ALL public events scheduled for Christmas and New Year's Eve in the city of Erbil in northern Iraq have been cancelled this year, as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives in the recent floods.
This announcement by Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw came in the heels of the floods, which reportedly swept through the districts of the Kurdistan Region's capital, killing 12 people and damaging thousands of households.
Khoshnaw said 2,509 households were affected by the floods, with 402 homes damaged and 867 cars "drowned".
Additionally, 153 shops, warehouses, car workshops and public facilities, including schools and government buildings, were inundated.
Known as one of the "safest and most diverse" spots in the Middle East, Erbil is known to annually host massive celebrations for ethnic and religious groups.
The Covid-19 pandemic, however, forced the local authorities to cancel public events last year.
The floods this year are hampering the celebrations again.
Here, on our Malaysian soil, we have been watching news feeds carrying painful images of Mother Nature's wrath in the Klang Valley and other parts of the country since Saturday.
We have heard of Malaysians banding together to open their homes, hearts and wallets to their neighbours and beyond, in bringing relief by way of food and supplies or assisting rescue workers with ferrying the elderly, the disabled and babies to safety amid the raging floodwaters.
Equally heartening is that many houses of worship have opened their doors to provide temporary shelters and food to those whose homes have been damaged by the floods.
Apart from the heartbreaking visuals, which touched the rest of us who are blessed to have been sheltered from the eye of this storm, is the mounting anger of Malaysians towards those who appear tone-deaf to all that is happening around us.
While some people look for photo-opportunities by wading in dirty floodwaters, others have taken to social media to show how much they "care" by giving cooking "demonstrations" of food preparation for flood victims.
This paper nailed it on the head yesterday with its cover story screaming "HELLO, IS ANYONE LISTENING?" in highlighting the chaos the floods have brought and the lack of timely and coordinated action, and preparedness by the authorities to handle this situation.
The fact that some are still head-on with Christmas parties and gatherings, shopping and holidaying with wild abandon comes across as a tad tasteless at this time when precious lives have been lost due to the floods.
What about the insensitive hosting of events in posh venues, which are seemingly meant to launch some drive or other to render assistance during the floods?
What we need right now are quick-thinking people both on the ground and in power to save those whose lives have been impacted, minus all the frills and drama.
So what about Christmas and welcoming the New Year?
Perhaps we should take a leaf from the book of the authorities in Erbil by toning things down, assessing the real scale of damage that has been incurred and channelling all resources towards returning things to normalcy.
And, oh yes, figuring out if the man-made causes of the ever-increasing flood incidents in the country require immediate action by nailing the violators without further delay can also be on the wish list for this Christmas.
Have a blessed and safe Christmas, everyone!
The writer is a former NST journalist
