As the year comes to a close and many are busy with year-end festivities, for others, the new year is simply another day of struggling to earn a living.

Foodpanda delivery man struggled up slope for half an hour

One Tan Yen Hua posted to Facebook on Dec. 22 about a hardworking Foodpanda delivery man she encountered.

The young man, who uses a wheelchair, was according to Tan struggling up a slope in Bukit Purmei over half an hour, with people and cars passing by, before Tan and another man who was with her offered to help.

She wrote how happy the man was when the pair approached him. She said she wasn't sure how much time he would spend going up the slope if they hadn't.

According to Tan, the man had pushed his wheelchair from Tiong Bahru to Bukit Purmei to deliver an order.

She said it was also dark and raining at the time.

Tan said they then helped him to call the customer to check if he was able to confirm his location, or meet the deliveryman somewhere more convenient to collect his food.

This was when they learned from the customer that he had already been waiting two hours — to make matters worse, he proceeded to cancel his order.

In her post though, Tan remained understanding of the customer's decision, saying she felt he had "the right to cancel", and that they were "too kind [to think] that people will meet us nearby to collect the food".

Think before cancelling order

Despite her understanding of the customer's actions, Tan also urged Facebook users in her post to think before cancelling food delivery orders on a whim.

She said:

"But I don't think [the customer] knows that there is a young man trying all ways to deliver his food to him. Even two hours, still trying to continue his journey and never [give] up. Even raining, even get lost, even so tired, still want to deliver the food on time to his customer.

I can see how difficult this handicapped young man is trying to work for his living."

This story is about to get even sadder — Tan said the phenomenon of customers cancelling their orders on the young man is not anomalous.

According to her, the delivery man said cancellations are "normal" and he was "used to it".

Tan and the man eventually helped to push the Foodpanda delivery man's wheelchair to the nearest bus stop, where he could then take the train back to his home in Sengkang.

She even left him with a "red packet", which she hoped "can bring him a smile when he reach home safely after a hard day work [sic]".

You can read Tan's post in full here.