Poor rescue effort - willful ignorance or deliberate neglect?

So Malaysia now has the world’s second-tallest building. But yet, we don’t seem to have enough simple boats to rescue people stuck on flooded rooftops in Klang.

Perhaps the KL118 skyscraper is designed to make us look upwards (at the “keris” on top?), to fool us into thinking we are already an “advanced country”. And to forget our many problems in the real world.

The floodwaters in Klang began rising on Friday night (Dec 17). Two days later, many people were still trapped and desperate. On Sunday night (Dec 19), Klang member of parliament (MP) Charles Santiago had to beg Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to send in the army for help.

“Klang Utama is one of the most affected. We need Hishammuddin to send the army now with boats. Delayed emergency support isn’t acceptable. …People have been sitting on their home rooftops, without food, waiting for help. Where is the defence minister?” he posted on his Facebook.

In fact, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari had also asked for federal government aid a day earlier on Saturday night (Dec 18) from Hishammuddin, as well as Nadma (the National Disaster Management Agency). What happened?

How about the National Security Council (MKN)? Couldn’t they take a break from sending us SMS spam on Keluarga Malaysia and instead mobilise their abundant resources to rescue humble folks in Klang?

Apparently, little was done by the army until Santiago shamed the defence minister into taking action. Surely Hishammuddin didn’t need to wait so long? Surely, we have a capable army which can proactively offer assistance without being asked?

A friend, Aris Dzulkifli, saw both the best and worst of Malaysia in action while helping out at another hard-hit area, Taman Sri Muda of Shah Alam.

“I left at around 3am this morning (Dec 20) after bomba and PDRM (police) finally mobilised their assets and took control of the operations,” he posted on Facebook.

“Most of the rescues done in the first 24 hours were by individuals, boat and jet ski owners, NGOs and volunteers. (It was) CHAOS but everyone had each other’s back. I experienced Rakyat Malaysia at its best. Complete strangers that became friends.”

Yes, even jet ski owners, total amateurs to rescue work, came to help! But trained government staff were slow to arrive, as confirmed by Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming.

Is this what we pay our taxes for? As a result, many people at Sri Muda were left trapped and starving for 48 hours, as the uncoordinated civilian volunteers and boats could not cope.

Blissful ignorance?

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaacob visited flood victims in Klang on Dec 19. Was it just a PR photo op “to show face”? Santiago lamented that the visit was in “bad faith” as the PM did not contact local elected representatives nor even the Klang Municipal Council.

“This shows he’s not interested in working across the aisle (with Pakatan Harapan). Nor is he interested in learning about what’s actually happening on the ground and how we could come together to mitigate these frequent floods. This goes against the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia, which the PM preaches.”

Santiago also lamented that the Social Welfare Department was not helping distribute food and water at relocation centres and this was being left to private donors. 

The lack of food, mattresses and other facilities at flood relocation centres was also raised by Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, who called the government's response "very, very, very disappointing".

Ismail Sabri admitted that the official flood response was kelam-kabut (chaotic). He claimed the government was prepared for floods on the east coast but not in Selangor.

Oh really? Was Putrajaya blissfully ignorant that extreme rainfall (believed to be linked to global warming) had caused massive floods not only in the east coast, but also the west coast? For example, in Penang (2017), Kedah (2010) and Kuala Lumpur itself (2007).

Maybe this “bliss” is the result of Environment Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (from PAS) declaring that Malaysia faced no threat from climate change.

Perhaps our “esteemed” minister feels that the real threat to Malaysia comes instead from Muslims being “confused” over Timah whiskey?

Yet Ismail Sabri cannot claim he didn't know about massive rains causing deluges on the west coast because one of his first acts after becoming PM in August this year was to visit flood victims in Yan, Kedah (in a massive motorcade of 50 Vellfires, SUVs and other vehicles - talk about showing face.)

Moreover, the Selangor state government had warned about the threat of heavy rains just a month ago.

Political neglect?

So, if it’s not ignorance, is it deliberate neglect? Because of politics? Why were army and police boats slow to mobilise? Why is food lacking at relocation centres?

A conspiracy theorist may be forgiven for wondering – is Putrajaya's poor response due to Selangor being ruled by a Harapan state government? To make voters angry? After all, many people don’t really analyse politics, they just want the government to deliver the goods.

I sincerely hope we have not reached such a toxic state. But if even national emergencies can be declared to keep Parliament closed so that some people can hang on to power, perhaps Malaysia has sunk to more depressing depths than we had thought.

There are echoes of President George W Bush’s incompetent response to Hurricane Katrina which hit New Orleans in 2005. Two-thirds of blacks (66%) said then that “the government’s response to the situation would have been faster if most of the victims had been white.”

The signs are not good. When Harapan leaders tried to raise relevant issues in Parliament about the lack of flood early warning systems, the delay in rescues, inadequate drainage and how this could befall the most advanced part of the country (the Klang Valley), they were blocked by House speaker, Azhar ‘Art’ Harun with some technical (or perhaps “artistic”?) excuse.

Klang is a stronghold of Harapan. Would the federal government have responded faster if floods had deluged Bera, Pahang, the PM’s parliament seat? 

Would the army have gone in sooner if Hishammuddin’s seat of Sembrong, Johor, had been submerged? If politics can affect flood rescues, then Keluarga Malaysia is already broken as some Malaysians are treated as orphans.

This is why we need the fantasy heights of the KL118 tower – to make us forget about the problems we have on the ground. -Mkini

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ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at tehtarik@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.