GrabFood rider helps lost 6-year-old twins wandering Sembawang alone at 1am

Independent Singapore

3 days ago

SINGAPORE: A GrabFood rider who stopped at a red light in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Sembawang was surprised to spot two young children wandering alone by the roadside.
Muhammad Harris, 33, was waiting on his motorcycle along Admiralty Drive at around 1 a.m. on July 17 when he noticed two children picking up sticks and dried leaves near the traffic light.
'I looked around to see if there were any adults with them, but it seemed like only the two of them,' he told Stomp, 'When the green man started flashing, they crossed the road on their own, but what touched my heart was that even at that age, the brother held his sister's hand tightly as they crossed together.'
Concerned for their safety, Mr Harris made a U-turn and cautiously approached the children on his motorcycle, taking care not to frighten them.
'I didn't want to scare them, so I stopped at the side and asked in Malay, 'Adik nak pergi mana malam-malam?' which means, 'Where are you going so late at night?''
The boy and girl told him they were six-year-old twins and that they had left their grandmother's home and were on their way to their mother's house.
When Mr Harris asked if they knew where she lived, the boy confidently replied, 'Go straight, turn right,' but when pressed for more details, like the block or unit number, or even a phone number, the children couldn't answer.
Realising they might be lost, Mr Harris parked his bike and offered to walk with them in hopes of figuring out where they were headed.
'I asked their names, ages, and what school they go to,' he said. 'But halfway through the walk, they said we might be going the wrong way.'
Still unsure where they were supposed to go and with the children's safety in mind, Mr Harris called the police and stayed with them until officers arrived on the scene.
'The police took down my particulars and said I was good to go and that they would take care of the kids,' he said.
Thankfully, the story ended on a reassuring note. Mr Harris posted about the situation on Facebook, and later that same day, a friend of the children's mother reached out and let him know she had seen his post and would try to contact the children's mum.
'She updated me a few minutes later that the kids were safely back with their mother,' Mr Harris said.
Mr Harris, who downplayed his actions, said he did what any concerned adult would have done.
'Seeing them by themselves made me worried. They're still just kids, and crossing the road without an adult is dangerous. Luckily, it was so late at night that there weren't many vehicles,' he said.