… despatch myself, I understand how strenuous it can be. Not getting enough sleep, riding around town under the hot sun and dashing through the rainy streets… it's tough.

“Apart from that, the question of ‘rezeki’ has a tremendous impact on humanity, especially since the Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) started as we are one of the most important frontliners,” said Acak, who works for a local courier service centre part-time.

According to Acak, to surprise the Grab Food rider, he started buying several dishes from a local bazaar Ramadan early that day, before ordering more food from Grab Food later in the hour.

This was done deliberately by Acak to make sure the rider reached his home on approaching the breaking of fast time – Maghrib prayers.

“Honestly, as I was planning it, I was thinking what I would do if the rider were to reject my offer, but Alhamdulillah, I managed to convince him as the Azan for Maghrib prayers was heard signalling the breaking of fast,” he said enthusiastically.

Acak, who comes from Shah Alam, had recorded the entire surprise and uploaded it on this TikTok account Muhd Fareast (@acak_east) and garnered over 2.4 million views, with many followers expressing their own teary-eyed responses.

Acak also noted that he was asked numerous times on what he would have done if the Grab Food rider were to be non-Muslim. 

His simple answer was, “I do not care who the rider is. No race nor religion is of concern to me – whoever came by that day, I would have rendered the same treatment.

“‘Fitrah’ means that all living things need food for survival. What more human beings? Food is the utmost ingredient in life. ‘Makanan dan manusia tidak boleh dipisahkan’.

“We should set ourselves to help people regardless of who they are, and Allah (SWT) will repay you back,” he said with a strong sense of belief.

On record, Acak also secretly slipped a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ letter and some cash to the rider as a show of gratitude.

Upon discovering the letter, the rider was seen breaking down in tears of joy.

The two-minute video ends with Acak embracing the rider. 

“I sincerely hope that my video can inspire others to spread kindness regardless of race and religion, particularly towards riders.

“Bear in mind that ‘help’ can be extended in many forms and not just in ‘Wang Ringgit’.”

On a parting note, Acak also advised all delivery riders to save a small portion of their earnings to invest in insurance and Employees Provident Fund (EFP) for their own future and protection.

“I understand, riders take a weekly salary. So, when you get the weekly salary, people say it's all self-savings, yes – true, but if you go to deliver food and (there is a) truck next to you and the truck doesn't notice you, suddenly something happens to you – (God forbid), you’ll end up ‘Mati Katak’ (dead in vain),” he added, while EPF, Acak emphasised, is mainly for retirement days, when one feels like calling it a day. – The Vibes, April 21, 2022