PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA - Like any Good Samaritan, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor returns anything she finds to its rightful owner without a thought of reward.

Now, her act of honesty will benefit many less-fortunate Malaysians.

It all started when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Rosmah and their family were on their vacation in south of France, where they stayed on the Kuwait royal family's yatch.

"At the end of our stay, as I was packing our belongings, I stumbled upon a box in the safe-deposit box which belonged to Prince Saud Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia," said Rosmah.

Rosmah alerted the yacht's officer-in-charge and asked him to see to it that Prince Saud's belongings were returned safely.

Shortly after this, Rosmah received a letter from Prince Saud, thanking her and asking her if he could give her a "present".

"I informed Prince Saud that no gift was greater to my husband and me than the well-being of Malaysians.

"I also asked if he would like to donate to the Permata Pintar school which is being set up.

"Shortly after this, I received a cheque for US$2 million (S$2.8 million) from Prince Saud, who said I had the liberty of choosing the beneficiaries."

Rosmah gave half of it to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for the setting up of the Permata Pintar school while 13 other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and welfare bodies of which she is patron or president received RM25,000 each.

The contributions were presented to the 14 beneficiaries at a ceremony held in Sri Satria yesterday.

--The Star/ANN