Situation critical: A man standing in almost waist-level floodwaters in Yong Peng. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
YONG PENG: Malaysians have been pitching in to help the flood victims in Johor however they can.
Food and drinking water poured in following a call for relief items and donations from Yong Peng assemblyman Ling Tian Soon on Wednesday.
Ayer Hitam MCA Youth chief Yu Yong Ming said there was a post informing Facebook users that aid would be sent to Chaah, the worst-hit area then, while calling on those who wished to lend a hand to come forward.
“Within an hour, over 100 people came to drop all kinds of food and beverages for the victims,” he said.
Yu, who is also special officer to Ayer Hitam MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, said the relief goods were delivered to Chaah in Segamat, some 80km from here, with seven four-wheel-drive vehicles on the same day.
“The water level was rising very rapidly, so we only had a small window of time to send the items and get back here before the roads were submerged in water,” he said, adding that apart from providing relief items, volunteers from the party also assisted in rescue missions and helped out at various flood relief centres.
In Chaah, school principal S. Dominig was seen delivering clean water to the people in his neighbourhood.
“The town had no water supply from Wednesday till today (yesterday).
“I have a well at home so I shared the water with my neighbours. I also sent out messages to tell people about this well so that they could come over and get the water,” said the 54-year-old, who has also helped to cook food for the victims.
Maha Marihaman temple chairman S. Kartik said volunteers from the temple had chipped in to make about 100 packs of home-cooked food for the victims daily.
Apart from ferrying victims to relief centres, they also rescued some dogs that had been trapped by the floods.
Kartik himself was housing three families who had fled their flooded homes.
Fo Guang Shan Hsingma Si abbess Venerable Ru Bin said temple volunteers also rescued more than 100 dogs that were trapped in an animal shelter in Chaah.
“The shelter operator had asked us for help.
“At first, we thought there were only about a dozen dogs, but it turned out that he had at least a hundred,” she said.
