In conversation: The speakers (second from left) Shaharudin, Capt Jasri and Jali during the narrative session with moderator Mohd Nasir Ismail (left) at the Perak National Archives Department.
IPOH: It was 27 years ago, but Alang Bah Aunyang, 57, (pic) still cannot forget the sight of his uncle desperately trying to hang on to a tree trunk as raging floodwaters threatened to tear away the elderly man’s frail body.
Alang’s Orang Asli village of Pos Dipang had been turned into a raging river where wooden houses and people were being swept away in a torrent of brown water, logs and broken trees right in front of his eyes.
Reliving the past: Alang, who is village chief, shares his experience about the incident that happened on Aug 29, 1996.
“My uncle was screaming for help as he was really old. I struggled through the waters to reach him,” said Alang, who was 30 at the time.
“It was only after great difficulty that I managed to bring him to safety,” he recounted at a small gathering with the survivors of that fateful day on Aug 29, 1996.
Unending rain had triggered an avalanche of mud, logs and uprooted trees that destroyed 30 houses at Pos Dipang and a Chinese village downstream of Sungai Dipang, killing 39 people.
Five of those who died have not been found to this day.
The mudslide also destroyed bridges and cut off certain roads in the Kampar area.
Yesterday, the survivors were gathered together by the Perak National Archives Department to recount their experiences so that their memories of what occurred can be preserved for future generations.
The event was organised and launched by state human resources, health, Indian community affairs and national integration committee chairman A. Sivanesan.Besides Alang, who is the Tok Batin (village chief), those who shared their experiences were Simpang Pulai Fire and Rescue Department station chief Shaharudin Tuan Ali, Malaysian Civil Defence Force Capt Jasri Mohd Yusof and Orang Asli villager Jali Lesen.
For Alang, the first sign that something was wrong on that day was when he heard loud sounds after a whole day of unrelenting rain.
“I saw logs rolling downhill and heard people screaming ‘lari’ (run). I quickly told my wife, children and relatives to flee, and midway, I gathered more people to get inside my house,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Jali, who is Alang’s brother-in-law, had been working with a highway maintenance firm when he had started having an uneasy feeling that something bad was about to happen at about 4pm.
He was 41 at the time of the incident, and while he was having those thoughts, a road accident occurred right in front of him.
“Later on my way back to the village, I saw that the river was swollen, with all sorts of items, including floating gas cylinders.
“My heart started to beat so fast thinking about my wife, children and other family members, and while passing people on my way up to the village, I kept asking them about my family.
“Some said they had gone higher up into the jungle, while others said they saw them coming downstream, but I could not locate them,” he said, adding that he also helped many to safety while looking for his family.
Unknown to him at the time, his wife and children had been taken to safety by Alang.
Shaharudin, the fireman, had been 29 and stationed in Tapah at the time when he received a call from the Kampar station at 5.55pm asking for assistance. The Kampar station told him that the bridge connecting to the village had collapsed and that there was a mudslide.
“Within a minute of receiving the call, a fire engine and a van with nine of us rushed to the scene. When we reached the river, we saw three Chinese villagers who had been living downstream from Sungai Dipang stranded on the other side of the river,” he recalled.
“With the bridge having collapsed, we had to use a longer route to get the people to safety. My colleague and I tried to cross the river with a rope, but due to the strong currents, we were pushed back and fell on rocks on the riverbank.”
His teammates found another longer route through the jungle to reach the villagers at about 11pm. But the search and recovery phase of the mission lasted up to a month, said Shaharudin, adding that the same night, the team found two bodies – that of a woman and a child.
“The site was a mess, with mud up to waist level, fallen trees and huge timber logs everywhere. At that time, we had no sniffer dogs, so we had to use our nose to locate decomposed bodies,” he said.“We also dug at spots where we found hovering flies. True enough, upon digging, we discovered bodies.”
Shaharudin added that all the personnel toiled through the days and nights to recover as many victims as possible so that their families could give them funeral rites and get closure.
“I will never forget when one villager asked me if we found a biscuit tin, and if we did find it, to give it to him as he had kept his savings inside,” he said.
Speaking to reporters after the event, Sivanesan said during his visit to the Orang Asli village two weeks ago, he found that the victims’ graves were unkept.
“The state government will allocate RM20,000 to clean up the place as well as construct a memorial for the victims,” he added.
The department will also document the experiences of those involved in the Oct 18, 1973 rockslide tragedy at the then Kampung Kacang Putih located at the foothill of Gunung Cheroh that destroyed 20 houses and killed 40 people.
