These days, there are so many scammers that it is sometimes difficult to discern which people actually need help and which ones are just pretending to be sick to get other people’s sympathy (and money).
In Singapore, a blind old man was accused of being a scammer because he was seen reading a newspaper! We can’t really fault netizens. After all, if he really is blind, then he could not surely see what he was reading, right?
Photo credit: Twitter / Shin Min Daily News
The ‘blind’ old man sells tissue paper. He sits by a cart filled with tissue paper packs, with a note that read, “I am blind and unable to work. I can only sell tissue paper. Please help me. Thank you for your support.”
As expected, signs like this one make netizens feel pity on the seller and would choose to buy from him instead of purchasing the same item at the mall. But when this same old man was spotted reading a newspaper, a lot of netizens got angry and accused him of being a scammer!
Photo credit: Twitter / Shin Min Daily News
The old man was later identified as Liu Zhen Xian, 72 years old.
It turned out that he really was visually impaired. In his 20s, Liu lost sight in his right eye, becoming completely blind on that eye after an accident involving a marble. While his left eye was not injured at the time, he would eventually become visually impaired on this eye as well due to old age.
To prove this, Liu has an ID as member of the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicap.
Photo credit: Twitter / Shin Min Daily News
After learning that he was getting labeled as scammer because he was seen reading, Liu felt really sad. He explained that he had long developed the habit of reading the day’s newspaper. Thus, even with his failing eyesight, he still continues to try to read even if this is more difficult for him to do now.
Liu can still see, but he has very limited vision.