When a friend who is currently in Turkey alerted us that his home too was caught in the recent floods, another buddy of ours whose home though flooded too made his way in his 4-wheel drive to see if the former's parents, nephews and nieces were safe. But he had to stop short of entering the housing scheme as only boats could ply further into the waters. By God's grace, the rain stopped and the floodwaters subsided. Though he offered to go over and help clean up, the friend's parents managed themselves. The same day another friend rushed to save his parents from the flood driving them back in his 4-wheel drive to his home elsewhere. Not satisfied with saving his parents, he engaged a boat and gathered some friends, and then went back to his parent's housing scheme to distribute food. Our own Persatuan Teman Setia (PTS) contributed an amount towards the purchase of food to be distributed. In going to the ground or rather wading through the water he came to know that what the victims needed most then were candles and matches. He broke into his home and office that was submerged in water and managed to find some of those items and saved the day or rather saved the victims from spending the night in darkness. He literally brought light into their homes. Both these samaritans have charity running in their blood. They were the backbone of AVM, Amudha Surabhi, and Pothihai Dharma Chakram previously in the days of our charity drives. Many like them were caught unexpectedly. A cousin of mine and her family who were hit by the floods previously some 25 years ago, was hit twice. They were picked up by rescuers in boats to safety eventually. My daughter and son-in-law and his friend's family did their small part in sending over essentials to affected households in a nearby village. They observed that only the victims' homes stood but all the rest of their belongings had to be thrown away. These are a couple of stories of the samaritans who came to the aid of those in danger and distress. There are many more out there still helping out the flood victims.
By this time food was in surplus as many individuals and Non-Government Organizations (NGO's) had begun giving food. Someone who goes by the name "iherng" on social media who was "on a mission to deliver power banks and water supply to his family" jotted his observation, "Lots of kind-hearted people making donations blindly. I see so much food and water just thrown away at the roadside without even being opened." We too saw the same happen during the days when we joined the numerous NGOs in bringing packed food to the homeless on the streets. At one time we decided that they do not need it after seeing them stack this food up without eating them and seeing these packets piled up on the walkways. We diverted our contribution to those who had homes but did not have the means to feed themselves. Malaysian are generally very generous.
Sadly "iherng" pointed out there were many out there who were keener to document the crisis rather than help out. He wrote, "So many trucks with people behind shooting videos as if it's a tourist hot spot. Official rescue vehicles just couldn't access the site because of the congestion." He said it beautifully, "If you're not part of the solution, please don't be part of the problem." I guess they were gathering footage to be posted on their social media accounts and raise the viewership ratings or increase support as in the latter or make an earning out of others' sufferings as did those who asked exorbitant fees to ferry them across to safety. This craze to click their cameras has become very obvious in road accidents too. People stand around taking photos and videos of road accident victims instead of aiding them. There was a video footage posted of a man trying to get up from his hospital bed and taking a few steps. He was seen as obviously in need of help while someone continued filming. The man dropped to the floor and died later. But we shall give the one behind the camera the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he too was bedridden and could not move to aid the man. But he could have always cried or shouted or made a din. But again maybe he could not do that either. Even funerals are not spared these days. The least one could do is to respect the dead.