DUNGUN, Dec 21 — With the water level in her house compound already up to waist high, Azizah Bakar has no choice, but to evacuate to higher ground with her five Person with Disabilities (PwD) children and 23 pet cats.
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Two of the children, Mohd Zulkifli Kamaludin, 39, and Hazura,36, cannot walk and have to be carried by members of the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) from the house to the rescue truck.
Azizah’s three other children –Hatikah (34 tahun), Mohd Shahrul (29) and Mohd Azeem Asyraf (26) — are mute.
“They can walk and manage themselves and help me to manage the older siblings,” said Azizah, 69.
However, Azizah refused to be evacuated to the flood relief centre at the Kampung Serdang Mosque, instead she requested to be sent to her daughter’s house for the convenience of her PwD children.
“My PwD children will be more comfortable at their sister’s place, especially to go to the toilet ,” she told Bernama, adding that the daughter, Nurul Huda, 48, who is her third child lives about 50 metres away from the centre.
Azizah has another son, Mohd Fairus, 42, who is also a mute, and he opted to stay back with his father, Kamaludin Embong, 69, to look after the house.
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She said she has 12 children and six of them are mute, while Mohd Zulkifli and Hazura became paralyse when they were in their 20s.
“I don’t know why my six children become mute, but I accepted it as fated by Allah and I believe there is a blessing to it.
“I am happy now. They are now grown ups and are able to take care of themselves,” she said.
On the cats, she said, they are Hatikah’s pets. The girl is the eighth child.
“She has placed the cats in cages to make sure we also bring along her pets when we evacuate,” said Azizah, who described the flood this year as worse than last year.
“During the flood last year, the water in my house compound was only up to knee high and this time around, the water also rises very fast,” she added. – BERNAMA