Former cop powers up old sampan as village in Johor gets flooded

KOTA TINGGI - Fed up with the constant flooding at his village in Kampung Sungai Telor in Johor’s Kota Tinggi district, a retired policeman has modified his sampan to make it easier to move his belongings when the water rises.

Mr Ahmad Asjam, 65, said the village became flooded after it rained continuously from Monday, which was a common occurrence as it is situated in a low-lying area near the Johor River.

“The waters will rise and overflow into our village whenever it rains heavily for a few hours, and this has been happening for many years.

“I decided to purchase a boat engine online and installed it onto my old sampan to make it move faster – previously, I rowed my sampan with a paddle but my wife and I are getting old.

“This way, my family can load our valuables into the boat for us to get to a safer and dryer place faster,” the retired sergeant major said when interviewed by The Star on Wednesday.

Mr Ahmad, who is also an oil palm smallholder, said his plantation is already submerged but he managed to salvage his tools and other items in time in his boat.

“I modified the sampan in preparation for the recent monsoon season but it did not rain as much as we anticipated, so this is the first time I am putting my modified boat to use,” he said.

He said he also helped his neighbours, whose homes were flooded, to move their belongings to a safer area.

“Not only do we have to worry about our homes being flooded, we are concerned about theft as there had been past instances where thieves took advantage of the situation to loot some of the flooded houses,” said the father of five.

Mr Ahmad said his family has moved most of their belongings to higher ground as floodwater crept up to his doorstep. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK