As one of the flood victims of December last year, the writer still bears some palpable apprehension whenever the rain starts falling heavily. Therefore, when Malaysia faces flood events in some areas in the east coast states and Klang Valley, just less than three months from the previous flood, it is the time for impactful planning to be executed.
Indeed, the destruction of homes, damage and loss of properties pose as a test for flood victims. It is more painful if there are loss of lives among family members. Indeed, the agony of the flood cannot be expressed in words.
For Muslims, calamities such as floods are part of the test that has been determined. Therefore, those who are affected should not despair of the mercy of Allah SWT as He says in the Qur’an, “Do people think once they say, “We believe,” that they will be left without being put to the test?” (Al-ʿAnkabūt, 29: 2).
Muslims have to believe that Allah SWT will lift up those who have been tested if they are patient. In the Qur’an, Allah SWT has commanded believers to seek help from Him by being patient and continue performing their prayers because Allah SWT is always with those who are patient (Al-Baqarah, 2: 153).
Patience will guide an individual’s rationality. This is because emotional tension can occur when a person is overwhelmed by trials or tribulations. During the flood events, seeing one’s properties destroyed and the loss of all necessities can cause anxiety or panic for individuals.
In this case, flood victims who panic may rush to get their daily necessities wherever possible after losing everything in the blink of an eye. This is one of the reasons we might come across incidents of scrambling for aid distribution among the desperate victims. Far from being greedy, they are merely driven by fear of losing their possessions again and they also want to ensure that the basic needs of their loved ones are fulfilled.
While there may be isolated cases where people try to dupe as flood victims or mismanage flood aid given, let us not be easily prejudiced against the victims or be emotional when dealing with them. Instead, we should bear a high degree of empathy for them.
In other words, the flood disaster is not only a test for those who experienced it directly, but it is also a test for the rest of us. Actually Allah’s command for us to be patient also applies to those who handle individuals who are afflicted with such a calamity. Examples of those who have to deal with victims are rescue workers, medical teams, aid distribution workers, temporary flood transfer centre workers, volunteers and others.
Flood frontline workers also should have a good coordination plan. Differences in their background should not hinder them from working as a strong team regardless whether they are from government agencies, non-governmental organisations or individuals since the main goal of the operation is to ensure the safety of people and managing flood relief, rather than about which “home” they represent. The sincerity and kindness in carrying out the trust of the task itself will reveal their background. We have already seen several exemplary individuals in the floods last year who were raised as role models in helping the flood victims.
For those who manage the distribution of aid, they must ensure that all distributions are given to the right people. Similarly, this also applies to the flood victims who have to be honest in reporting their losses or conditions. There should not be any favouritism or mismanaging the aid, as such actions would be considered as untrustworthy. The opposite of trust is treachery which is part of the sign of a hypocrite based on a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, “There are three signs of a hypocrite: When he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is trusted, he betrays his trust.” (Reported by Al-Bukhārī).
The next stage is about post-flood coordination plans. The plans must have both short and long term prospects. At the moment, it can be said that the short-term plans such as cash aid, house cleaning, providing household items, school aid and others are distributed almost in an immediate period even when there are some issues highlighted. However, the long-term plans have to involve different stakeholders since they take time and also incur high costs.
The long term plan is not just about repairing or rebuilding damaged structures, but it must also focus on retrieving the sources of livelihood of the affected. Any aid will not last long, therefore it is important that we should also consider on rebuilding any orchards, farms or ponds affected, planning people’s mobility to go to work, creating demand for local products and offering joint venture projects since the victims have lost their creditworthiness after their huge losses. Definitely such plans require all parties to cooperate since it is hard to be carried out by the government alone.
Indeed, a good mitigation plan can reduce the impact of damage and loss of lives in the flood event. Apart from the appropriate infrastructures and equipment, the plan should also take into account the needs of trained local volunteers who can be the first responders in preventing any situation from becoming worse before the authorities arrive.
Facing the flood test should strengthen the spirit of the “Keluarga Malaysia.” Differences in religion, race and culture should never hinder us from banding together to rebuild lives for those affected, for the sake of Malaysia.