M’sian youth steps up Down Under

On the ground: Muhammad Razin Khaliq (in striped shirt) seeing to flood relief efforts in Queensland.

WHEN Muhammad Razin Khaliq Hadi landed in Queensland, Australia, early last month, he was raring to gain as much experience as he could as a tertiary student in a foreign country.

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine the experience would involve being caught in massive floodwaters just three weeks after his arrival.

For the 22-year-old, it felt like déjà vu as he had experienced the severe Kelantan floods in 2014.

The University of Queensland student recalled being gripped by a sense of uneasiness when the rainfall showed no sign of stopping in late February after two days of downpour.

As the Malaysian Students’ Council of Australia national deputy chairperson, he was contemplating whether to continue making flood contingency plans or start evacuating people.

“It was almost too late when I finally decided to do the latter as the floodwaters were up to my knees at that point. Luckily, my housemates helped me pack up while I began my flood relief efforts,” he told StarEdu.

The first plan of action for the business management student was to gather an ad hoc task force in order to map out the necessary actions.

They involved members of the University of Queensland Malaysian Students’ Association, the Queensland University of Technology Malaysian Students Association, Badan Perhubungan Brisbane, Halaqah Kebajikan Islam Mahasiswa Brisbane, and IKRAM Australia.

Together, they took into consideration various aspects such as who and how many Malaysian students were affected, who would be helping, and what would be needed.

“Then came the evacuation and relocation. We took the advice of the Malaysian High Commission in Canberra and Education Malaysia Australia to relocate as many people as possible into one place.

“Thankfully, we managed to secure an arrangement with the university to get our students to higher ground,” he said.

He added that there were students who had to be rescued before they got the chance to pack any clothes, while some were left stranded elsewhere when their whole houses were submerged in water.

Looking back on his rescue efforts, Muhammad Razin Khaliq said it was “the least and the only right thing that I could do to help where I could”.

He added that his flood experience in Kelantan had made him aware of the things he needed to prepare, what he had to do, where he had to go and so on.

A Dewan Muda Malaysia participant, the youth leader also said his recent volunteer experience had been a learning curve, which saw him handling data and logistics, dealing with people and participating in an unfolding real-life crisis.

“I went from giving myself pep talks before making phone calls to making hundreds of calls a day, including to victims and organisations that were involved in channelling assistance,” he said.

Through all this, he said he was reminded of the importance of practising empathy.

To students who are interested in helping the needy but do not know how to start, Muhammad Razin Khaliq had some words of advice.

“First and foremost, identify the field you have a passion for and that could include flood relief, environmental causes or human rights advocacy. Then, join organisations that you think can prepare you to achieve your purpose. “Trust me, in any crisis, these organisations won’t have time to gather outside assistance; thus, in-house members will be the first to be mobilised in the crisis.

“Apart from that, devote yourself to these organisations and their causes. No matter what you can do, no contribution is too small or too big to start with!”

Nieha, 19, a student in Negri Sembilan, is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team. To join Star-NiE’s online youth community, go to facebook.com/niebrats.