MALAYSIA — Believing that his family does not have “very much money”, a seven-year-old boy in Malaysia packed some biscuits in his bag to avoid having to spend on lunch in school.

A TikTok video of the boy’s mother catching him in the selfless act has touched the hearts of online users.

In the video, Ms Nadiya Hayati noticed her son Zachary trying to discreetly stash something in his backpack while preparing for school. To her surprise, she discovered that her son had carefully stored three biscuits in a small container, with the intention of eating them during recess instead of buying food at the school canteen. 

“He said he wants to bring (the biscuits with him) because he wants to save his pocket money,” the captions on the video read.

Curious about his newfound thriftiness, Ms Nadiya asks Zachary in the video why he wants to save money, since she has never asked him to do so. 

Initially hesitant, the boy tries to dodge the question but he eventually opens up and confesses: “Because we don’t have very much money.”

The boy then shows his mother the container again, explaining that he had to nibble on the edges of the three square biscuits in order to squeeze them into the small round space.

Zachary then repeats his intention of saving his pocket money by finishing the rest of the partially eaten biscuits at school.

@nadiya.hayati Lenkali bila mama tanya kenapa, kau jawab je la “sebab boleh dek”… #budakdarjah1 #dramasedih #simpanduit #siapapotongbawangni😭😭 ♬ original sound – Nadiya 哈亚蒂