A Rohingya refugee in Malaysia named Amin warmed the internet’s cold, black heart this past weekend when he returned the lost phone and cash-packed wallet of Nick Boden, the husband of Malaysian TV host Elaine Daly, a tale she relayed in a Facebook post now making the rounds.
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While we don’t know much about Amin, we know from Daly’s post that he’s a scrap metal collector who lives in Kuala Lumpur with his family and possesses a UNHCR card, identifying him as a registered refugee. The card serves as a form of identification, protecting him from arrest and giving him access to services like healthcare and the right to work (at least in Malaysia).
The couple came to know the Rohingya man on Sunday, after Boden left his phone and wallet — flush with cash after an ATM visit — on the roof of his car after unpacking the baby seat.
Without realizing what he’d done, the TV host sped away before her husband had a chance to retrieve his belongings. By the time he finally got through to Daly, the phone and wallet had long since sailed off the roof of the car.
After trying for an hour to reach the phone, which they understandably assumed had been crushed under the weight of a dozen passing cars, someone finally picked up — Amin.
The refugee, who had found Boden’s belongings on the side of the highway and was planning to take them to a police station, instead offered to wait for the couple at a gas station.
In the post, which has received nearly 2,000 likes and been shared 450 times, Daly and Boden refer to Amin as an honest and kind “angel” who had restored their “faith in humanity” with his kindness.
After thanking him and giving him a reward, Boden and his impromptu savior managed to find time for a grinning photo snapped by Daly.
Netizens have been understandably quick to applaud Amin’s actions, showering him with praise for his hard work and honesty.
“What a beautiful story of hope and humanity! Thank you for sharing and wow. Bless him,” read one typical response.
“Thank you for sharing this beautiful reminder about true values,” read another.
Rohingya refugees have been streaming out of Northern Rakhine State due to intercommunal violence ever since 2012. That river turned into a flood in 2017, when a brutal military campaign drove more than 730,000 refugees into neighboring Bangladesh.
Over the past seven years, dozens of rickety boats have attempted to make their way across the Indian Ocean to get to majority-Muslim Malaysia, hoping to escape persecution in Myanmar.
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