Malaysia braces for floodwaters

Aneesa Alphonsus and Tarani Palani in Free Malaysia Today: Since July 2011, heavy monsoon rains in Southeast Asia resulted in catastrophic flooding. In Thailand, about one third of all provinces were affected. The United Nations said ongoing floods in Southeast Asia were triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Floods and disasters in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines had killed more than 700 people and affected eight million others.

...While Malaysia seems generally spared from any massive catastrophe, the thought that comes to mind in the wake of these disasters is this: How prepared are we should such a disaster strike.
In disaster management, relocation/resettlement is more often seen as the worst option as it gives the impression that nothing else can be done about the hazard and people have to be moved. Relocation is unpopular, as plans to relocate entire communities are costly, mainly because of the need to acquire alternative locations and the provision of housing for those resettled.

More significantly, at least on the part of those being relocated, it provokes social disruption and upheaval when people are bundled into an alien environment. Notwithstanding the influence of structural/societal forces, people are also reluctant to be relocated far from relatives, friends and their place of work (or schools in the case of children).

... Having said that, the concern that a Thailand-like situation might happen still plays on the mind. To the question if this might occur in Malaysia, former deputy director-general II of the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), K J Abraham opined that it is very difficult to say as the respective bodies responsible would have to identify the water holding capacity of specific areas.

He added that generally there are two factor of floods in KL: river overflowing and under-sized urban drainage which are chocked with rubbish. Abraham also believes that the maintenance of these drains are bad not solely because the Majlis (Perbandaran or Bandaraya) but that it lies within the attitude of the people themselves....

A 2007 flood in Kota Tinga, Malaysia, shot by Mr Tan, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license