The viral photo of non-Muslims taking shelter in a surau.
Sapnor Tukijo shows the cloth that is given to keep victims warm.
GEORGE TOWN: A few photos of a group of non – Muslims taking shelter in a surau here, has gone viral on social media.
It has been revealed that the community surau was located at Taman Free School – one of the state’s oldest affordable housing schemes, and one which suffered the most damage from Sunday’s devastating floods.
One of the surau officials Sapnor Tukijo, aged 50, told theSun that all residents, irrespective of their faiths needed protection as only the surau was located on higher ground.
Sapnor, who leads the call to prayer, said he too found shelter at the surau after his family house at Lengkok P. Ramlee was submerged.
At 2am, the water level at the Terengganu Road was at the chest level, therefore the surau officials began to welcome in everyone, including non – Muslims in the area.
“It is the right thing to do.”
He also rescued several senior citizens, who were trapped at an old folks home nearby.
Some of the senior citizens ended up at the surau because the river water currents were too strong for them to be ferried across in a boat.
And he had used the cloth inside to keep themselves warm as well as allocated the home inmates with mattresses to sleep on.
They waited until the water began to recede before they went back to their respective homes, said Sapnor.
He said that Islam teaches people to be kind to everyone.
Earlier, a resident at Taman Free School Lee Kit Mei, aged 67, hugged to Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammudin Hussein, who was visiting the area.
“I wanted to thank him personally for helping us deal with the effects of the floods. I hope to see more ministers like him. Attentive to the needs of the people.”
