'When I lost my job at 57, these friends buoyed my spirits'

OUR MUHIBAH STORY | The long Covid-19 lockdowns in the past years left many feeling desolate and isolated.

For some of our readers, it was also the time they forged friendships which helped them cope with this difficult period of their lives.

They shared their cherished connection beyond race and religion through the Our Muhibah Stories campaign last month.

These are their stories in their own words.

From football fans to friends in need

A muhibah story by Mickey @ Mike Leong.

Fad and Param were my colleagues who were many years younger than me. Still, we bonded over our love of football.

In 2016, during a company restructuring exercise, both of them left the company. Not wanting to lose touch with each other, I started a WhatsApp group for us to continue chatting about football.

Two years later, at the age of 57, I, too, lost my job. I was disheartened, but they both encouraged me to be steadfast and continue living.

It was World Cup year, and our lively discussions about football helped me in this difficult period.

Our chats about our favourite football teams continued to keep our spirits up during the pandemic lockdowns, despite each of us facing economic challenges.

In between, we sent each other well wishes during our festive celebrations and birthdays, and shared about our different customs and religions, to better understand each other.

In 2020, my son, who had not yet completed his diploma studies, told me he wanted to work in Singapore as a security officer. He was attracted to the relatively higher salary, due to the exchange rate.

Fad was working in Singapore at the time, and so I sought his views. He called me and we had a long conversation about it. His valuable advice helped my son make the right decision.

A foreign perspective

A muhibah story with Papiya Das.

I am an Indian citizen who has lived in Malaysia for 10 years.

My experience during the Covid-19 lockdown truly showed me the beauty of Malaysia’s diversity.

In December 2020, after many rounds of lockdown extensions, I signed up for this online platform called Meetup.com. There, I found a group called ‘Coffee and Chat’. Because we could not meet in person, the coffee and chats happened via Zoom.

There were lots of people in that group. We discussed our daily lives and how we were coping during lockdown. We met online twice a week.

The discussions were joyful and positive. We played quizzes and discussed the books we were reading. Amid this difficult period in the world, we built beautiful friendships.

Beauty of unity

Once the lockdowns were lifted, we started meeting in person.

We went hiking and played sports together, taught each other different dance forms, took short trips together, celebrated our birthdays, continued our coffee chats - now, in person - and of course, held lots of makan activities together.

During Deepavali, I organised a dinner. We met, ate, laughed and had a good time. It was a memorable event, reminding us of how beautiful unity is.

I am sharing this story because I appreciate this wonderful community, where friendship, respect and trust go beyond race and religion.

An Indian girl in SJKC, the only Malay in college

'14 years of interfaith events a testament to our goodwill'

'Treasured friendships, memories as only non-Malay in school'

'I couldn't afford breakfast so he shared his with me for 6 years'