BETWEEN 2001 and 2021, there have been 49 flash floods in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. These statistics were offered by the National Audit Department. The very same department that confirmed something was wrong about 1Malaysia Development Bhd at one stage.
Yet the three-day non-stop rain in the west and east coast between December 15 and 18 last year was indeed a national catastrophe. The total rainfall came to a gargantuan 2,500mm, equivalent to the entire annual rainfall in 2020.
The floods in December 2021 left more than 53 dead, required the evacuation of about 500,000 people, and resulted in an estimated RM6.1 billion in financial losses.
Staggering statistics indeed. Poor preparedness accentuated the problem even more with the federal and state governments pointing fingers at each other.
The people then formed their own rescue team, cooked food in many gurdwaras, formed the #kitajagakita movement to provide help and fill in the void left by the government. Can anyone forget that?
Sometime in March this year, Kuala Lumpur was pummelled by rain yet again. Within hours, many areas saw water levels rise to the highest levels.
That’s just Kuala Lumpur – ostensibly the most developed part of Malaysia. The truth is given the many warnings and incidents of flash floods that had been occurring in the capital and throughout the low-lying areas of Malaysia, politicians are to be held accountable for not stopping these human-made disasters.
Yet in order to ensure their own victory, the top five members of Umno, especially Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, have agreed to push Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to meet the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament as soon as possible.
The motivation is not difficult to discern nor to understand: Umno, in league with PAS, and other political parties that are weak, do want the electoral turn out to be low. Indeed, this is to impede the people from coming out in large numbers to express the vox populi.
In the 13th general election in 2013, the total turnout was a remarkable 84.84%. Pakatan Harapan could not form a government in a national election that was heavily gerrymandered.
This time around the will of the people would not be anything less than the two prior general elections. Yet, urging for a general election during the impending monsoon is a form of voter-turnout suppression that violates the trust of the people in the government.
The Meteorological Department has predicted that between October 3 and November this year, the rain will keep lashing the country. If anything, it is going to be more disastrous than before.
Flooding is going to be the worst ever throughout the country. This finding is corroborated by other regional meteorological departments in Asean.
The Meteorological Department of Malaysia has further predicted that between October 3 2022 and November 2022, perhaps going into the end of the year, the amount of rain would be merciless.
The strength of democracy, in turn the will of the whole democracy, is the willingness of incumbent office-bearers to value human lives, indeed, as the objective of the shariah (maqasid shariah) warrants it, the livelihood of all and sundry.
This is the standard practice of all law-abiding democratic leaders and their parties.
Diverting the human personnel and assets to organise the all-important 15th general election during this critical monsoon period will surely lead to a massive catastrophe, where countless lives would be lost. This is against the spirit and edict of all religions.
Indeed, the amount of taxpayers’ money will come to RM1 billion or more just to get this election ready. That is US$237 million in public money thrown away in order to ensure a general election with a low voter turnout.
All Malaysians should rise up against Umno, PAS, or any political parties in league with them to engineer such a dangerous conspiracy to place themselves in office – against the will of the people who would be rooting for a better and more resilient government.
The Meteorological Department said during the transition phase, weather conditions have the potential to cause rapid flash floods and massive floods, not seen before, as well as damage to weak structures causing disaster.
“The region will receive weak winds from various directions that are very conducive for thunderstorms, leading to heavy rains and strong winds,” said the department’s director-general Muhammad Helmi Abdullah.
“This usually occurs in the evenings and earlier parts of the night.”
He added this will be expected in most areas in the states on the west coast and interiors of the peninsula, western Sabah, and central Sarawak.
By subjecting people in these areas to the persistent insecurity that they will not be helped, the Umno Supreme Council has already put the interests of the court cluster ahead of public welfare.
It is now the responsibility of all to challenge the will of Umno’s cabal. Let us all sign the petition to challenge the mendacity of Umno here as urged by PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli.
This is now key to destroying the organised hypocrisy of Umno and PAS that has placed them in the corner of the darkest forces.
Without this massive undertaking, Malaysia will continue to roil in a weak economy, entrapped by a weak ringgit, and various problems that can lead to further systemic and structural decay.
As things are, research has found out that Malaysians, starting from the age of 30, must start saving RM3000 a month for the next 30 years to be able to retire well, without which they will be paupers in their own country.
Malaysians must rise to fight the inhumanity and self-serving intention of fast tracking GE15 by Umno-led Barisan Nasional and PAS during expected harsh weather and massive floods in the last quarter of 2022.
Are there any more lows these politicians can hit? – The Vibes, October 1, 2022
Datuk Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff is the chief executive officer of Emir Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research
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