Manama: Social media users in Kuwait have heaped praise on an Egyptian watchman after he returned a chest of jewellery to its owner and refused a reward.
The watchman was reportedly removing garbage from the building where he was employed when he spotted the wooden box. Intrigued, he opened and discovered jewellery inside it.
He took it back to the building and posted a notice informing the tenants that “whoever had lost something valuable [should] contact him,” local daily Al Rai reported on Monday.
The owner of the box contacted the watchman and provided details proving his ownership.
He said that his child had thrown the chest, containing the mother’s jewellery, worth about 4,000 Kuwaiti dinars (Dh52,095), in the garbage chute.
However, when the owner offered the watchman 10 per cent of the estimated worth of the items as a reward, the Egyptian expatriate refused, insisting that he wanted a reward only from God.
“May God bless the watchman,” one blogger posted. “It is very rare these days to find such an honest man.”
Another blogger said that the watchman was entitled to the reward and that he should have accepted it.
“You were wonderful, but there is no harm whatsoever in taking the offer,” the blogger, who used the moniker of Njwaleed, said.
Sareeh, another commenter, said that he had been touched by the story.
“It is really great. It shows that the Egyptian is trustworthy and the Kuwaiti generous. Everyone is great,” he said.
Abu Felah said that he was sure the watchman would get rich rewards.
“Such an honest man in very challenging times is so rare. I am confident he will be blessed and [rewarded] in numerous ways. God bless him.”
