SHAH ALAM: “They are like heroes, from morning until night, they helped here and there,” said Noor Marina Zehan Zainal Abidin when asked to describe a group of four young men who assisted in supplying food to her family which became stranded in the floods that hit this state capital over the weekend.
Noor Marina Zehran, one of their neighbours, was assisted by Muhd Saiful Izhar, and three of his friends, although they were trapped in the severe floods that hit Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam here.
Recounting his experience in supplying food for his neighbours, Muhd Saiful, who was renting a two-storey terrace house in the residential area, said they were not willing to see their neighbours go hungry during the floods.
He added that he and his friends, who are working as production operators in a factory, were determined to wade through the floodwaters on the ground floor of their house to take cooking utensils such as stoves and gas canisters to be taken upstairs.
“We then swam to the kitchen of our neighbours and took whatever food items in the fridge that were floating, including instant noodles, vegetables and chicken to cook. The second day of the flood, it became worse and everyone was hungry.
“We pitied them, as they are elderly people. So we swam to the kitchen to take cooking utensils and later to the neighbours’ houses to find what was available (to cook),” he told Bernama today.
Muhd Saiful said he and his friends then cooked the food on the roof of the car porch at their rented house and swam to neighbours’ houses to distribute the cooked food by placing it on air mattresses.
“Some of us swam, while the others climbed on the roof to distribute food,” he said while cleaning up his house’s compound.
Apart from that, Muhd Saiful said he and one of his friends, also rescued an elderly man from drowning when the senior citizen was trying to save his wife.
“The uncle was using wood furniture to keep himself afloat, while his wife held on to a barrel. We swam while pulling the uncle and his wife to the police control post.
“ I am a kampung boy, since small I used to swim in a river and my house often got flooded. Thank God (we were able to help), I even said to my neighbours no need to thank us. I am relieved they are safe,” he said and broke out into a smile on recalling rescue boats coming on the fourth night of the disaster (Dec 21).
On the food provided by Muhd Saiful and his friends, the 41-year-old Noor Marina Zehran said: “Very grateful as we were all very hungry at that time. We could not swim to go and look for food.” — Bernama
