WHIPPED by either the monsoon or the climate crisis, another dank weather cycle, another flash flood misery returns. The glare currently is not in the Klang Valley, Kelantan, Terengganu or Johor, where folks have always been the "forever" victims of perennial flooding.
This time, the floods suddenly hit Sungai Petani, the administrative centre of the Kuala Muda district, where it overwhelmed outdated drainage and irrigation infrastructure, aggravated by accelerated development that failed to cope with blockages and siltation.
Mohammed Taufiq Johari, Pakatan Harapan's member of parliament for Sungai Petani, bore the brunt of his constituents' grief and acknowledged the urgency to address the problem.
The Sungai Petani flash floods was impelled by a common quandary: indiscriminate land and forest clearing to make way for housing and commercial and industrial development. Nevertheless, we still have to submit a serious query: what remedial work has been done to repair ageing infrastructure?
The response is the same tired trope: flood alleviation projects have been approved or allocations will be passed by the state assembly, while enforcement officers will take on errant developers who illegally cleared the land.
But the fact remains that flash floods keep making repeat appearances and, in some cases, have a permanent role in the prolonged soap opera of inertia, cost prohibitions and red tape. At least the flood emergency authorities have effective measures to provide victims with temporary shelter, food and other amenities until the floodwaters subside.
What's the best way to resolve recurring flooding? Why the delay in replacing ageing infrastructure? Politicians keep talking about urgent national long-term flood mitigation projects that can last until 2100, but with a catch: they need a massive RM15 billion fund.
One such plan was derailed after the Finance Ministry suspended a dubious, no-tender RM7 billion project awarded by the previous administration, so that's that.
Since costing is still a disincentive, there are, in the meantime, much cheaper but sound countermeasures. First, what about halting construction and plantation projects at natural water catchment areas close to major rivers?
Second, can major rivers near construction projects be desilted? Third, why not build more water retention ponds near main rivers? Fourth, can drainage systems be widened and deepened?
Finally, we must overcome one major stupidity: the apathy shown by Malaysians in clogging drains with rubbish.
Transforming this cultural blight, despite generations of awareness campaigns, enforcement and penalties, will still take some time.
Here's an idea: we should Look East again and learn from the civic-minded Japanese and their famed reputation for cleanliness.