SUNGAI PETANI: Thirteen-year-old Mohamad Azri Abu Bakar from Kampung Keda in Kota Kuala Muda here is enjoying his long school break to the fullest.
He begins his day at 9am by playing beach soccer with his friends at Kampung Kepala Jalan until noon before taking his lunch break. The boys would resume playing in the afternoon and stop in the evening.
The boys made the goal posts by themselves, using a mangrove tree sourced from a nearby mangrove swamp.
"They are not as steady as steel goal posts, but it’s better than not having any at all," Azri said with a broad smile.
Behind the goal post stood a decrepit house, one of many that were ravaged by a massive tsunami on Dec 26, 2004 that pounded the fishing village.
The other side of the beach is where the Tsunami Gallery is located. The building was constructed in 2006 to commemorate the victims of the tsunami disaster, which was triggered by a 9.3 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.
Over 200,000 people perished in what has been described as the deadliest tsunami in modern history.
Acheh province in Sumatra recorded the highest death toll with 163,795 people, followed by Sri Lanka (35,399), India (16,389), Thailand (8,345), Somalia (298) and Malaysia (68).
The fishing village in Kota Kuala Muda, which sits on the river mouth of Sungai Muda, was the worst hit area besides Penang and Pulau Langkawi, with 11 casualties.
Azri was 8 months old when the tragedy struck but fortunately, his village suffered only minimal damage thanks to the mangrove trees, which acted as a buffer and absorb the waves’ impact.
"According to my mother, my father rushed home from a kenduri (wedding reception) nearby after the first wave struck and took all of us to my grandparents’ home in Pinang Tunggal," he said.
However, Norhafizatul Fasehah Md Hafidzi, who would have been the same age as Azri this year, was not as lucky. Norhafizatul and her older sister, Norhafizatul Fatihah, then 5, were killed in the disaster.
Rosila Saad, 47, was a picture of calm as she related her painful experience in detail .
"The tragedy struck just a day before I celebrated my 37th birthday with my husband, Md Hafidzi Ismail, and our four children.
"We were blessed with two boys and two girls," she said during an interview at her home in Kampung Keda.
"I was attending a wedding feast in Kampung Kepala Jalan nearby when the first tsunami wave struck. It was the biggest I have ever seen in my whole life and none of us knew what it was.
"I immediately grabbed my daughters and rushed to the upper floor of the house as the ground floor was flooded. My husband and two sons were swept away to the swamp behind the house.
"Just as I thought we were spared from the worst, a second, far more violent wave, struck and brought the house to the ground.
"I lost hold of my daughters as we were hit by falling debris and planks. The girls were swept away by the current," she said in a cracked voice.
She fought back tears but remained composed throughout the interview.
She said Norhafizatul’s body was found under the debris while Fatihah was found alive, pinned under the house’s pillar.
"She was barely alive and she had swallowed a large amount of water. We rushed her to hospital but she succumbed to her injuries a week later," she said.
Rosila said while she was left heartbroken by the tragedy, her pain eventually eased over the years.
However, Rosila admitted that she has developed an extreme fear of thunderstorms and strong winds.
Rosila, who has since given birth to two children after the tragedy - a boy and a girl, said she gets easily panicked whenever there is bad weather.
"I do not know how to overcome this feeling… It comes naturally ever since the tsunami tragedy," she said.