In solidarity with everyone on Mount Kinabalu

Sabah was hit by one of the biggest earthquake to ever hit Malaysia on the 5th of June 2015.

That was the day of my "appointment".  And i happened to be in UMS earlier than usual, just to wait for the 8 a.m. appointment. I arrived there at 6.37 a.m. to be precise.

It was like any Friday, apart from the thing i had. But unlike any other day, the whole faculty was deserted, except for me. It was understandable, as it was still early and many would have been on holiday since its the school holiday. When the quake happened, i had a lagging moment, wondering what just happened. It felt like someone is shaking my chair uncontrollably, which i initially thought was a poltergeist or something, since i was alone. LOL! Not until it finished, and all the things stopped shaking i.e. the water in the water bottles, did i got up and looked for anybody outside, still puzzled about the thing that just happened. No one. Nada.

I was too preoccupied with the appointment later that i wasn't able to read further news about the quake. Unfortunately, many lost their lives on Mt. Kinabalu, majority are 12 year olds on a school trip.

Apart from the apparent tragedy, i was furthermore saddened by the "supports" given from my fellow Malaysians, prioritising more on "counting how many night clubs are in Sabah" and "how sinful we all are for celebrating the kaamatan" and all other crappy accusations like that, rather than praying for the lives which were still stranded on the peak of Mt. Kinabalu or those who lost their lives there or those risking their lives in the search and rescue mission.

But we Sabahan are a tough nut to crack as a whole, and supports each other in times like this. I particularly like the murals or graffiti done by the Cracko Art Group at the heritage building or the old land and survey headquarters, where they painted one of the most iconic image from the tragedy, a mountain guide carrying an injured child on his back to safety.

In solidarity with everyone on mount Kinabalu

My heartfelt condolences goes out to those inflicted, directly or indirectly. The quakes or aftershocks are still somewhat active in Ranau, with the latest one just occurred at about 10 p.m. today, on the 11th of June, nearly 7 days after the initial quake.



Stay safe people and may God bless us all.

And for those wanting to donate, you can check the ilovesabah.com website for more details.