Memories on Banjir (Flood)

Since early November, there have been daily warnings of heavy rain that may cause floods, especially on the East Coast of Malaysia.

Growing up in Pahang, one of the states on the East Coast, flooding at the end of the year was a norm. Mak (Mum) usually not so pleased with it as it caused a lot of inconveniences, especially in the 80s when dryer was non-existent and we had to depend on the evaporation process to dry our clothes. My siblings and I on the contrary were always looking forward to it. It feels like having our own swimming pool.

While Mak will strictly warn us not to play in the water, Apak (Dad) will be the culprit and start the ball rolling. It is also probably the only time for him to make use of his boat (which was a gift from Mak). Besides pretending to swim like a pro, we had a “Coconut Challenge” competition. The coconut challenge was about whose coconut goes faster to the stream. We would “Chup” a floating coconut and see which one went the fastest to the stream and the “owner” of the coconut is the winner. A simple game but was nerve-wracking especially when you are competing with your siblings.

Other than competing and pretending to swim, we lepak together watching the rain while enjoying a cup of hot tea and snacks (Usually ubi or lempeng or keledek). Lepaking with siblings while enjoying nature is something that kids nowadays don’t get to enjoy I think. They are so focused on their gadgets that they miss the luxury and the positive impact of lepaking and being in the presence of the people around them.

I suppose as time and lifestyles change, the way and activities that people do to bond with their siblings also change. My kids, for example, enjoy playing games and doing make-up together. While me and my siblings nowadays like to send funny memes to each other.

Now that I am older ( or rather old), I realised the “fun” that we looked forward to was not only inconvenient but also dangerous. Imagine what could happen while we pretend to swim like a pro when we don’t even know how to swim or being attacked by a poisonous snake. Now that I am imagining it, I think we were crazy as a kid. Luckily nothing happened to any of us and we can now tell the story to our kids.