Image Credit: Copilot
By Zakiah Senin
The clock showed 2:30 a.m. At that hour, a friend and I were still on the road heading towards Kuala Lumpur, having just finished a volunteer meeting in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan.
The surroundings were dark and misty as we passed through Bukit Putus. At times, I had to switch on the wipers to clear the fog and see more clearly.
Not long after, we approached a four-way junction with traffic lights. The light was clearly red. At such an hour, in the darkness, there were no other vehicles in sight from any direction. I was determined to ignore the red and pressed the accelerator. But suddenly — the brake pedal was slammed! Stop!
“Eh! Why?” my friend blurted out in alarm, jolted awake from his drowsiness.
“Do you see?” I gestured forward with my lips.
There, in the dim glow of the streetlights, stood an elderly Chinese man on an old motorcycle. He had already stopped, waiting patiently for the green light.
Ahhh! In the biting cold that seeped into his bones, he stopped. In the eerie darkness of the night, he stopped. With no vehicles at all from any direction, he stopped. With no enforcement officers anywhere at this hour, he still stopped. He stopped.
And because he stopped, I too decided to stop. Not because the red light told me to, but out of respect—and a quiet sense of shame — before this elderly man who embodied integrity.
Such is the nature of us as human beings. We constantly carry two inclinations: toward good and toward evil. Our hearts are often swayed between desire and conscience. Silently, the mind weighs what is right and makes its choice.
The truth is, every decision — whether small or great — is shaping who we will become one day. So, choose with awareness and honesty.
Choosing what is good is not only the best path, but the wisest step in leading ourselves toward a life of peace, meaning, and dignity.
(My thoughts on volunteerism — values and principles close to my heart — are also shared in my book “Suka Rela Sukar Lawan”, published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka in 2024.) Enquiries can be directed to zakiahsenin@gmail.com
Zakiah Senin is a steadfast volunteer of Yayasan SALAM Malaysia, an NGO that has dedicated to volunteerism in Malaysia for the last 30 years.