I saw a homeless man sitting all by himself yesterday. Placing both legs across a drain, he observed his surroundings in long, meaningful stares. Next to him was his wet, dirty shirt, spread on the road to dry, I assume.

I felt sorry for him. He must have had a rough background and soon I found myself making up my very own version of his story. But something seemed amiss. Reading the sudden changes in his facial expressions, I thought he looked somewhat ‘disturbed.’

“Dei! Amma yeppadi yirikangge?” he suddenly shouted. (Hey, how is mom?)

“Podah. Amma kette podah,” he said. (Go. Go to mom.)

I looked in the same direction of his gaze, wondering who he was talking to. There was no one there.

Soon enough, a few people walked past – they looked at him and laughed. A few motorbikes and cars passed by as well. He smiled at all of them and waved. No one waved in return though. He sat there alone, talking to himself in his own bubble.

I continued watching him from inside my car. Clearly, watching him was better than reading my newspaper.

As he continued talking to himself, a group of Alam Flora workers carrying their equipment, sat by the pathway, metres away from him.

“Hello kawan. Itu barang mau buat apa?” he said, striking up a conversation with them.

“Mau kasi bersih la. Takkan you mau tidur tempat kotor,” a young lad answered.

The homeless man decided to lie on the roadside, looking up at the tree branches filling the sky above him. The dirty surroundings and the people walking by did not seem to matter to him. He was in his own world.

A short while later, a worker walked towards his team mate, carrying two red plastic bags full of packed food and drinks. They sat down together on the pathway, under the big tree and opened their lunch packages. The homeless man stayed frozen, his eyes glued to the sky.

“You tak makan ka? Sudah tengahari,” one of the workers said while munching his food.

The man put up his hand and shook it.

Another worker got up, took a pack of rice and passed it to the homeless man.

“Makan. Nanti lapar.”

The homeless man smiled.

“Cepat ambik. Saya pun mau makan. Nanti supervisor datang, sudah tak sempat nak makan,” he urged the man to take the rice pack from his hand.

“Air?” the man asked.

The whole group laughed out loud at this request and one of them said: “Ni dah melebih ni. Orang bagi nasi, dia mintak air pulak?”

“Bagi lah. Nanti tercekik pulak nasi dia makan,” another said.

The homeless man took his rice and what looked like a packet of iced tea. And just as he was about to unpack his lunch, the workers invited him to join in.

“Takkan kau mau makan sorang-sorang? Mari sini. Cuba cerita sikit dengan kitorang – macamana kau boleh sesat kat sini?”

The homeless man’s face beamed with happiness.

After much storytelling, the workers got up to start work. It was almost 2pm by then. Taking his cue, the homeless man got up too, grabbed his pair of mismatched slippers and put on his now dried shirt.

“Mana you mau pergi?” they asked.

“Saya pun mau pergi kerja. Saya boss. Itu sana,” he pointed down the lonely alley.

“Ok boss. Jaga diri. Esok mari lagi. Kita makan sama-sama,” the workers said.

“Saya busy. Banyak busy. Okay, good bye,” the homeless man said, waving as he walked briskly away.

As the workers began their work, I watched until the homeless man disappeared from sight. My heart was full of love, hope and inspiration.

Clearly, it doesn’t take a hero to save this nation. It only takes kind, genuine, good-hearted Samaritans like those Alam Flora workers.

God bless you, whoever you are!