Wearing heart on sleeve, parents wait for news of kin missing in Batang Kali landslide

Wearing heart on sleeve, parents wait for news of kin missing in Batang Kali landslide

Tan Ah Choe, 66, shows a picture of her missing daughter, teacher Hong Mei Jing, 38, to reporters at the Hulu Yam Baru district police station, December 16, 2022 — Picture by Zarrah Morden

Friday, 16 Dec 2022 5:04 PM MYT


HULU YAM BARU, Dec 16 — Tan Ah Choe from Kepong, 66, has been waiting here at a temporary shelter to house survivors of the pre-dawn landslide at a Batang Kali camp site for news of her daughter since noon today.

Hong Mei Jing, 38, had been on a camping trip with her fellow teacher colleagues and has yet to send word to her family since news of the landslide broke this morning.


Tan related that she had asked another one of her children to drive her here so she could find out what happened soonest possible.


“The police asked me to wait here for news, but I hope she’s at the hospital,” Tan said.


She pulled up a picture of her daughter on her smartphone to show to reporters and asked that if anyone has seen Hong, to let her know.


Outwardly, she was a picture of calm. She was upbeat that Hong would be found even as the bright sun moved lower towards the horizon.

At another spot in the shelter, a man crouched by a drain crying inconsolably.

A younger man standing nearby introduced himself as only Philip when approached and said he worked for the older man by the drain.

They had travelled here from Melaka for prayers, he said. “From our group, around eight or nine people are missing,” Philip told Malay Mail.

Philip said his employer had made the trip with his family and was now missing his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild. A contrast to the grief-stricken older man, Philip said he is staying positive that more people will be found alive. “I am praying for the best,” he said haltingly in a combination of pidgin English, Malay, and Mandarin. He turned around and showed off the words on his T-shirt which were in Mandarin. There was nothing else they could do but hope and pray, he added.

The temporary shelter here has been abuzz with activity since early this morning with volunteers from St John’s Ambulance and Tzu-Chi Foundation among those offering their aid after being alerted to the disaster.


Cartons of bottled mineral water and packets of biscuits were stocked in a pile under a zinc roof for survivors and visitors.

Several stand fans were also hooked up for some of the survivors who were catching up on their interrupted sleep, snoozing on mats laid out on the ground.

A migrant farm hand from Myanmar had earlier related his narrow escape from his house shared with 11 other people when two waves of earth and water started moving under them between 1am and 2am.

An ambulance and a four-wheel drive vehicle were parked nearby.

The National Disaster Management Agency had earlier announced that a landslide had occurred at a campsite near the Father’s Organic Farm in Batang Kali, on the alternative road to Genting Highlands, Pahang near Gohtong Jaya.

The latest official information from the Ministry of Development and Government at 1pm put the total casualties at 94 people, with 16 reported dead and 61 safe.