IIUM reckons the need to send out volunteers to help flood victims

By Rafiqi Yusoff

KUALA LUMPUR, 25 December 2021: The recent floods that hit several states of Peninsular Malaysia and caused massive devastations to the properties and belongings of the victims had called for help and universities are being urged to send out volunteers among students to provide assistance.

Director of Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity, IIUM, Prof. Madya Dr. Zainal Abidin Sanusi said IIUM had responded to the needs of the affected communities and sent out its students to several locations in Selangor and Pahang to help with cleaning up operations.

He was speaking on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) TV1 Selamat Pagi Malaysia (SPM) segment on ‘Mahasiswa Sejahtera: Bantuan Kemanusiaan Banjir’ on Friday (24 December) morning,

The university reckoned that the volunteering work by its students is a reflection of character building in giving contribution towards society where students have been fitted with knowledge regarding volunteerism and community services, Dr. Zainal Abidin said.

Zainal Abidin emphasised that the current major disaster should focus on preventive measures as well since taking the calamity as a lesson would encourage students to be tutored on knowledge of flood prevention. 

“We always need to be reminded of rapid flooding so that our students and the community will be aware of the importance of drainage systems and flood mitigation measures in our country,” he further said.

Meanwhile, IIUMSU President, Muhammad Darwisy Roslan believed that the university is not only a place for someone to receive formal education but also a place for one to acquire all sorts of experience and learning from the “university of life”.

He said the IIUM student volunteering mission fits well with the wise saying of Ali Ibn Abi Talib: “If you want to see the future of a country, then look at its youth today.”

Darwisy emphasised that it is timely that knowledge and spirit imparted by their educators should be put into good practice.

As student organisations have been certified as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Darsisy said the responsibilities inflicted and expected of the community to be carried out by students of higher learning institutions are huge.

“During these challenging times, it’s a wake-up call for us students, despite coming from different background of studies, to be united as one in contributing ideas and strengths towards community services not only for their own relatives, but for all layers of the community,” he said.

Darwisy further stated that this volunteering mission by IIUM students is not only to help strangers but also to provide assistance to its students who are also affected by the floods.

He highlighted the elements “for the student, by the student”, “for the community, by the student”, and “for the nation, by the student”. 

Muqish Abdullah, a volunteer for disaster relief from AbdulHamid AbuSulayman Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (AHAS KIRKHS), shared his recent experience at volunteering in the clean-up operations in Puchong, Selangor.

“Our team has been assigned to clean up a beauty spa and salon owned by a local entrepreneur that was badly affected by the massive floods which caused the owner to lose thousands of Ringgit,” Muqish said.

“When we reached there, the life lesson we learned from flood victims was the grievances expressed by them against the misfortune that have struck them in a split second,” he added.

Mulqish said the situations faced by flood victims have motivated them as volunteers to contribute and reach out more to those affected citing that students are equipped with volunteerism skills and knowledge of the Quranic concept on cooperation and unity in Islam.

“The experience of volunteering in helping flood victims in Puchong is indeed heart-wrenching for me personally,” said Mulqish.

Both Darwisy and Mulqish believed that the students’ responsibility is based on ‘actions speaks louder than words’ where they need to put much efforts into giving their contributions to the community.

This interview with RTM was held live at 9.00 a.m. yesterday and readers may visit their Facebook page to watch the recording of the interview.***

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