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A woman in Malaysia shared a heartbreaking story about an allegedly aggressive and abusive encounter her father had while working as a food delivery rider with Grab.

She reminded people of the difficulties that delivery riders deal with every day, and encouraged people to show more appreciation and respect to delivery riders.

Took up one last job for the day

The woman, Esther Erin, took to Instagram to share about the incident on Aug. 7, in a post titled "A True Story About Grab Drivers".

In the post, she wrote about the plight of a Grab driver, who she revealed later in the post was her father.

He had been driving for 12 hours straight, every day for the past year, typically eating a simple breakfast at 5:30am and lunch at 8pm.

One Thursday, it was 6pm and almost time for him to eat dinner with his kids but he decided to take up one last job for the day.

Esther said that when her father arrived at the restaurant, he entered to greet the owner and inform him of the orders. However, she claimed that the owner "looked him up and down with a displeased look on his face" and said, "Grab drivers wait outside."

"Why the f*ck is my food taking so long to arrive?"

However, after 30 minutes of waiting, he received an angry message from the customer: "Why the f*ck is my food taking so long to arrive?"

He then began to panic, but when he entered the restaurant to check on the order, the owner allegedly glared at him and raised his voice, saying, "NOT READY! Grab drivers outside!"

Esther said that when her father apologised to the customer and explained that his order was still being prepared, the customer replied that he was going to give him a low rating.

After 20 minutes, the food was finally ready. Esther said that her father grabbed the food quickly and drove as fast as he could to the customer, immediately apologising for the delay.

However, the customer cut him off and said, "You jangan kurang ajar." ("Don't be rude.")

Esther wrote that her father was stunned and did not know what to do other than to pass the food to the customer, and that the customer then threw the food — which included a "piping hot bowl of soup" — back at her father, saying:

"So f*cking long, better don't deliver next time."

Victim of emotional and physical abuse

Esther said that her father felt "tired, confused, and upset", but that it was not the first time that customers greeted him with harsh remarks, curses, or impolite behaviour.

He ended up arriving two hours late for their dinner, with damp clothes, puffy eyes, and burns on his skin.

Esther wrote:

"He carries all these frustrations and emotional scars in his heart, it pains me to share the fragments and details of this story.

It hurts me, even more, knowing that my father is the victim of emotional and physical abuse. Could you stand to see your father get bullied and all you could do is pat them on the back and tell them 'everything is going to be okay?'"

She reminded readers that Grab drivers deal with these kinds of situations daily:

"They wait for hours, risk their lives on the road to deliver food — only to be treated with disrespect, emotional abuse, an endless string of insults while being at the mercy of an app that users can rate depending on their mood and standards."

Reminded of her father's story after seeing Grab rider in rain

Esther's post garnered more than 40,000 likes in four days, with hundreds of people chiming in in the comments with their well wishes for her father, sharing their similar personal experiences, and encouraging others to be kinder to delivery riders.

In a series of Instagram Stories after her post gained traction, Esther thanked everyone for their kind words and shared more background information about the incident.

She clarified that the incident had happened a few months earlier, and that her father had told her to forget about it after dinner that night.

However, she said that she was reminded of the incident when she was driving recently and saw a Grab rider delivering an order in the pouring rain, who she took a picture of and included in her post.

Family isn't looking for compensation

Esther also clarified that the post was not intended to try to get compensation for her family, and that her father is a "simple man" who "doesn't need any form of publicity or compensation".

Esther also shared that in a separate incident, her father was beaten up and assaulted at a petrol station by a drunk driver in the early morning. Thus, he has been resting more at home while Esther and her brother work to support the family.

"We are extremely grateful to have full-time jobs given the current situation", she wrote.

She expressed her appreciation for the many offers of assistance that they have received, but added:

"I would love for you to know that we have a roof over our heads, and food on the table. Because of this, we are beyond fortunate and are able to cope on our own.

[...] Thank you so much, but we are really fine."

Instead, she encouraged people hoping to help to instead pay-it-forward to others who need it more than Esther and her family do: "The simple act of tipping your food/parcel delivery riders would mean the world to them."

Advice for companies and for individuals

GrabFood Malaysia commented on Esther's post, saying that they are "truly sorry" that her father had to go through that incident. The GrabFood Malaysia team also asked Esther for more information about the case, so that they can investigate.

In her Instagram Stories, Esther recognised that her family is "fortunate" that the story reached the attention of Grab, but added that there are many other similar incidents that are not brought to light.

She also encouraged Grab and other food and parcel delivery companies, such as foodpanda and Lalamove to prioritise the physical and emotional health and safety of riders.

Esther's full post can be viewed here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSRhmoqpxMs/

Top photos via Instagram / @esthererin.

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