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KUANTAN: Self-employed P. Selvam was on a temple tour in Chennai, India with his family when news broke out that the country was going to enter "total lockdown" following the spike in Covid-19 cases.
The 51-year-old did not realise the seriousness of the situation until he noticed that the temples that they were scheduled to visit were closing down in stages and pilgrims had no where to go.
The father-of-two from Seremban, Negeri Sembilan had flown to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), India with his wife and 21-year-old son and 18-year-daughter on March 11, and the family was supposed to return on March 22.
He said they only managed to visit a few temples and was supposed to go to the famous Tirupati temple on March 16 but the temple was closed.
"We changed out plans and travelled some 500km to Palani. My family was forced to change our plans frequently as the temples on our list was closing down one by one.
"Since there was nowhere to go, we decided to travel back to Trichy on March 18 and managed to change our flight ticket to Malaysia. We were relieved and were supposed to leave Trichy on March 19," he said when contacted today.
However, Selvam said their plans backfired when informed by another Malaysian at the hotel that India has suspended all flights and they will not be able to return as scheduled the following day.
He said Malaysian tourists were told to provide their names while arrangements were being made with the assistance from MIC with their contacts in India to fly them home.
"My son and I along with another Malaysian will spend long hours at the Trichy airport to check if there was any good news on the flights to take us home. The airport was packed with other stranded Malaysians and tourist... it was chaotic as everyone wanted to return to their loved ones.
"When we went on Saturday (March 21) to check for updates, we were informed there was an aircraft available at 5pm to Malaysia. I informed my wife and daughter who were waiting at the hotel to pack our belongings...we had to later undergo stringent checks before being allowed into the airport," he said, adding the special chartered flight finally took off from Trichy airport about 12.30am.
Selvam and his family of three were among 186 Malaysians who safely arrived at the Kuala Lumpur international Airport 2 (klia2) from Trichy about 6am on March 22.
In expressing his appreciation to the Malaysian government and MIC for making the necessary arrangements to bring them home safely, Selvam described the four days (March 18 to 21) spent at the hotel as full of uncertainty.
"We were unsure if we could make it home before the lockdown and remained in the hotel room watching updates about the worsening Covid-19 outbreak. It was stressful as worried family members and relatives in Malaysia kept calling to check on us....it was mentally challenging," he said, adding they have been to India several times but the last trip was an unforgettable experience.
Selvam and his family are currently under self quarantine for 14-days as required by the Health Ministry.