‘It felt like a little miracle’: Woman stuck at JB customs after reader fails to scan VEP, stranger helps to pay
A woman who found herself stuck at a Johor Bahru (JB) gantry without a physical Touch ’n Go (TNG) card was relieved when a stranger stepped in to help — and later took to social media to find him.
Catherine, a 39-year-old creator and seller on TikTok and Shopee, shared a TikTok post about the incident on Oct 5.
In the post, she said the encounter happened on Oct 4 at around 4.30pm at the Johor Bahru Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex.
She was driving to JB with her family for a short getaway, and it was her second time driving there.
Stranger offers card after woman is unable to pass through gantry
However, Catherine said she was unable to pass through the toll gantry as the RFID reader was unable to scan her Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) tag.
She also did not have a TNG card — a contactless payment method commonly used in Malaysia that serves as a backup when the RFID reader is down — on hand.
She then alighted from her vehicle and asked surrounding motorists if she could borrow their cards to make payment, assuring them that she would transfer the money to them immediately.
“I asked car after car, but unfortunately, nobody could help me. Some people said they didn’t have a card either,” Catherine recalled.
Stuck without a card, she said she felt “helpless” and “stressed” as a long queue of cars formed behind her vehicle.
“And then, suddenly, this gentleman called out to me and offered to let me use his card to make the payment. Honestly, it felt like a little miracle at that moment,” she said.
After getting through, she returned the card to the man and saw that his car had also gotten stuck at the gantry, as the reader was unable to scan his car’s VEP tag and deduct money from his virtual wallet.
She attempted to transfer the money to him, which she estimated to be about RM20-40 (S$6-12), but it was too “crowded and chaotic” to do so.
Woman contacts stranger through social media
Speaking to Stomp, Catherine added that the man eventually got through the gantry, and she offered again to return the money she borrowed.
“But he told me it was okay and that I didn’t need to return the money. He simply wished me, ‘Have a nice day,’ and drove away,” she said.
Her TikTok post of the incident blew up quickly, garnering over 223,000 views and 6,600 likes. Several netizens helped to share the post and identified the driver, whose username she tagged in the comments.
Catherine recalled that when she contacted him, the man said he simply wanted to help her get through the situation and told her not to worry about returning the sum. Instead, he hoped that she would pass on the good deed by helping someone else, she explained.
“His words encouraging me to pass this kindness on to others have stayed with me,” she emphasised, adding that kindness doesn’t have to be something big.
What touched me the most was not the amount of money he helped me with, but the fact that he understood how I was feeling.
Stranger declines payment
Speaking to Stomp, the stranger who helped her, Md Farihin Khan said he decided not to accept repayment as he had “helped her genuinely and did not expect anything in return”.
“For me, the important thing was knowing that I was able to help her when she needed it,” said the 39-year-old, who works in the chemical industry.
He added that he had encountered a similar situation a few years ago, and he had felt “helpless” at the time.
When he saw the woman in a similar predicament while travelling to JB with his wife and friends for a holiday, he decided to lend a helping hand.
“The encounter reminded me that even a small act of kindness can make a meaningful difference in someone’s life,” he reflected. “I hope my actions encouraged the woman and showed her that there are people who genuinely care.”
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