DUNGUN – With the water level in her house compound already waist-high, Azizah Bakar had no choice but to evacuate to higher ground with her five disabled children and 23 cats.
Two of her children, Mohd Zulkifli Kamaludin, 39, and Hazura, 36, cannot walk, and had to be carried by Civil Defence Force members to a rescue truck.
Azizah’s three other children – Hatikah, 34, Mohd Shahrul, 29, and Mohd Azeem Asyraf, 26 – are mute.
“They can walk and manage themselves, and help me to manage their older siblings,” said Azizah, 69.
However, she refused to be evacuated to the relief centre at Kg Serdang Mosque, instead requesting to be sent to her daughter’s house, for the sake of her disabled children.
“My disabled children will be more comfortable at their sister’s place, especially when they need to use the bathroom,” she told Bernama, adding that her third child, Nurul Huda, 48, lives about 50m away from the relief centre.
Azizah has another son, Mohd Fairus, 42, who is also mute. He opted to stay back with his father, Kamaludin Embong, 69, to look after the house.
Of her total 12 children, six are mute, said Azizah, while Zulkifli and Hazura became paralysed when they were in their 20s.
“I don’t know why my six children became mute, but I accepted it as fated by Allah, and I believe there is a blessing to it.
“I am happy now. They are now grown-ups and able to take care of themselves.”
On the 23 cats, she said they belong to Hatikah, her eighth child.
“She placed the cats in cages to make sure we also bring them along when we evacuate,” said Azizah, who described the floods this year as worse than in 2019.
“During the floods last year, the water in my house compound was only knee-high. This time around, the water rose very quickly.” – Bernama, December 21, 2020
