KUALA LUMPUR: A family of eight, squeezed into a Perodua Axia arriving at a TV station for an interview, has raked in more than 2 million views.
As the children piled out one by one from the confined space in the back of the car, the comment section in the TikTok video lit up, with many netizens feeling heartbroken.
The caption that accompanied the video read, 'Kita semua pakai baju yang ada jer… Anak-anak terpaksa pakai kasut sekolah sebab ibu takde bajet nak beli kasut lain… (We only put on what we had… the kids had to use their school shoes because mummy doesn't have the money to buy other shoes…)'
The video was posted by Norhaziantie Zailani on her TikTok account (@norhaziantie90), and showed her family arriving at TV3's Seri Pentas in Bandar Utama for an interview, on the station's 'Malaysia Hari Ini' programme.
In the video, she explained that they had wanted to make themselves presentable for the programme, but due to limited finances, the children had to make do with their black school shoes.
What's even more tragic is the fact that three of the children – a boy and two girls – do not belong to Norhaziantie and her husband, Khairul Haznizam Roslan.
They belonged to Norhaziantie's brother, Mohamad Shafiq Zailani, known affectionately as 'Along.' Along and his wife, Faieznoor Mansor, and their 10-month-old baby tragically died in a crash on the East Coast Highway (LPT) on Nov 19 last year.
"My husband also wanted to take care of all of Along's children. He had been a close friend of Along's for years, and they often spent time together. Along and his wife had often asked us to care for their kids, but we never thought that their words would come true," Norhaziantie said in a recent Harian Metro report.
The video has so far received more than 2.1 million views and 66,300 likes, with netizens expressing sympathy for the family's financial situation. Many are learning about the family's story for the first time.
Norhaziantie works as an online retailer.
User @ika_auzzir was sad after watching the video but was thankful for the fact that despite the tragedy and the financial constraints, the children still had love and people who cared.
User @azima_ima sympathises with the couple's plight, having to care for the children.
User @thecottagehousesedim called on Perodua to sponsor a bigger vehicle for the family and prayed for their continued blessings.