KUALA LUMPUR – Sadness and grief filled a hall at SJK(C) Mun Choong here this morning, where a memorial was held for those who died in the Batang Kali landslide tragedy a little over two weeks ago.
The memorial began at 9am here in the school assembly hall, where over 500 people gathered, consisting of family, classmates, colleagues, and friends of the victims who were in one way or another associated with the Chinese primary school as teachers or staff and their family members.
The school lost six teachers, a canteen operator and his two children, and a canteen worker. They were among the total of 31 people who were killed in the landslide.
Instead of the laughter and smiles of schoolchildren, sombreness filled the air as the school’s senior assistant Ng Siew Foon recalled the moment she received a phone call informing her of the disaster from one of the landslide survivors at Father’s Organic Farm on December 16.
Ng broke down in tears as she spoke of her colleagues who perished in the incident.
She also asked members of the media present to ease their coverage of the school, saying they wanted to move on from the tragic incident that took the lives of six of their teachers and canteen workers.
Of the 31 who died, 13 were children between the ages of one and 12.
Entire families – parents and children – also lost their lives in the pre-dawn landslide that left 61 survivors out of a total of 92 people.
The Education Ministry was represented at the memorial by its Kuala Lumpur deputy director of education, who spoke words of condolence.
Colleagues, students and friends of those who perished also wrote messages, which were pinned to a board, expressing their heartbreak and shock at the tragedy.
“I’m so sorry for the loss of our favourite teacher Lam Sook Mun. You are in my thought. It’s very hard to bid this final goodbye. You will always be here with us, in our minds,” wrote a Year 5 student, Leow Teck Zhen.
Another message appeared to be written by the parents or guardians of a child, to one of the deceased named Ms Hong.
“We are forever grateful to you for the guidance and care you have shown to Tara. We are still in disbelief that you are no longer here. The universe has lost a gem and heaven has gained an angel.”
A student named Kashwini wrote about a teacher named Ms Lam: “I’m shocked to my core. We lost one of the best teachers we have ever met. I have lost my guru, my mentor, and a great human being. I fall short of words to express my grief.”
“Uncle Gary, miss you forever,” read another message from a Year 4 student to Gary Eng, who was the school’s canteen operator. His two children, a boy and a girl, also perished in the landslide.
The search for victims buried under the mud took nine days, hampered by rainy weather, before the remains of all 31 people were recovered, with the last body retrieved on Christmas Eve. – The Vibes, December 30, 2022
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