Malinder Singh handling the boat that rescued a Sikh couple – Photo: Supplied
By Asia Samachar Team | Malaysia |
The social media is abuzz with accounts of flood victims stranded in homes or vehicles following the havoc wrecked by continuous heavy rains in various parts of Malaysia. This is an account of a Sikh couple that got caught in their car close to Shah Alam, a state capital less than an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur.
Tarlochan Singh @ Toki, 76, and his wife Paramjit Kaur, 69, had gone to the Shah Alam gurdwara yesterday (18 Dec) to take part in the afternoon seva (voluntary service). After the Sukhmani prayers, they ran another errand for the gurdwara and were then ready to head home.
They were alerted to the numerous reports about floods around the Klang Valley. After being diverted twice, they got caught in a standstill due to floods ahead.
“They were stranded in the car from 6pm to 7am. They were on a higher ground, but the area around them was badly hit by floods,” their daughter Kiran Kaur told Asia Samachar in a telephone conversation.
The family was worried as the couple did not have their medication.
After numerous calls, a Sikh volunteer managed to get a boat to rescue the couple from where they were stranded.
“It is Guru’s kirpa that they stayed calm even without food and water, and medication,” said Kiran, a physiotherapist.
More than 30,000 people were evacuated throughout Malaysia Sunday as the country faced some of its worst flooding in years, reports AFP.
The tropical Southeast Asian nation often sees stormy monsoon seasons at the end of the year, with seasonal flooding regularly causing mass evacuations. Heavy downpours since Friday have caused rivers to overflow, submerging many urban areas and cutting off major roads, stranding thousands of motorists, the report added.
Nearly 10,000 people fled their homes in the country’s richest state of Selangor — which surrounds the capital Kuala Lumpur.
“The amount of rain that fell in Selangor yesterday, what fell in one day would usually fall in one month,” Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told a Sunday press conference.
RELATED STORY:
PJ gurdwara to prepare free hot meals for Klang Valley flood victims (Asia Samachar, 19 Dec 2021)
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