When Malaysian mother Hadijah Neamat was struggling to cope during the coronavirus lockdown, she hung a scrap of white cloth outside her window in a plea for help.

The white flag campaign has gained momentum on social media in a bid to encourage people to help others in distress during a prolonged lockdown in Malaysia.

Indeed, shortly after Hadijah, 73, put up the flag a neighbour came by to offer her food and other items.

"I thought it would be outsiders who would come to help, like wealthy people or ministers or important people," said Hadijah, who lives in a densely populated district of Petaling Jaya in Selangor state near the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

"But they said ‘We are neighbours. If someone puts up a white flag, of course we need to be concerned’," she added, saying she was surprised by the act of generosity on her doorstep.

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