A Kind Stranger in the Rain

If I were given a chance to meet that stranger in the rain again, I would thank him properly for his help that fateful night. I could not exactly remember how he looked like – all I remembered was a guy in full cycling kit - but I will never forget his kindness.

Two years ago I met and befriended Khamla, a Laosian, when we both attended a two-weeks training course in Japan. The friendship blossomed long after the course ended. Khamla promised to introduce me to his wife, and he fulfilled that promise when he brought her along when he had to attend a seminar in Kuala Lumpur. Even before they arrived, I had made all sort of plans to take them around KL, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and even to Melaka. Ketmany, Khamla’s wife, loved the sea and history sites, so I insisted on taking them to Melaka despite their initial protest.

That evening the seminar ended, Roza, an office mate, accompanied me to fetch Khamla & Ketmany at the Renaissance Hotel. We planned to take the Laosians to Petaling Street and the Central market, then had dinner together somewhere. Due to some technical problem, (he didn't hang the phone in the toilet properly) I could not contact him for a long time and left Roza in my car with the engine idle for more than half an hour. When I finally met him and Ketmany and returned to the car, I immediately realised that something was wrong - because the light was dim and the wiper was moving very, very slowly.

I drove anyway despite realising that my battery was weak - probably due to my neglect to check the battery water for a long time.

Then the drizzle turned into a heavy downpour. The traffic started to move very slowly. And my battery got weaker and weaker. First, the clock on the dashboard stopped working. Next, the honk stopped working. Then, the car light dimmed to a very weak, soft beam.

I prayed that we could get to a road where the traffic flow is better and I could drive faster to recharge the battery - but to no avail. My Proton Wira was crawling along Jalan Sultan Ismail, one of KL's busiest streets, when all of a sudden it stopped moving. I tried to re-start the engine, but nothing happened. The car battery went flat.

Turning to Roza, I told her my worst fear had came true - the car's battery had went flat! Roza immediately called Dalalah, our officemate who's married to a car expert, for help. Khamla passed me an umbrella from the back and I quickly went out - raised up the car boot to warn drivers behind me that I was having a problem with my car.

Roza quickly moved over to the driver's seat, and turned my gear into N as I started to push the car to the side of the road. A difficult task indeed on that crammed-three-turned-four-lane-street, which was made harder since my car was on the second lane. Khamla exited the car and asked me to go inside and let him push the car instead. I refused, so we ended pushing the car together.

Then the stranger arrived. He was cycling on the road side, saw us in trouble and immediately stopped to help. He tossed his bike aside and straight away helped us pushing the car. He stayed with us, making gestures to seek permission from other drivers to give way for us, until the car could be parked safely on the road side, in front of the Shangri-la hotel. We could not move fast enough since poor Roza had to man the wheel without being able to see anything - it was dark, it was raining heavily, yet we had no light, the wiper was not working and the windscreen was hazy.

When we finally managed to park the car, the stranger gave a thumb-up sign and quietly went away. I almost called out after him, to thank him properly, but I did not, already feeling guilty for making him staying in the rain longer that necessary. I did not even managed to catch his name.

I didn’t know how many other person would stop and toss their bike like he did in order to help some strangers. A lot of motorcycles passed us by – but none of the cyclists stop to offer their assistance. Understandably so – it was raining cats and dogs and they would get soaking wet to stay longer in the rain than necessary. So, I felt really thankful for that kind stranger’s help. And I hope kindness will return to him many fold wherever he goes.

Needless to say – that night was unforgotten by all parties involved. Two months pregnant with their second-child, Ketmany wasn't feeling very well but managed to tease Khamla gently, “You and your friend are the same”. Khamla sheepishly admitted that he had also forgotten once to check on his battery water in Laos and their car refused to start just like it happened to us then, heh, heh, heh...

Roza and I had to be scrutinized by the Shangri-la’s security guard before we were reluctantly allowed to enter the hotel and used the surau to pray Maghrib. I don’t blame the pak guard - we were dripping wet. There was a trail of watermark left behind us as we entered the posh hotel.

So our plan to do some KL night sightseeing went down the drain... Assistance finally arrived two hours later; delayed because Dalalah and her husband had to cross some flooded area. She was already worried that they might not be able to save us since they were having trouble themselves - but they made it anyway. Her husband installed a new battery, and my car was back to normal in no time

By then, Ketmany was the only dry person in the car, while Roza, Khamla and I stayed out, being wet as we were. We ended having our dinner on a taxi stand, after Khamla accompanied me to buy hot Milo, some fishball satays and fried beehoon from the Caltex petrol station located just next to Shangri-La hotel.

I felt really guilty because Khamla and Ketmany missed the opportunity to visit nice places in KL just because I hadn't got my car serviced for a long. Still, I guess being cold and shivering for more than 3 hours was punishment enough. Roza and I were shivering like mad in the car as we made our way back. I remembered wishing that we had had heater and not just air-cond in the car at that time, as we both really needed some heat... Roza got a high temperature the following day as result of our adventure that night.

And I was left with some guilt for never thanking a kind stranger properly.