It has been raining heavily across Malaysia as Typhoon Rai rages across the Philippines and many parts of Malaysia have been flooded. Kuala Lumpur is under water. And this isn’t even where the floods are at their worst. In Pahang, two storey houses are under water. There is a flood emergency, a #DaruratBanjir.
The government has been (unsurprisingly but no less disappointingly) slow to respond, with various councils and committees seemingly reluctant to take charge and lead a consolidated relief effort. Instead, it has been up to NGOs and volunteers to launch rescue missions, relief funds, and food banks. Meanwhile, government politicians engage in exactly the kind of performative bullshit that Jen Psaki scoffs at.
“This is common sense kan, Tan Sri?” This woman speaks on behalf of Malaysians everywhere when she tells off an asshat politician, the chair of Selangor’s state security council, for sending just three boats to evacuate an entire district. It’s not so much that she’s talking sense; it’s that she’s angry enough to tell off a “Tan Sri”, in this case a titled – read: entitled – Malay man with power who is not fulfilling his responsibilities.
I wish it hadn’t happened this way, but I hope this outrage lasts until and is revived every time there is an election. Remember the government that neglected its people in their time of need.