LETTER | Covid-19 did not scare domestic travellers, but floods will

LETTER | The first Covid-19 case in Malaysia was detected on January 25 last year and Malaysians were prevented from moving about freely after the movement control order (MCO) was introduced almost two months later, on March 18.

By May, the MCO was replaced by the conditional MCO (CMCO) and further relaxed in June with the recovery MCO (RMCO). Many people took the opportunity to travel intrastate and interstate to visit families, relatives and friends, or for shopping and holiday.

With physical distancing often compromised, Covid-19 infections started to rise from an average of only 12 cases per day in August to 63 in September, 656 in October and 1,138 in November. On November 9, CMCO had to be reintroduced to curb infections.

From Jan 25 to Dec 31 last year, the average number of Covid-19 cases were only 330 per day. In June this year, the average had risen to 5,987 cases daily. Then it shot up to 11,655 in July and a staggering 20,419 cases per day in August, although MCO was reimposed from May 12.

Mercifully, it dropped to 16,648 in September, 7,289 in October, 5,371 in November and 4,337 in the first 22 days of this month, thanks largely to double vaccinations followed by booster shots. If not, infections would have gone through the roof as many had little fear of Covid-19 by now.

On October 18, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, and Malacca had moved to CMCO or Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan. This allowed many to travel freely, just like after intrastate and interstate travel restrictions were lifted last December 7 for areas under CMCO.

If 2020 was bad, 2021 is much worse. The total number of Covid-19 cases last year were 113,010 and averaged 330 per day. The total number this year up to December 22 this year was 2,615,193 and averaged 7,346 per day! Both years could be described as annus horribilis.

To make matters even worse, many areas in the peninsula were ravaged by floods last weekend. The downpour was so heavy that the Sentul station in Kuala Lumpur recorded 363mm of rain over 24 hours, which was equivalent to 15 percent of the yearly average rainfall for the city.

Houses, shops, offices, factories, vehicles, animals and plants were inundated or swept away by floodwaters. Roads were turned into rivers and highways flooded. People were drowned or buried by landslides at hilly areas or mudslides at riverbanks where houses or chalets were built.

Large numbers of people were trapped on the upper floor or rooftop of their houses and waited indefinitely throughout the night without food and water, with their communication to the outside world cut off after phone batteries went flat and without electricity supply for charging.

Families with infants, the elderly, sick or infirm were worst hit. Those who survived will continue to suffer the traumatic experience through flashbacks. Covid-19 is an unseen enemy, but it was a clear and present danger when being marooned by floodwaters in a house or vehicle.

With numerous media reports and videos shared over social media, everyone with a smartphone must have read and watched the devastation brought by the recent flood. Those unaffected would certainly not want to take the risk to venture out unnecessarily.

It is likely that 2022 will again be another lacklustre year for domestic tourism. We can only look back fondly at 2019 when tourism expenditure in the country totalled RM240.2b, with RM44.8b from outbound, RM89.4b from inbound and RM106b from domestic and others.

Last year, domestic tourism expenditure dropped to only RM40.4b and will dip below RM40b this year. With the fear of floods every time it rains heavily, domestic tourism may also suffer the same fate as outbound tourism in future, limited to mostly essential travel.

Meanwhile, it will be a long road ahead for those affected by the recent flood. It will be backbreaking work to throw away spoiled furniture, furnishings, electrical appliances and other goods kept in homes, shops, warehouses and factories, and to get rid of the debris and mud.

Those with insurance coverage may get some compensation but will still need to top up with their own money to buy back the same items lost. Those without insurance coverage will have to start their lives all over again to earn and buy back what they have lost.

It would cost a small fortune to salvage vehicles that were submerged in floodwaters and not all owners that have insured them for flood cover would be compensated at insured value. In any case, they are immobilised until they find a replacement vehicle.

Also, victims may now be extra wary of adverse weather conditions, with some developing a phobia. Those not affected by the recent flood and empathised strongly with the victims would be wise enough not to drive freely around Peninsular Malaysia like they used to before.

With global warming caused by humans and impacting weather patterns, our climate has changed, with extreme weather conditions becoming increasingly common. Many areas, whether natural or manmade, can no longer provide safe haven for humans and animals.

More so than before, health, safety, security and insurance will be accorded greater importance than convenience, comfort, enjoyment and low price. After suffering from a double whammy brought about by Covid-19 and flood, survival and recovery would override domestic travel.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.