IN Broga, Selangor, the storm has come strongly and cruelly. From over ancient and verdant hills, the winds sail swiftly and the lightning lashes furiously.
The farms at the foothill tremble, and a children’s shelter further away buckles.
But the battered remain standing - man, woman, children and all - as best they can, looking to fellow souls for help, and the heavens for deliverance.
Such is the withering assault of Covid-19 on the people of this once rustic part of Selangor. It is no less and no more than what other Malaysians are enduring.
The children's shelter - Desa Amal Jireh (DAJ) - has been around for 35 years, more than 10 of them in Broga.
Chairman Reverend K.K. Sinnadurai, with his renowned snow-white beard and batik shirts, has been walking the earth far longer.
I speak to him about managing the home of 120 children and 10 senior citizens in the long shadow of Covid-19.
Q: These are strange times for DAJ?
A: Yes, they are. We have never faced anything like it.
We can't receive visitors, who normally bring foodstuff. Letters mean income, but we don't get any nowadays. And there is very little coming in by way of online banking.
Q: How has the Movement Control Order affected DAJ's daily routine?
A: We still have to buy items to cook for more than 100 people. No one is allowed out except the driver who has to get those things.
Q: The children are coping?
A: We regularly tell them of the danger posed by the coronavirus and the importance of the Movement Control Order.
But the boys are finding it stressful. The children are asking if they can go out to play futsal or football.
Q: And the staff?
A: They are stressed out at times. It's tough because they have to make sure the children stay indoors.
Q: Does the home have enough supplies?
A: At the moment we are managing with the stock we have. But soon we will need to replenish it.
We are getting a regular supply of vegetables every day from a kind wholesaler but meat is a problem.
Sometimes a fruit seller sends unsold fruits to us like bananas, apples, pineapples, guava, etc. Some may be past their best, but we consume what we can.
Though costs have gone down slightly because there is no school, we still need cash to pay the utility bills, salaries, and for food and maintenance.
Q: Are you worried about the future?
A: We have not come to that stage yet. We have some vegetables in our garden. We will try to make do. We can’t think too far ahead.
No one knows when the pandemic will end and normalcy will return. Or whether we can ever have normalcy, as we know it, again.
Such uncertainty is dismaying. It is certainly not good tidings for children shelters like Desa Amal Jireh, which depend very much on the people's charitable spirit.
If the weakened economy contracts - which Bank Negara says may very well happen - that public wellspring of generosity could vanish.
Sinnadurai remains unbowed. The storm from over the hills is cruel. It pummels Broga and the country. But he says "our trust is in God. We know He will not fail us".
The writer is NST production editor and a volunteer at Desa Amal Jireh