Brothers Chen Ping and Chen Sin (fourth and sixth from right) with members of the Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Force and their crew at the site of the Batang Kali landslide. The duo helped by operating excavators to search for victims.
NOT many have the heart, let alone the right skills, to help others in a crisis.
But the few who do, make a difference and leave a lasting impression on the people they have helped.
Here are a handful of heroes who sacrificed their time to provide much-needed assistance in times of difficulty in the last decade.
Grounded assistance
Earthworks company manager Lem Chen Sin vividly remembers being handed flowers to be placed at the Batang Kali landslide site as a mark of respect for the victims in 2022.
Chen Sin, 44, and his brother Chen Ping, 42, were part of the team of excavator operators who had volunteered for a 10-day search-and-rescue mission at the site of the tragedy.
The Dec 16 landslide in Selangor had buried a campsite and claimed 31 lives.
The flowers were from the families of the victims.
In recounting their experience, the brothers recalled how a resort operator had informed them about the landslide and they had asked if they could help in any way.
On hearing that some of the victims were children, Chen Ping, who has a three-year-old son, and Chen Sin, a father of two daughters aged 21 and 18, were moved to lend a helping hand.
“When I arrived at the site, a lady who had lost her entire family in the landslide got down on her knees and begged for my help,” said Chen Sin.
By then, there was a whole army of uniformed organisations digging the mud with shovels to rescue the victims, he noted.
But he knew that heavier equipment was needed for the task.
He relayed this to Chen Ping, who called up the owner of a development company with a project site nearby and asked to borrow some excavators.
“The company owner immediately said yes because he knew that human lives were at stake,” said Chen Ping.
At first, the Fire and Rescue Department barred them from entering the site, Chen Sin recalled.
“When I told them that we were there to help, the first thing they asked was how much we were going to charge.
“I told them that they did not have to worry as all the costs for labour, equipment and fuel would be borne by the development company that owned the excavators. Our time was also voluntary,” said Chen Sin.
The property developer sent seven excavators to the site.
At that time, Chen Sin said the ground had yet to settle. The entire terrain was very sludgy like thick gruel.
Rescuers who had entered the site on foot found themselves sinking waist-deep into the mud.
In order to navigate the unsteady terrain, logs were placed under the bottom rollers so that they would not sink or get stuck in the muddy terrain.
Though the excavator’s bucket could dig a metre deep, they were instructed to dig only 0.3m at a time.
“We had to remind ourselves that under the mud was where a campsite had once stood,” said Chen Sin.
The Batang Kali tragedy was to be the Lem brothers’ first rescue mission.
“All through the mission, all we wanted was to work as quickly as possible so that the bodies of victims could be retrieved and returned to their families,” said Chen Sin.
The only silver lining was when Chen Sin found a dog and reunited it with its owner.
“The poor animal was so traumatised that it could not even recognise its owner at first,” said Chen Sin.
“The moment that the last victim was finally found was an emotional moment for everyone present.
“We shed tears of relief as well as sadness,” said Chen Ping.
The brothers said they did not suffer from any post-traumatic effects after the incident. Instead, they felt fulfilled that their skills as excavator operators had come in useful at a time of need.
“However, we did learn a valuable lesson from the experience – to cherish life and our loved ones, as one will never know when we will be spending our last moments with them,” said Chen Sin.
For their efforts, the Lem brothers and the operators who had worked under them were presented with certificates of appreciation by former Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Hamdan Wahid in January 2023.
Bagawan distributing aid to children during the Pahang floods in 2014.
Flights of mercy
The first time Sarina Kijai, a school cleaner, flew in a helicopter was right after she gave birth to her second child, Mohamad Benji Rozi, on Dec 24, 2014.
Roslan Ramli, the tuk batin (chief) of Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Tiang, who is also Sarina’s brother-in-law, remembers that stressful day when he had to seek help from the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) so that mother and baby could receive medical attention.
“Sarina had given birth at home during the 2014 Pahang floods.
“The rising waters had cut off all road access for us, so Jakoa arranged for the Fire and Rescue Department to take her by boat from our village via the Tembeling River to a field that was located beside the Felcra community hall in Tembeling Tengah.
“There, she was airlifted to Jerantut and taken to a hospital,” said Roslan.
Sarina, now 38 and a mother of three, said she had felt elated and anxious at the same time.
“I can still remember the pilot who took me,” she said.
The pilot, Captain Bagawan Singh Sidhu, now 66, also remembers Mohamad Benji from when he was a newborn, no more than a few hours old.
A commercial pilot by profession, Bagawan had appeared in the news in 2015 for delivering aid to areas in Pahang that were cut off by floods.
The managing director of an aviation company that provides helicopter services, had successfully executed 23 separate missions despite bad weather and limited landing areas.
As the eldest of eight siblings, Bagawan said he had always been the type to get things done, having been entrusted with the responsibility of looking after the family’s five heads of cattle as a teenager.
When he was asked to help Sarina, there was no hesitation on his part.
A recent reunion saw Bagawan (right) and his wife Ravinderjit Kaur (second from left) meeting Sarina (centre), her eldest son Muhammad Fahmi, 16, Mohamad Benji and her husband Rozi Ramli (left), who is holding the latest addition to the family.
For going on these mercy missions, the aviation services company that had mobilised two helicopters, pilots, ground crew and logistic personnel to transport fuel from Seberang Perai to Gua Musang had borne up to 30% of the overall cost during the flood relief exercise.
The remainder of the cost was supported by public donations via United Sikhs and Food Bank Malaysia.
The mercy flight carrying Sarina and her son was fully borne by the company.
“It was my training in the Air Force that had prepared me to react in times of disaster,” said Bagawan.
“During the 1982 floods in Pahang, I was stationed in Kuantan. As a commercial pilot, I used to fly to logging sites and timber plantations, so I already knew the area well. I knew where the mountains were and how to avoid them,” he said.
Of his experience, Bagawan said he was touched by how people from all walks of life had rallied together for a common cause – offering aid to those in dire need.
Of his own deeds, he remains humble.
“I was not the only one flying around. There were other private operators who had participated in aid distribution during the floods too but were not highlighted,” he said.
For more stories go to StarSpecial: National Day 2024
