HULU LANGAT, Jan 6 — A Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) veteran suffered losses of about RM50,000 due to the floods that killed 170 of his reared ducks and damaged assets at his home in Taman Sri Nanding here on December 18.
This also indirectly affected the source of income for Mat Sidek Ibrahim, 63, who previously had 200 ducks on his farm.
“I have reared ducks after serving in the RMAF since 2003 and made some side income from duck farming after my retirement.
"Now, I am only left with 30 ducks due to the disaster. My area was badly affected by the disaster because it is located very close to Sungai Langat, only about 500m away,” he told Bernama recently.
Mat Sidek said the flood disaster was unexpected, and during the incident, he and his wife were in Melaka to visit relatives.
He said his 34 -year-old son had called him to inform him that the house had been flooded.
"Alhamdulillah, fortunately, the children and grandchildren were all safe during the incident," he said.
Meanwhile, another RMAF veteran, Nordin Mohammad, 65, said he and his family had to stay at a neighbour's house during the floods as the water had reached up to head level.
Recounting the anxious moment, he said only some cash and important documents were placed in a high and safe place, while all other assets were submerged in water.
"I told my wife and three children to go to the neighbour's double-storey house for shelter," he said, adding that he suffered an estimated loss of RM6,000.
On Monday, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz informed that 800 Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) veterans affected by the floods had been identified nationwide as of January 4 under the Cakna Veteran ATM programme.
— Bernama
