BENTONG: Five years after flames tore through their wooden homes in Kampung Baru Karak, 48 families are returning to a rebuilt neighbourhood just in time to celebrate Chinese New Year.
The newly-built brick homes in the Karak area come with three bedrooms and two bathrooms for all the residents whose lives were upended by the disaster.
“My house was gone, just like that,” recounted retiree Wa Soon Kiong, 66.
He had lived in one of the original wooden units.
“When the fire started, it spread everywhere so quickly.”
He ended up staying on the upper floor of his workplace, where he was once a salesman, before moving with his wife to a friend’s house in another area.
“It was very inconvenient for me. I had to move far from town. For older people, a few kilometres anywhere feels far,” he said.
“Here, everything is nearby and easily accessible,” he said of his Karak neighbourhood.
Despite the pain of losing his house, Wa never considered moving elsewhere.
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“This is where we grew up. This is our old neighbourhood. We are familiar with the people and the surroundings,” he said.
He said celebrating Chinese New Year at home again with his wife feels especially meaningful.
“For five years, we didn’t have our own place to celebrate.
“This year, we can put up decorations, have a reunion dinner and welcome the new year properly,” he said.
Now living in his rebuilt home, there is only gratitude in his heart.
“We have to thank Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek, Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy, Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai and property developer company, FBG Holdings Berhad.
“Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to rebuild the houses. They helped us a lot,” he said.
In October 2021, MCA had pledged its support to the rebuilding of the gutted homes in Kampung Baru Karak.
Lee Keng Chan, 72, a contractor, is another resident who had moved in with her family members into a new home.
“We are very lucky. If not for the help, we wouldn’t be able to rebuild,” she said.
Lee said returning to the same land matters deeply to her.
“This place has been here for a long time. This is our home,” she said.
Lee added that welcoming the Lunar New Year under her own roof after five years of being without a home is something she had long hoped for.
“Chinese New Year is about family and home. For so many years, we celebrated elsewhere.
“Now that we are back, it feels like we are truly starting the new year with a fresh beginning,” she said.
A 67-year-old nurse, who wanted to be known as Saras, said staying with relatives, while necessary, came with limitations.
“It’s not the same as your own house. You feel like you are troubling people,” she said.
She moved in with her cousin while waiting for reconstruction to be completed.
“Now, I am in my own house. I’m used to everything here. We can just walk everywhere as everything is nearby.
“I’m so very thankful. The house looks very nice, very modern and is safer,” she said.
Residents’ representative Sally Chia expressed the community’s heartfelt appreciation.
She thanked all the parties that had put much effort at rebuilding the damaged homes, adding that clearing up the debris was a huge task in itself.
