When tragedy strikes

It has been a while since I last wrote in this space. I was totally not in the mood to write anything whatsoever. Glokalmama the writer is still MIA *sigh*. But I shall try my best to write with the absence of my inner writer today.

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. My parents and family back in Kedah were tested with Mother Nature’s fury – mega flood, the worst in the history of Kedah. I could only hear what they were going through during the tormenting 1 week and the news I heard was not exactly music to my ears. My parents’ place was submerged in more than 2 meters of muddy water – in a nutshell, if you can’t swim, you’ll certainly die! Alhamdulillah my parents and family evacuated themselves in the nick of time. According to my sister they could see how fast the water was raising...scary huh?

The aftermath is indescribable! My parents lost almost everything. I doubt nothing much could be salvaged after being drenched in muddy water for a solid week. The pictures I saw brought tears to my eyes. I sent my eldest son and my maid back to help with cleaning, at least something than nothing at all. Taman Tabung Haji (my parents’ place) was in the news quite often since the tragedy – TV3 did coverage a few times, The Star also mentioned the place today and good Samaritans from as far as KL and Johor went down to help. It must have been one of the most badly affected areas. Alhamdulillah, water has receded but the cleaning process continues. And it shall continue for weeks to come. Ya Allah ya Tuhanku, permudahkanlah urusan keluargaku dan saudara-saudaraku di sana...

The entrance of my parents' house


The stuff that came with the water and stuck at my parents' compound after water receded. My sister said they smell like ketam busuk.


Students from UUM and USIM who came and help on the 3rd day of cleaning. Water supply was still inconsistent then.


But then again, if we were to compare this with Tsunami, earth quake, tornado dan yang sewaktu dengannya, it was just a tiny test from Allah. Alhamdulillah, the people in affected states especially in Kedah managed to see it through.

But there is something that’s been bugging me since this disaster strike our nation. Why is that when another country is strike with a tragedy, we, the ever generous Malaysians, eagerly and wholeheartedly help with whatever we could - be it money, manpower, medical supplies, food and what not. It was like a contest to see who can collect the most donations. Various NGOs stepped up and set up all kinds of funds and charity events to help. But when a tragedy hit our own people in our own country, help is, to say non-existence is an exaggeration, perhaps a more suitable choice of word would be ‘insufficient’. Look at the amount of funds collected compared to what we had collected for victims of the many tragedies in Indonesia. I feel sad for Malaysia...really really sad.

I say the world is coming to its end. Tragedy will strike one after another. Bertaubatlah selagi masa masih menyebelahi kita...Allah Maha Besar!