KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — A group of Malaysian truckers have come together to fulfill a Kuantan boy with prostate cancer’s wish of experiencing lorries with musical horns or ‘lori tenonet’.
The three-year-old boy, Abid, was first diagnosed with prostate cancer at only eleven months old.
According to his mother, Nur Lydia Rose Hafieza, Abid has been fascinated with ‘tenonet’ trucks, much due to their constant travel back and forth between Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur on a weekly basis for his chemotherapy and medical check-ups at Hospital Tengku Azizah here.
“When we were traveling back and forth from KL, we would come across a lot of lorries on the highway.
“Abid’s interest in lorries started from there but not once did we get the chance to come across any ‘tenonet’ lorries.
“We could only hear them from afar, but it was not in sight,” Rose told Malay Mail.
Abid’s wishes were about to come through though after Rose has left a comment looking for ‘tenonet’ lorry owners on a local online portal’s Facebook post regarding the RM2,000 fine and jail time for vehicle owners with musical horns by the Selangor’s road transport department (JPJ), last week.
Although she did not put much hope from her comment, she started to get messages from lorry owners around Malaysia offering to share the experience with Abid.
“The first to come and demonstrate their ‘tenonet’ horns in front of Abid was a sand truck, who came by last Saturday.
“The second one was a truck owner in Gebeng and the third was the NSE truckers’ group who came by with five to six trucks last Sunday night,” Rose said adding that the truckers demonstrated their trucks at a secluded area to not bother anyone else.
Aside from the chance to be in the driver seat, Abid also had the pleasure of honking the ‘tenonet’ horns which played out melodies of popular tunes including kids’ favourite Baby Shark and also the patriotic Keranamu Malaysia.
“We’re really grateful for the truckers.
“At times, we felt bad for them because there are some drivers who came all the way from KL to meet Abid, but they don’t mind as they’re also heading towards Terengganu to do pickups.
“The truckers also gave us some monetary aid for Abid.”
“It was really a heartfelt moment, to see Abid’s wishes come true and to see his face light up with joy especially with his sickness,” she said.
Besides that, Rose also has been receiving a lot of videos of ‘tenonet’ lorry owners from all around the country who had shared it with her for Abid on her social media platforms.
Rose is also expecting another group of tow-trucks who has offered to meet Abid next week.
Abid, the third child out of four siblings, was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2019 and underwent operation to remove the cancer that same year.
The operation resulted in Abid having to use a urinary catheter to collect urine from his bladder temporarily.
In April 2020, Abid had to undergo another operation as the cancer returned, which resulted in him having to use the urinary catheter permanently.
Rose is waiting for Abid’s next MRI scan as the doctors have informed her during their last visit last year that there are still some lumps but noted it could be just a scar from the last operation.
