Woman reunited with viral RM50 note given to her by late father

Mr Azfarul Zainol (left) said the message written on the note by Ms Nur Hidayah Mohamad (centre) had touched him. PHOTOS: TUAH LIM/FACEBOOK

A RM50 (S$14) note, which went viral in a photo posted on social media, has been reunited with its owner nearly four years after she used it.

Malaysian news outlet Sinar Harian reported that cashier Nur Hidayah Mohamad, 25, received the note from Mr Azfarul Zainol on Feb 23.

The note carries a significance for Ms Hidayah as it was the last time she had received money from her father, who died in 2020 after kidney problems.

On it, she had scrawled a message in Malay that read “Dad’s last money given to me, 11/5/20”, along with “Al-Fatihah”, a Quranic chapter commonly recited for those who have died.

But several months after her dad’s passing, Ms Hidayah found herself in a situation where she had to use the note as it was the only cash she had in her wallet.

“I had to use it, and at that time, in my heart, I thought, God willing, I can get it back later,” she told Sinar Harian.

The note had gone to Mr Azfarul in the money he withdrew from an ATM in Kuantan on Feb 19.

He was touched by the message on the note and posted a photo of it the next day on his Facebook account, where he goes by the username Tuah Lim, looking for its owner.

His post was shared over 12,000 times, and received nearly 9,000 likes. It was ultimately how Ms Hidayah found the note.

She contacted Mr Azfarul on Facebook after seeing the post, and they arranged to meet on Feb 23.

Mr Azfarul said that four other individuals had contacted him claiming to be the note’s owner, but he verified that Ms Hidayah was the rightful one, based on her social media posts which confirmed the date of her father’s death.

Said Ms Hidayah: “I will take care of it as best as I can from now on because it is the last spending money given by my late father, and holds a lot of memories for me.”

Mr Azfarul, who posted a photo of their meeting on Feb 23, said he was relieved and grateful to be able to return the money to its owner, and thanked netizens for their help.

He said: “Thankfully, everything has come to an end and the owner has been found.”

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