Man buys meal for elderly woman who asks for $1 in Tampines, says he has ‘no regrets’ even if it was a scam
A man who was approached by an elderly woman asking for a dollar decided to buy her a meal instead, saying he has “no regrets” even if he might have been scammed that day.
Bruce Mathieu, a former drug addict turned motivational speaker, said in a Facebook post that he had met an elderly woman on May 16 while waiting for the traffic light on the way home.
“An auntie locked eyes with me. In a very soft voice, she asked me: ‘Sir… can you give me one dollar?’” he wrote in the post.
He noted that she was holding a cake, which she claimed someone else had bought for her.
“That stopped me. I asked her: ‘Are you hungry? You want to eat?’. She nodded,” Mr Mathieu wrote.
The pair went to Al Makan, an Indian-Muslim restaurant along Tampines Avenue 2, where she ordered sambal fried rice with chicken, and a blue lagoon drink with longan.
Mr Mathieu said he paid for the meal before the two parted ways.
Responding to those who questioned whether the woman had scammed him, Mr Mathieu said he would never know for sure.
“But I would rather someone pull a fast one on me... than miss an opportunity to help.
“That meal didn’t cost me much,” he added.
“Maybe she was just hungry. Or maybe she was something more. Either way — I have no regrets.”
‘You acted with sincerity’: Netizens commend man
The post garnered over 3,400 reactions, as netizens commended him for the gesture.
“You acted with sincerity and that alone is good enough,” one netizen said.
Another agreed, applauding him for the “compassionate” and “kind-hearted” act.
“Not all heroes wear capes,” a user added, while another encouraged users to “err on the side of kindness”.
However, a commenter reacted with scepticism, asking if the woman had dementia, while others recounted positive experiences.
“For me, I’ll give $ whenever they ask cos I don’t have time to accompany them to buy food.
“My friends scolded me for being stupid but I seriously don’t care. I grew up poor and today if I can bless someone with some $, I’ll just do so!” one netizen chimed in.
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