While You Were Sleeping

While you [OK, most of us] were sleeping soundly last night, or rather very early this morning, it rained. It poured ever so hard and heavily that it woke me up from my slumber. I stayed in bed, trying to get back to sleep while at the same time hearing out for any signs of thunders and praying there was none as I was too lazy to drag myself out of bed to pull the TV plug off the socket. And as I tried to get back to sleep, I was reminded of the torrential rain which hit the city just a fortnight before.

That 10 June heavy downpour started much earlier, after 7 pm. There were thunders and lightning and I was glad to be indoors reading my novel, glad to be dry and comfortable. Heavy rain means no Astro coverage hence I was oblivious to what was happening out there. Little did I know that the heavy rain had caused massive flood in downtown KL. I only found out about it the next morning.

I was in the flood-hit area of Masjid Jamek days after the flood and found to my dismay that the shopkeepers in the area were still picking up the pieces after the flood. For instance, the Kiosk store door was opened but I wasn’t sure if it was opened for business as it was dark inside the store [surely any power outage would have been restored by then]. I was rushing by but from what little I saw, the store workers were still trying to salvage and dry whatever goods they could save. Somehow that made me sad. I read too that many shop owners had to resort to having cheap sale for goods destroyed during the flood but I was very surprised indeed to discover that the sale was still going on towards the end of last week. Talk about a mega sale eh. My mate and I did browse a bit and I am happy to report that the clothes and textiles didn’t smell of mud or dampness.

So yes, when most of us are sleeping, lulled by the delicious cold feeling that the rain brings and the comfortable warmth of our beds, some city folks are simply unable to sleep and too worried to; some who got rudely awaken by rising water levels especially if they live in flood-prone areas; and yet others who have not only stirred but are scrambling to save their precious belongings. When we read about them in the papers the morning after, we gush and sympathise and normally forget all about it within an hour. And these kinds of misfortune that befall on others don’t keep us awake at night.

For the victims though, the memory will remain for much longer, some for a lifetime. Especially when one sees one’s whole income, property and possession float away/vanish/destroyed right before one’s eyes.