‘Mat Salleh’ (white) lady with two kids pick up trash in Geylang Road, earns praise from netizens for their good deeds & hands-on parenting

Singapore — Singaporeans were amazed at the good deed of a foreign woman with her two little boys picking up some trash along the Geylang Road on Saturday (Nov 20), after a netizen captured them on video and posted it on TikTok. 

The TikTok video instantly garnered views and comments with netizens praising the woman and presumably her two sons picking up trash with her.  

In the 31-second TikTok video posted by the username Mdroslin, the lady with the two little boys were seen walking at 24 Lorong 29 Geylang Road, outside the Leow Sih Association Building, wearing face masks and simple house clothing while holding their tongs and FairPrice plastic bags. 

@mdroslin

#foryou #foryoupage #fyp #viral #original #migrantworkerssg #matsalleh #cleantok #cleaningtiktok #clean

♬ original sound – Roslin – Roslin

The three would also bend down to pick up trash littered on the sides of the road. The lady was seen picking up a plastic containing food waste on the top of an electrical switch box. 

While doing the work, the two little boys were also following the lady who might be their mom, who was seemed to be giving them instructions and permission to pick up the roadside trash. 

The man behind the video spoke in the Malay language and used some words such as malu (embarrassed), and Mat Salleh (white people) to express his embarrassment that Singaporeans, unlike the ‘white lady’ in the video, do not pick up their own trash and throw it into proper trash cans where it belongs.

The man then complimented and praised the three for doing such a good job cleaning the streets with just their bare hands, plastic bags and tongs. 

Netizens were also quick to thank the lady and adore her two little boys for cleaning and picking up trash while some of them also felt ashamed that people who are actually living in Singapore often do not clean and take care of their own surroundings. 

Many agreed that the family is an inspiration and should be awarded for being such a great role model so that others can follow suit and become aware and disciplined to advocate the importance of cleanliness of the environment. 

The lady and her two kids gained netizens’ respect for demonstrating excellent parenting skills and said the boys will grow up to be great men. 

The viral TikTok video has reached over 119,000 views, with over 10,000 likes, 400 comments, and over 1000 shares. Some also shared the video on Facebook and Twitter. /TISG