SINGAPORE - From squashed people on an MRT platform, to a small boy being beaten up, to women having a catfight over a man, social media is often associated with the negative.

On the other hand, there are rare but heartwarming stories of the brave, the kind, and the giving. Here are some that have made their rounds.

1) The men who did not just watch while an elderly man crossed the road

In a photo on the Must Be Singapore Facebook page on Nov 1, two men were seen guiding an elderly man across the road. One of them was a motorcycle rider who got off his bike to help the man, even though the green light for vehicles to move had flashed.

One netizen commented: "There is hope for this little island." Others expressed their respect.

2) The woman who did not mind getting her hands dirty

Ms Noriza A. Mansor did not move away from a stench at the FairPrice supermarket at Toa Payoh HDB Hub, where she works. Instead, the bedsheet promoter got as near as she could.

The smell was coming from Mr Tan Soy Yong, who had soiled himself while grocery-shopping with his wife, who moves around in a wheelchair. He had faeces on his shorts and shins. There was also a small lump of faeces on his sandals.

Armed with a pail of water and tissue, she cleaned him up, and even sent the couple all the way to their home in Potong Pasir.

3) Four Holy Innocents' High School students earned praise from a stranger for removing a trash bag from the middle of the road for the safety of road users.

The stranger - who wrote to the school in October anonymously - said that she had seen the trash bag, but assumed that someone else would "take care" of it. She wrote what the Secondary 1 students did: "Their integrity, moral uprightness and civic-mindedness are commendable and something that our youth these days could emulate."

4) Four people who rushed to help a partially disabled man cross the road

They saw a man seated upright trying to drag himself across the road, and rushed to his help, and their deed was captured in a photograph.

The photo was submitted to citizen journalism website Stomp. In the photo, four people are seen helping the man cross a road at Tanjong Katong Road. The person who submitted the photo said that although the traffic light had flashed green, all motorists waited patiently for the man to pass through first.

5) Korean taekwondo coach who gave his slippers to an elderly woman on the bus

Mr Choi Dae Ho - then 22 with his Korean star-like looks - became the buzz of social media in February 2013 when he gave his slippers to an elderly woman who was barefoot.

The taekwondo coach was caught in the act, while kneeling in front of the woman in the bus. He was one of four Koreans in Singapore as part of the Korea-based World Taekwondo Federation Peace Corps. He then had to sprint for eight minutes back to the hostel he was staying at, because the pavements were scorching.