JOHOR BARU: Afiq Azri Mohd Abdul Salam Subrayar decided to close his business early so that he could visit a Ramadan bazaar and buy his favourite dishes.
However, after being stuck in traffic for several hours, the mechanic decided to break fast with plain water in his car.
In sharing his predicament, the 30-year-old said he left his workshop in Masai at about 4pm on Thursday, thinking that this would give him more time to walk around the bazaar near Kampung Melayu Majidee.
“It was still raining heavily at that time, but I did not expect traffic to be that bad.
“I thought I would probably be spending an extra hour due to the congestion.
“But I ended up being stuck for more than four hours, forcing me to break my fast in the car with some plain water before heading home,” he said.
Despite the experience, Afiq Azri expressed that the kindness of others touched him.
“I did not have any food or water in my car.
“When I spotted a motorist next to me breaking his fast, I asked him if he could share some.
“He generously obliged. I am very grateful for the simple yet meaningful gesture,” he said.
Afiq Azri was one of many people stuck in traffic after floods cut off roads in several areas of Johor.
Many had also taken to social media to vent their frustrations.
Also forced to sit through hours in her car was beautician Samly Soh, 50, who spent over six hours getting to her house in Impian Emas from her shop in Taman Pelangi.
“I heard there was congestion at a few places and decided to close my shop early.
“However, I still got stuck and only reached home around 10pm,” she said.
Soh said she had to turn off the car engine several times to avoid running out of petrol before reaching her house.
“Traffic was at a standstill. Many drivers also did the same. Some even alighted to walk around before going back into their car,” she said, adding that several spoke to other motorists to kill time.
On Thursday, several areas in Johor Baru, including locations that had previously remained unaffected by flooding, experienced significant inundation after two days of relentless rainfall.
Johor Baru is one of six districts affected by flooding and has the most flood evacuees.
Other affected districts are Kluang, Kota Tinggi, Kulai, Pontian and Batu Pahat.
