A grandmother has given up her dream of being able to travel to Mecca to perform the Hajj next year after her savings stored in a shoebox were eaten by termites.
The sad story was shared by her grandson Muhammad Khairul Azhar Mat Nawi, who said that his grandmother Zainab Sulong had saved up a total of GBP 5,100 (RM 30,000) in cash to make the trip.
She had apparently managed to collect the money by selling homemade sweets and was happy when she finally reached enough money to pay for the ticket.
But the 72-year-old was heartbroken when she went to check the cash, which was a mix of Ringgit and Thai banknotes and discovered that almost all of the bank notes she had been saving had been eaten by termites.
The woman, also known by her nickname of Mek Nab, had been selling sweets for years to raise cash.
Muhammad, who lives in Kelantan, Malaysia, said: “All of us know that our grandmother was planning to perform her Hajj next year with a private company, and I thought she had saved up enough money.
“We did not expect her saving were being kept in a box at her home in Rantau Panjang. We wouldn’t have allowed it if we knew about it sooner.
“My grandmother is old already; maybe for her, it’s easier to keep the money there instead of going to the bank.”
Khairul added that he had asked the Central Bank of Malaysia if it was possible for the bank to help out by replacing the notes, but was told that as most of the notes have been more than 50 per cent eaten, there was little chance of a refund for most of the cash.
He is awaiting a close assessment now of the paper fragments.
Meanwhile, Khairul said that he and his family were trying to get the cash together so that she could still afford a ticket and perform her ‘Umrah’ next year.
