Buntong Shopkeeper Proves that Honesty is Always the Best Policy
By Archana Patrick
The idiom “honesty is the best policy” has never been more true in the case of a good deed, especially when the do-gooder is an elderly woman!
News of Praemavathy, 57, a shopkeeper in Buntong, Ipoh who safe kept her customer’s wallet and eventually returning it to the perturbed customer, Harpreet Kaur Darshan Singh has received much praise from fellow Malaysians.
She was even interviewed by a local Tamil radio station, MinnalFM, on its breakfast show called “Kaalai Kathir” about her good deed.
Pharmacist Harpreet Kaur, recalling the incident of how she lost her husband’s wallet, told the Star Online that both she and her husband were travelling to the latter’s workplace and made a stop at Praemavathy’s shop to buy a bottle of vinegar.
She added, “I realised I didn’t have any small change with me when I was about to pay so I asked from my husband. He gave me his wallet. And as soon as I made the payment, I just dashed off”. It was only later on Friday night did she realise that she lost her husband’s wallet containing a large amount of money; RM2,000 to be exact!
What Praemavathy did next is the highlight of this incident – upon being alerted by another customer of the wallet conspicuously left on top of a candy jar at the counter, she took the wallet, tied it with a rubber band and placed it on the altar behind the payment counter to ensure its safety when the owner returns!
Praemavathy claimed that many customers have lost personal belongings in her shop previously and she will “always put them aside and wait for the customers to claim them”. She credited her late father for instilling good values in her.
She sums it up succinctly in her own words – “always be honest and God will repay us.”
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