Off-duty policeman helps elderly man stuck on highway divider

A motorcyclist riding along the Pan Island Expressway gave a lost elderly man a ride, earning praise online, on June 12, 2017. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM FACEBOOK VIDEO/MOHD ELFIE MOHD AMIN

SINGAPORE - A motorcyclist has earned the praises of netizens after a video of him helping an elderly man stuck on a highway divider went viral on Tuesday (June 13).

The Good Samaritan is actually an off-duty policeman, The Straits Times has learnt.

Captured on Mr Mohd Elfie Mohd Amin's helmet camera on Monday (June 12), the video showed Mr Elfie, 30, riding along the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) at around 4pm, before stopping at the divider at Jalan Eunos to help the elderly man.

The police officer was on his way to Tampines when he saw the man. As no vehicles were parked on the road shoulder nearby, he decided to go to the man.

"He could either be lost, or worse, attempting suicide by crossing the road," he told ST.

"As I got closer to him, I saw a few grocery bags behind him and his demeanour told me he was lost."

He asked the man where he was going and offered him a ride.

"I will send you," he told the man. "It is very dangerous for you to walk here."

According to the post by Mr Elfie, the elderly man had missed his stop while travelling on a bus. He attempted to walk straight towards an overhead bridge to get to his daughter-in-law's home, but ended up on the highway instead.

After passing the elderly man a helmet, the two rode off.

The video was posted on Facebook at around noon on Tuesday, and at 7.40pm it had 162,000 views. It was also shared on road safety community page Beh Chia Lor.

The post also had more than 1,000 comments, with most applauding Mr Elfie for his good deed.

Mr Elfie said he did not expect the video to go viral as it was his instinct to help.

"I'm a police officer and it is my duty to protect a life, at any cost," he said, adding that he is overwhelmed by the responses. Strangers have even messaged him on Facebook to thank him.

In his Facebook post, he said he hoped that the video would encourage people to go out of their way to help others.

"Do good and good will come to you," he wrote.

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