With the seasonal change in the monsoon winds, Johor is always susceptible to heavy rains and flooding at the end of the year (see previous reports of visits to evacuation centres After the Floods and After even more Floods!). But while there were afternoon heavy rains at the end of December 2020, there were no floods to worry about. Well all that changed on New Year’s Day 2021 when it rained continuously for two days and two nights, and several thousand Johorians found themselves in evacuation centres. The rains then moved up the east coast and caused devastation in the state of Pahang. So for two days this week I accompanied colleagues from the National Committee for Community Services & Health, Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC), as they delivered assistance and reviewed the needs of those people in need. So let’s see how the community came together to help others by looking at Corporate Aid, the MRC Disaster Team, and the work of local NGOs and the police.
Corporate Aid
When the extent of the local flooding was clear, Aidah ABD Rahman (Senior Vice President, Special Projects) of Iskandar Investment Berhad, contacted Lekha Nandey (MRC) offering assistance. So on Weds 5th January we went to Bazar Mydin Anjung Nusajaya to receive generous gifts of towels, sarongs, diapers, etc. for the MRC to distribute via the evacuation centres.
Aidah (see below left) had contacted Lekha to determine the best things to buy. Flood victims have different requirements depending on the severity of the floods and the continued presence of standing water. For this reason, if you would like to help the flood victims, it is always best to check first otherwise they can have more bottled water than needed and not enough hygiene products, for example.
Then Datuk IR Khairil Anwar Ahmed, President/CEO, Iskandar Investment Berhad, arrived from KL to make the formal presentation, along with Azman Mohd Hussein (Executuve Vice President, HCM & Transformation) to YB Dato Mohd Rashidi bin Hj Mohd Noh (Deputy Chairman, National Committee for Health & Community Services).
The MRC Disaster Services
On 5th January, thirteen officers from the National Headquartes of the MRC in Kuala Lumpur had travelled down to Johor and Pahang to help with flood relief. They even came with their own boat!
We met up with some of these gentlemen and drove to the main police headquarters in Johor Bahru with some emergency PPE supplies for the policemen working to help the flood victims. Rescue operations during ordinary times are hazardous enough, but even more saftey precautions are required during the current coronavirus pandemic.
The Chairman of the MRC Disaster Committee & Ambulance Services, Datuk Dr. Mohamed Alwi (seated below centre) explained their operations to the Chief of the Johor Police, CP Dato’ Ayob Khan bin Mydin Pitchay (seated below left).
The then it was time to sign the Visitor’s Book…..
Another important member of the MRC team was Abi Saud Al-Khudrim, Director of Operations for Disaster Management & Ambulance (photo below left).
The next day, the MRC team from Kuala Lumpur were due to head up north to help out in Pahang; always going where their help is most needed.
The police and community service
The impressive photo at the entrance to the police station in Skudai shows ACP Rupiah binti Abd Wahid, Officer in Charge of northern Johor Bahru district, at the centre of her team of police. She was aware of 40 families in her community which had lost everything in the floods, and was seeking help from the MRC. These families live in what is referred to as a squatter area in Lorong Aris, Skudai. But these are no temporary shacks, these are single-storey concrete houses, as some of these people have lived here for over 70 years. Their official position is precarious, as officially they are here unofficially! Nevertheless, their homes had been under 4 foot of water and all their belongings were lost to the water and the mud. So she was keen to see what could be done for them. I joined Lekha on 6th January to take a look around the area and discuss how the MRC might help.
We were escorted to the location by policeman S.I. Zamri Wahid, and were greeted by this pile of damaged mud-soaked items dumped at the edge of the carpark. No amount of cleaning would make these usable again. Then we sneaked through the fencing and walked very slowly down a very slippery set of steps. Most of the flood water had receded leaving slippery mud covering everything. We spoke to a village head and he said he had lived here for 40 years and had never experienced flooding like this.
We were met by a hive of activity, with people of all ages helping to remove damaged goods, and clean the houses and any salvageable items. What I found remarkable here was that these were volunteers from other parts of Johor who had given their time to help others. Lekha told me that Johor has the highest number of NGOs in the country! How lucky it is to be a Johorian!
The other aspect I have found curious is that NGOs such as the MRC receive no government funding! They are expected to work as an arm of the government, but all their funding comes from donations.
It is hard to convey the mud-soaked environment here from the photos, so I made a little video which you can see at the end of this blog.
Everyone was busy, and everyone had a smile on their face! Not everyone was wearing their masks properly though, but these were difficult circumstances to work in, so that was quite understandable.
The MRC then gave some Maggi Mee foodstuffs to one of the NGOs and it was time to return to the police station to meet up with some fish deliveries from colleagues in the MRC.
With its mission to help everyone, the MRC gave fresh fish to the cleaners who work at the police station. This came as a total surprise to them thanks to the generosity of GM Seafood. This company has been providing fresh fish to the Johor Bahru community for some months now, to help the poor during the coronavirus outbreak. Donors send funds to GM Seafood who sell their fish at a highly subsidised cost for the benefit of the poor. This is yet another example of community service.
Then it was off in convoy, following S.I. Zamri Wahid, to Kg Sepakat Baru to distribute the remaining fish supplies. And again, our first sight was piles of damaged household goods. The air was thick with smoke from burning all this material. Anything that could be washed was being washed and dried on any surface available. This area had last been flooded 15 months ago, but nothing as bad as now. It was all quite depressing really.
When first driving into the kampung, you might think it was not too bad. But just 2 days ago there was 4 foot of muddy water here, and now just the mud remained. While news reports show the horror of the floods, they rarely return after the floods have receded to show how the lives of the villagers are affected. The impact of the floods will remain for some time, and villagers will cross their fingers when the rains come again at the end of the year.
At least this cat knew how to get to higher ground by climbing onto a car! The flood evacuation scheme in Johor is well developed and villagers know of local schools which will house them until it is safe to return home. But, as seen throughout the world, people are reluctant to leave their homes until they ‘see’ the emergency with their own eyes. But by then it is too late to protect their homes and belongings.
The villagers in Kg. Sepakat Baru were invited to come and collect some fresh fish and Maggi Mee, and the policeman, S.I. Zamri Wahid, was invited to the sign the Visitor’s Book. I never expected to see such a thing but you could see the good relationship between the police and the community here.
As we were leaving, these guys gestured to me to take their photo…… They were taking a break from cleaning activities.
Finally, I spotted this single lonely boat at the entrance to the kampung and wondered what stories it had to tell…...
And here’s a little video I made on 6th January. My apologies for the slightly hazy images due to my sweaty fingerprint on the lens! It was tricky handling two cameras and avoiding falling into the mud!
Don’t forget, if you would like to make a donation to MRC to help them with their work, you can contact Lekha Nandey (019 755 5600) and/or send funds to MRC Community Services - JB(2) at RHB JB Account 20114700068907.
If you want to videos of the floods in Malaysia, and/or keep track of conditions, please see this FB page The Flooding across Eastern Peninsular Malaysia
Click here to see more about the activities of the Malaysian Red Crescent.
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