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‘Childhood memory’: Malaysian politician slammed for romanticising floods

2023-12-28 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-亚洲原网页

A Malaysian politician has been slammed online for romanticising in a video post the current floods that have forced over 27,000 people from their homes, with many people criticising him for his insensitivity.

Dr Azman Ibrahim, Terengganu state executive councillor in charge of agriculture, agro-based industry, food security and commodities, posted the controversial video on his account on social media platform X on Dec 25.

The video shows the Parti Islam SeMalaysia politician wading through ankle-deep flood water and smiling as he watches two youths on a motorcycle towing a boy who is riding a plastic lid across the murky waters for fun.

“Childhood memories. Enjoy your childhood. If time could be turned back, I would like to go back to this time, too,” Dr Azman wrote in the caption.

The video has gained 2.6 million views to date.

Politicians and members of the public said his post was inappropriate, given the current situation.

Torrential rain in the last few days due to the annual monsoon season has inundated six Malaysian states – Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Selangor and Sabah.

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Dr Azman’s home state of Terengganu, together with neighbouring Kelantan, was the worst affected, accounting for more than 95 per cent of the evacuees.

“Very irresponsible (post). Other people might read his post and feel ‘oh, it is okay to play in the flood, it is an experience’. But what if someone drowns or something untoward happens?” asked Johor’s Skudai assemblywoman Marina Ibrahim.

A netizen with the handle KA7 on X said it was “weird” for a politician to normalise the floods.

“By right, he should advise the people (that) playing in dirty flood waters can result in falling sick.”

Another X user with the handle Long Tenuk Tergolek criticised Dr Azman for seemingly disregarding the economic hardships faced by people.

“People are going through tough times right now. And here you are, reminiscing about your childhood,” he wrote.

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Dr Azman, however, was unperturbed by the criticism, saying the issue has been deliberately magnified by certain parties to create a negative perception of him.

“Don’t assume we encourage the children to play in flood waters... that is too shallow, without seeing the aid we have given to help the people face the floods,” he told Malay tabloid Harian Metro on Dec 27.