Thinking he was doing a good deed, a sanitation worker in Taiwan gave a functional rice cooker he found in the trash to an elderly scavenger.
However, to his surprise, he was later summoned to court for corruption.
Source: ETtoday
According to ETtoday, Huang, a veteran sanitation worker, found the rice cooker in July while on duty on a recycling truck.
He then gave it to Ah-Sang, a woman he didn’t know but often saw scavenging.
“I hoped she could use it to cook hot meals and live a better life,” he said during his court appearance on Tuesday (9 Sept).
However, someone allegedly reported Huang after witnessing the scene.
Huang was initially given a demerit, which would affect his performance evaluation for the year.
As the case involved corruption, the case was later referred to the Department of Government Ethics.
“This is the first time I’ve encountered something like this. I’m scared. I don’t know if I’ll be imprisoned,” Huang lamented.
Testifying in court, staff from the Department of Environmental Protection said Huang was trying to help others.
In fact, during the investigation, Huang felt embarrassed to ask the elderly woman to return the rice cooker.
He eventually bought a new one using his own money and exchanged it with the elderly woman. Huang then brought the contentious rice cooker to the Department of Environmental Protection.
Image courtesy of Tatung USA. For illustration purposes only.
This, staff members said, proved Huang had no ill intentions and that he usually abides by the law.
Meanwhile, the Department of Environmental Protection stressed that recyclables collected remain city property and cannot be taken.
Huang is currently awaiting sentencing, but the department stated that he will not lose his job even if he is fined or placed on probation for the incident.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from ETtoday and Reddit. Picture on the right is for illustration purposes only.