I love the rain. It brings back so many fond memories of my childhood. I love the earthy smell of the soil as it soaks up the rain. I love the sound of the raindrops on the roof, especially when it rains in the middle of the night. I love the cool breeze that it brings — such a balm to the body and soul.
Photo taken with a 3G iPhone
But I also hate the rain. As anyone who lives in KL would attest to, the intensity of the traffic snarl is directly proportional to the strength of the downpour. And because it’s the rainy season, with a heavy downpour almost everyday, you can imagine just how much I suffer during my hour-long commute home.
Photo taken with a 3G iPhone
The sad thing is, because Malaysia’s soil is clayey and with many mountains made of limestone, coupled with heavy — and heavily-criticised — real estate development on hillsides, the heavy rains often lead to landslides. And so, with the rains, comes the dreaded landslide season.
This landslide in Ulu Yam, for instance, buried two sisters alive on the 30th of November. The retaining wall behind their home collapsed while they were sleeping.
Photo from Malay Mail’s site
Last Friday, a landslide along a major road, Jalan Semantan, caused part of the retaining wall of a car park to collapse, destroying a few cars. Luckily, no one was killed.
Photo from The Star Malaysia’s photo gallery
Earlier last week, a small landslide — too minor to be mentioned in the newspapers — took place in one of two access roads in Bukit Antarabangsa. This used to be the only accessed road to that area. The second access road was built after a 100-meter landslide (from the same mountain!) totally cut off access to the hilly housing area.
Photo taken with a Nokia N82
Repairs have not even been finished yet… when an even bigger landslide occurred at 4 am last Saturday on another side of the same mountain. It swept away 14 bungalows just like a tsunami wave would wash away debris, killing 4, injuring 14, and cutting off access to thousands of residents in nearby housing estates.
Photo from The Star Malaysia’s photo gallery
Malaysia is free of natural calamities like hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes. How sad that it has to suffer from landslides more because of man-made rather than natural causes.
December 9th, 2008 at 01:14
I think the first photo is awesome. =) I absolutely miss the rain in the Philippines. I love it when it’s raining to a manageable extent, without the flood and other disasters.
December 9th, 2008 at 09:08
Oh Mimi, I am saddened that this has to happen, of course, you are lucky that landslides only happen, here in Samar, areas have been flooded and many has been reported drowned because of the continuous rain, and it’s all the revenge of Mother Nature.
December 9th, 2008 at 09:49
ow sad, same here in the Philippines, people should really get back to our senses before it becomes too late for us to save the earth.
i have wonderful childhood memories about the rain too and when it rain i love to listen to “lullaby for a stormy nights”, on the other hand, i hate it when my feet get wet by the rain
December 9th, 2008 at 17:35
That really is sad. I never thought it could happen here too.
December 11th, 2008 at 02:12
witsandnuts: yup, i love that pic, too. i’ve been keeping it in my computer for quite some time now, unsure of what to do with it…then came this post :)
sheng: malaysia gets many floods in the east coast during the monsoon season, too. no matter how technologically advanced we get, we are no match against mother nature!
iluvgreen: for me, the sound of the rain is THE best lullaby :)
josiet: considering how horrific the landslide is, it’s a good thing that the number of fatalities and injuries was at a minimum. i just hope the authorities will do something concrete this time!