Paying it forward, technician distributes aid to flood victims

KOTA TINGGI: Technician S.Velayutham, who lives in Taman Kota Jaya here, has taken it upon himself to pay forward the kindness he received from others by doing a favour to those in need - the people in his neighbourhood who have been affected floods which hit the district since Saturday.

Although he himself was affected by the floods, it has not discouraged the pure intention of this 45-year-old Kota Tinggi native to help his community by distributing food supply and other essential items to other victims.

“I want to help people in need because I also have experienced falling into some hard times and received help from others in those times too, so it feels good to actually give back to the community.

“When people are in need of help, this is when we should act. Just because I am also affected by the floods, it doesn’t mean I can’t help my neighbours,” he told Bernama when met at Taman Kota Jaya, here.

Without disclosing the amount of money he had spent for the purpose, Velayutham bought packs of rice, biscuits and other dried food and distribute it to the flood victims in need.

He said the idea for such acts of kindness came about upon realising that many people in his area had lost their jobs during the first implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March.

“A lot of people here had lost their source of income, so I took the initiative to buy multiple packs of rice and other dried food and drove around to find families who are in need of these items,” he said.

He said although enough food was provided to flood victims at the evacuation centres, there are more victims out there who are facing a shortage of food supply as many shops and restaurants were still closed due to floods.

He added that his donations also include other essential items like blankets.

Velayutham currently takes care of his 72-year-old mother at his home which, for the past 20 years, has been affected by floods three times including the worst he had ever experienced in 2006.

-- BERNAMA