Survivors still haunted by tsunami, 10 years on

An abandoned house in Kota Kuala Muda, Kedah, where 11 people were killed in the Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy on December 26, 2004. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, December 26, 2014.For Malaysian survivors of the Indian Ocean Tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people and displaced more than 1.6 million people in 18 countries this day 10 years ago, the memory of the disaster evokes strong emotions, from gratitude to grief.

In Penang and Kedah, two states that were hit by the killer waves, survivors are thankful for their lives but, at same time, remember the horror of the disaster and still feel fear, on top of their grief for those they lost that day.

Fisherman Sabdin Ahmad, 61, who lives in Kuala Muda, Kedah, could hardly speak of the day he lost his youngest daughter to the waves.

"We were home, everyone was, except for my youngest. She was at a neighbour's house. When the second wave came, the house was destroyed, with her inside.

“She was 15 and waiting for her PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah) results at the time," he told The Malaysian Insider at his home in Taman Permatang Katong recently.

Sabdin would not talk about how or when he found his daughter dead on that fateful Boxing Day in 2004. He shook his head, saying: "I don't want to talk about that... it is still too painful to remember what had happened."

Fisherman Ismail Salleh, 70, lost his elderly mother that day. The old woman was 80 and at home alone when the wave took down her house in Kampung Kepala Jalan near Kuala Muda.

"She was getting ready to pray and she was fine after the first wave hit. She shooed me away so I went home to my wife and kids. Shortly later, the second wave came. I ran back to find her but her house was gone.

"It was some time later, I think at about 5.30pm when the other villagers found her. My mother, along with the debris of her smashed home, had been washed towards a jungle behind our village... I didn't get to see her body, as the other villagers held me back since my bare feet were bleeding," he said.Housewife Siti Minah Mahmud, 64, lost her mother-in-law on December 26, 2004. The 75-year-old drowned in her home during the tsunami. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, December 26, 2014.

Ismail said those who survived the tsunami could not get over the incident, and even for a fisherman who went out to sea daily, his heart would pound each time the sea became rough.

Housewife Siti Minah Mahmud, 64, said she would think of her mother-in-law, especially when the tsunami anniversary approached. The 75-year-old drowned in her own home that day.

"The first wave killed her when water entered her house by the sea. She was praying... many people were praying at the time. She was found dead in her 'kain telekung' (prayer clothes)... we didn't know until our neighbours informed us.

"My husband told me to get a batik cloth from our home nearby to cover her body. As I was walking back to my mother-in-law's house, the second wave hit and I was nearly swept away. A neighbour caught me and we both held on to a pole for dear life," she said.

Most villagers there remembered the tsunami with horror. There were two wedding lunch receptions at the two villages located closest to Kuala Muda and everyone was busy with the celebrations and enjoying their meals when the waves hit.

Kampung Tepi Sungai resident Maznah Ismail, 52, said she had just reached home from one of the receptions when the waves came, sounding like a helicopter.

“The water came up to my chest. It whirled in the house like a washing machine, destroying my furniture, doors, windows, electrical appliances... it washed my fridge away.

"We didn't know what hit us. I noticed that my cats had climbed onto the roof and wouldn't come down. I didn't think of their strange behaviour as a sign then," she said, adding that dead fish were also washed up.

Maznah related how some of her neighbours panicked and parents tried to save their children, like a mother who forgot that she was not even properly dressed when she grabbed her young children and ran for safety.

She said she had fish stuck to the knee but she hardly realised it, or that she was only wearing her baju kurung top while her skirt was missing, washed off by the wave.

Maznah did not lose her home, which was only partially damaged, and there were no casualties in her family but said she would never be able to put the trauma behind her.

"Whenever I hear of a tsunami alert, I become anxious and nervous. You get hit one time like that and the fear just stays with you. It is not something you want to go through again."

Her husband IFormer Village Development and Security Committee chairman Ismail Othman, 58, says some families hit by the tsunami in Kuala Muda are still waiting to be relocated. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, December 26, 2014.smail Othman, 58, said since the disaster, villagers have kept their important documents and a bag of clothes packed in case of another emergency.

They wanted to be sure that when they needed to run for their lives again, they would be more prepared than the last time, said Ismail, who is popularly known as Pak Long.

"The tsunami killed 11 people here. It destroyed 75 houses and damaged hundreds more.

"We can never be sure that a tsunami will not hit us again. We are still living where the waves hit 10 years ago. Some residents were given new homes a little further inland but we are still here," he said.

Pak Long said a few days after the tsunami hit, then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi visited Kuala Muda and announced that all the victims of the tragedy would be relocated in phases, beginning with those who suffered the worst.

"But in the end, the new houses were all built in Penaga, on the other side of the river at Kuala Muda... 450 new houses built in his parliamentary constituency (Kepala Batas).

"So what happened to the relocation in phases? There are still people in about 200 houses here. It was not fair at all," he said, adding that a 153ha land next to Permatang Katong nearby was already earmarked for the housing project.

Pak Long was the Village Development and Security Committee chairman for the area during the tsunami incident. He was involved in the evacuation of the villagers, their registration for aid and the relocation plans.

"That piece of land had 61 titles. I was told to find a surveyor to look at the land, too. Now the land is just left vacant.”

When the new homes failed to materialise, Pak Long said the villagers wrote to Putrajaya a few years ago, and then to the office of Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir.

He said he then checked with the district office and was informed that "the matter had been settled".

"We are disappointed about the relocation issue until today," he said, adding that if the government had no plans to ever relocate them, it could at least build wave breakers to protect the shoreline and minimise the impact of tsunamis.

Pak Long said the people were, however, grateful for the aid given by the government, and others like the United National Development Programme (UNDP), Red Crescent Society, Tzu-Chi Foundation, and corporations like Exxon-Mobil and Petronas.

"The Tzu-Chi volunteers were the first to arrive. They arrived here about 3pm that day, bearing soap, clothes and other basic necessities. They knew we escaped with nothing more than the clothes on our backs.

"The UNDP and Red Crescent donated 20 boats, nets and engines to help our fishermen start over. Mobil and Petronas donated cylinders of cooking gas... we were deeply appreciate all the help that came from the government, private sector and individuals," he said.

Jariah Mat Isa in her banana plantation in Sungai Burung, Balik Pulau. She and her husband Ismail Ahmad, both 70, used palm trees as a guide to higher ground when the tsunami hit 10 years ago today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, December 26, 2014.At the Tanjung Bungah Floating Mosque flat in Penang, residents are thankful for new homes built by the federal government after the tsunami destroyed their old village houses.

The residents’ committee chairman Azizan Zakaria said the 100 families affected by the tsunami had it rough at the beginning when they were left homeless and had to live in transit homes while trying to rebuild their lives.

"But now we have our flat with all the amenities. We are happy and comfortable here. So in a way, the tsunami was a blessing, too," he said when met at the flat, which the community moved into in October 2007.

Azizan said the people were also grateful to the federal government for waiving the RM14,500 they had to pay for their units.

"The deal was we had to pay partially for the units, which cost RM42,000 each, but we appealed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and last year, we were told that the payment had been waived.

"We are just waiting for our strata titles to be issued. That will take some time but we are happy we don't have to pay for the flats," he said.

In Sungai Burung, Balik Pulau, the tsunami has caused Jariah Mat Isa and her husband Ismail Ahmad, both 70, to be "separated".

Since the disaster, Ismail has refused to live in their home, moving away from the sea to stay in Titi Teras with one of their children.

"He is afraid the waves will come back, so he won't stay. But I can't leave this house. I have my banana trees to take care off. People will steal the fruits if I move away, too," said Jariah.

Jariah has a banana plantation behind her isolated home. Before the banana trees were planted, the land had palm trees. It was a palm tree that saved her when the second wave, which she said was almost as high as her two-storey house, swept her 250m from her house.

"I can't swim. My husband and I just held on, moving slowly in the water while using the palm trees to stay above the water. We moved slowly towards the road, which was on higher ground.

"My husband was the brave one then, telling me to keep holding on. We held on until help came in the evening. I don't know how to describe my feelings at the time. I didn't think we would survive.

"I was so tired when the ordeal ended. I felt 'panjang umur' (I have been given a long life)," she added.

According to the website www.tsunami2004.net, 75 people were killed in Malaysia in the tragedy, while hundreds of others were injured and displaced.

The tsunami was triggered by a 9.3 magnitude undersea earthquake, off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.

The disaster affected 18 countries, killed more than 230,000 people, injured 125,000, resulted in more than 45,000 people missing and displaced about 1.7 million. Many of those killed were also tourists enjoying their Christmas holidays in hot spots like Thailand.

Aceh was hit the hardest as it was the closest to the epicentre. The disaster killed more than 167,700 people and displaced more than half a million in Indonesia while more than 37,000 went missing. – December 26, 2014.