AN 11-year-old Malaysian girl has garnered attention for her generous, yet misdirected, act of giving RM3,000 to her classmates.
Her mother shared the story on Threads under the handle @cikdat_.
The mother was initially shocked when the girl’s teacher informed her of the large sums of money—RM20, RM50, and RM100 bills—being distributed by her daughter, despite her modest daily allowance of RM5.
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“Many students received money from your child—some got 100, 150, 200. There were many 50s as well. Out of the total nearly 3,000, I managed to save just over 800,” the teacher told the mother.
“I was in tears. It’s not easy to earn RM3,000, and my child just gave it away to her friends so easily.
“The teacher told me to come to school to meet with the discipline teacher. But since the incident happened on a Friday, the teacher asked me to come the following Monday, early in the morning.
I couldn’t wait for my daughter to come home from school—I wanted to ask why she took so much money with her. @cikdat_ wrote.
Concerned, the mother questioned her daughter about the source of the money.
The girl revealed that she had taken the funds from the duit Raya her family had given her and her siblings.
She explained her actions by saying, “She assured me that she wasn’t bullied into giving her friends the money. She explained that she just wanted to give it to them because they looked happy when she did.”
The young girl’s motivation was simple yet touching. She wanted to emulate her mother’s generosity, having observed her giving money to family members and seeing their joyful reactions.
“After being scolded, she explained that she wanted to be like me. She said she often sees me giving money to others. While eating, if someone comes to sell snacks, I just give them money. I give money to her grandma, grandpa, and cousins.
“She said ‘When Mama gives them money, they’re all happy and hug Mama. So, she wanted to be like Mama.’’” @cikdat_ shared.
After understanding her daughter’s sincere but misguided intent, @cikdat_ took the opportunity to teach her about the importance of generosity and proper boundaries.
She clarified that while being generous is commendable, using her siblings’ money without permission was not appropriate. She added that she would monitor her daughter’s daily money to prevent future misunderstandings.
“In conclusion, I got angry, taught her a lesson, and told her that if it happens again, I’d have to send her to a school for troubled kids. She kept saying, “I didn’t steal, Mama. I only took my own money and my siblings’ money,“ which still belongs to someone else, right?
“And now, every day, I check how much money she brings to school,” she wrote.
