By Farihah Halim
GOMBAK, 21 December 2022: In light of the recent announcement by Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Zahid Hamidi, that Malaysia is expected to experience continuous heavy rain from 17 December onwards which may lead to major floods, the International Islamic University Student Union (IIUMSU) flood task force has taken its own initiative to help on this matter proactively.
The IIUMSU flood task force with a convoy of three cars headed to Pusat Pemindahan Sementara or PPS Banting on Saturday (17 December) to handing over the flood donation supplies for the use of flood victims later.
This was in line with their objective to contribute to the wider community, and this task force will remain active as long as people donate to flood victims.
Speaking to IIUMToday, the village chief of Mukim Tanjong Dua Belas, Ahmad Nor Hasan bin Mohammad, said that villagers had to deal with the floods four times this year.
“Flood occurred in March, June, September, and the end of November and the main cause of the flood was due to the long-abandoned tin mine,” he added.
Meanwhile, the officer of the Office for Communication and Advocacy IIUMSU, Muhammad Zaim Mustaqim bin Marzuki, explained the most challenging aspect was to create narratives among the public.
According to him, organising a group of students to volunteer to aid flood victims was easy but it is much more difficult to build the narrative of the importance of helping others in society.
“Year after year, the public is bombarded with news on the floods that is not resolved until they are becoming less concerned about its threat,” said Zaim.
He said evidence could be seen from the 15th General Election where certain areas were submerged in water, and the public reacted slowly to those issues.
He also added that another challenge they had to face was that, as an independent organisation, it is hard for IIUMSU to obtain funding to help victims.
“It is our intention to provide financial aid to them but doing so will be tough since we do not have continuous fund distribution,” he said.
Among those responsible for this program’s success were:
- Coordinator – Nur Athirah binti Abdullah (Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Law)
- Head Taskforce – Aiman Faris bin Sharudin ( Kulliyyah of Education)
- Departure & Transportation – Mohammad Rafiq Shahmie bin Mohd Suhaimi (Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences)
- Onsite & Public Relations – Ainul Mardhiyyah binti Roslan (Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Law)
- Financial Controller – Shakila Amalia binti Salleh ( Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences)
Donation to help flood victims can be made anytime to IIUMSU. Readers are advised to follow their social media page on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more information.***