Rising Above the Waters: Joint NGO Effort Supports Flood Victims

Yayasan Suria JB and Ihsan Johor, two NGOs renowned for their flood relief and aid work in Johor, collaborated once again to give out aid to victims of the recent flooding in Johor.

They began on Friday, February 2nd, and continued to Sunday, February 4th, covering affected villages in Mersing, Kota Tinggi, and Sungai Tiram.

Altogether, 502 families were assisted, the most significant being from villages in the Sungai Tiram area, numbering 79 families.

Each family was given provisions, including milk powder, and to mark the Chinese New Year festivities, Mandarin Oranges and families also received Ang Pows. A total of RM50,200 were handed out during the three-day campaign.

Some needy students of a primary school in Sungai Tiram were given mattresses and sarongs.

The losses experienced by the flood victims cannot be quantified in terms of their despair and witnessing the loss of furniture and personal effects.

En Hamzah Bin Mohamad has been living in Kampung Paya for 16 years. The village is located in the Nam Heng Plantation of Kota Tinggi. Nearby is the mighty Johor River.

It was the first time the villagers had to be relocated to temporary shelters, even though some were reluctant to abandon their homes.

En Hamzah Bin Alvi, 67, has lived in Kampung Sungai Serai all his life and has witnessed the increasing severity of the flooding through the years. This was the first time he had to evacuate to the temporary shelters.

Altogether, there are three villages in the Nam Heng Estate, with Kampung Sungai Berangan and Kampung Sungai Serai the worst affected.

En Mustafa, who has lived in a village on the banks of the Tiram River all his life, said that the flooding on January 8th was the worst since 2011, which was bad already.

He said that half his house and those of his neighbours were inundated.

Working as a gardener at the local school, he is tired of suffering the losses with every flood and would like to move into a low-cost flat. Still, he can hardly afford the rental even though, for all intents and purposes, rentals for the PPR (Program Perumahan Rakyat) units are very low. “Even so, I can’t afford it with the wages of a gardener,” he laments.

Puan Normah Jamaludin hails from Batu 20 Kampung Sungai Tiram. She’s been living there for 10 years, and this is the most severe flooding she’s experienced.

“The water level was very high, and when it got to chest level, we decided to leave our home and head towards the Sungai Tiram town’s community hall,” she said.

“Everyone in the village lost everything we had.

“We cannot even estimate our losses financially,” she added.

Mr James Ho, founder and current secretary of Yayasan Kebajikan Suria, said it was an exhausting three days.

“We would not have been able to carry it out without the generosity of the public, our corporate sponsors and of course the volunteers, some of whom were students of Raffles University in Medini,” James said.

“We covered 209 kilometres, with 51 volunteers helping to distribute the aid,” James added.

“The three-day programme was part of our post-flood relief aid,” said Ihsan Johor’s chief executive.

I commented that the two NGOs, Ihsan Johor and Yayasan Suria, are like twins in Johor’s NGO network, often collaborating in disaster relief efforts.

“It’s because we work well, complement each other, and share resources,” Farrah quipped.