[VIDEOS] M'sian Flood Victims Vouch For Foreigners Who Helped Save Their Lives
Many netizens on Twitter have also shared their accounts of how foreigners had helped during the crisis.
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Two videos showing Malaysian flood victims defending and thanking foreign workers for saving them during the disaster over the weekend have gone viral on social media
Of the two, one video shows a woman in a headscarf talking earnestly to Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar about how flood victims in Hulu Langat, Selangor were saved by Indonesian workers.
She says the authorities who were present at the flood sites during the critical moment were three boats from the Civil Defence Department (JPAM), before telling Noh Omar that it is "common sense" that the deployment was not enough to save everyone in the area.
"All the government agencies did not show up when we were in a critical situation," she tells the minister during his visit to a flood relief centre in SMK Abdul Jalil in Hulu Langat on 22 December.
"They only came when the water had receded. Why only come when the water had receded?"
According to her, it was three Indonesian men who came in a boat to rescue the residents, which included children, trapped on the roof of a house
She says the Indonesian men worked until the wee hours of the morning to rescue the people trapped in her home.
The video was uploaded to Twitter by several netizens.
One re-uploaded video posted by Zulkiflee Anwar Alhaque, or more popularly known as Zunar Cartoonist, was viewed over 1.6 million times and had more than 46,000 retweets.
Meanwhile, a two-minute long video showing two women, who identified themselves as aunt and niece, also regarded migrants as heroes during the crisis
The aunt begins by describing how flood victims stayed united to feed themselves while being stranded in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam.
She says a resident carried up a gas tank to a roof for a neighbour who wanted to prepare fried rice for stranded victims.
After the fried rice was prepared, the niece then chimes in and says it was Indonesians who delivered the food to others trapped on their respective roofs.
"They were like GrabExpress delivery people, who were floating (in floodwaters) with tyres," the niece recounts.
"They threw water bottles, they climbed up to our roofs to give us food to calm us down because (at that time) we didn't have any food left."
Image via Reuters
The aunt says it was pointless to hope for the authorities to rescue them, as in the end, it was the rakyat, Indonesians, and Bangladeshis who saved each other
She says she will never forget the moment, before explaining how some people do not treat Bangladeshis with respect, but during the crisis, they risked their lives to save Taman Sri Muda residents.
"During the floods, the Bangladeshis put their lives at risk. They took food from Mydin and gave it to the people," the aunt continues.
"But today I saw people saying they stole. But why are they stealing during floods? You all weren't there to see."
"Children were crying, and they gave instant noodle packets to them."
These two accounts are not isolated cases. In a Twitter thread, @emmelynnamal compiled all the netizens' stories of how foreigners lent Malaysians a helping hand during the floods.
One video shows Burmese swimming to a house to distribute instant noodles, while another tweet recounted how their family member might not have made it if it were not because of Burmese taking them to safety.
Seeing a trend, Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) president Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman urged Malaysians not to despise foreigners as one day, the rakyat will need their help.
Marina Mahathir, too, lauded them for repaying Malaysians with more compassion even though "we deny our migrant workers their humanity".
You can check out the Twitter thread here:
Here are some ways you can help those affected by the floods:
The floods have devastated several parts of Malaysia, with the death toll currently standing at 37 fatalities:
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