If you did something wrong but there
were no witnesses, what would you do?
Some people might be in two minds
about what to do but not Mr Panneerselvam Kulothungan.
When the 29-year-old, who was driving
a company van, accidentally scratched a car as he was entering a car park and
the car's owner was nowhere in sight, he waited to own up.
The foreign worker from India waited
an hour for the car's owner to return to the car park near Block 120 Bukit
Batok Central. He also left his contact details in a
note on the car's windscreen.
Later, Mr Kulothungan, who was then
working as a driver, went the extra mile of putting a second note in a plastic
bag in case it rained.
When the owner did not contact him
overnight, he went back to the parking lot the next day to look for the him.
When he found the owner, Mr Tony Wee,
he apologised in person and offered to compensate him for the damage caused.
Mr Wee's car paintwork was damaged
and licence plate was dislodged from its original position.
For his actions, Mr Kulothungan
received praise from Mr Wee, who wrote in to The Straits Times Forum applauding
his good deed.
Writing about the incident which
happened in April, Mr Wee said: "At 7.30pm, most people would have quickly
driven away without stopping... his honesty is to be applauded."
The Traffic Police, on hearing about
his story, also commended his honesty.
Mr Kulothungan, who was not aware of
Mr Wee's letter, was surprised to hear about it.
Though there was no serious damage
done, Mr Kulothungan said he felt bad about damaging another person's property.
"I thought to myself, 'This kind
of action should be the norm, why is this reported?' " he said.
The son of a farmer and a housewife,
Mr Kulothungan started working in Singapore in 2009 to support his family.
He declined to disclose how much he
earned as a driver but said it was not much.
Despite this, he offered to pay for
the damage.
When Mr Wee saw the damage, he was
initially angry but his anger melted away when he found the notes on his
windscreen.
Mr Wee recalled how his parked car
had been hit by a taxi before but he only found out from witnesses later as the
driver fled the scene.
Referring to Mr Kulothungan, he said:
"This guy is very honest. At 7.30pm, it would have been easy for him to
run away as there were no witnesses.
"I have never come across such
an honest (person) before."
After hearing Mr Kulothungan's side
of the story, Mr Wee told him not to worry as he would settle the cost of
repair himself.
When Mr Kulothungan realised he did
not have to pay for the damages which could have amounted to about $300, he
said: "I think Mr Wee is a very nice person."
For those deciding whether to own up even if there are no
witnesses,
Mr Kulothungan has this advice:
"If you damage someone's
things, you should at least apologise. It is not a good practice in life to run
away from your mistakes, as what goes around comes around."
Source: StraitsTimes
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