Uproar in Malaysia as exams go ahead despite flood chaos

Name: Malaysia faces worst floods in decades, as national exams go ahead
Uploaded: 2024-12-02T04:31:50.000Z
Duration: 1 min 58 s
Description: Malaysia faces worst floods in decades, as national exams go ahead

With more than 140,000 displaced and six lives lost, families question the government’s decision not to postpone the key exams

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Vehicles traverse a flooded road in Malaysia’s Kelantan state on Monday after heavy rain. Photo: AFP

Hadi Azmi

Published: 12:31pm, 2 Dec 2024Updated: 7:08pm, 2 Dec 2024

In Malaysia, school leavers are being forced to brave treacherous floodwaters in military trucks and rescue boats to take a key examination, after the education minister refused to postpone the tests, despite devastating floods that have displaced more than 140,000 people nationwide.

Families grappling with the aftermath of the floods have expressed their frustration at Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s decision. Vast areas, particularly along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, remain submerged, with the floods claiming six lives – two from electrocution and two elderly men who drowned while tending to their farm animals.

The situation is equally dire in neighbouring Thailand, where at least 12 fatalities have been reported as heavy rains and floods have affected more than 640,000 households across 10 provinces since November 22.

Residents wade through floodwaters on a street in Pasir Puteh, Malaysia’s Kelantan state, on Saturday. Photo: AFP

As of Sunday, around 13,000 people had been evacuated to 200 temporary shelters, according to the country’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

The floods come as this year’s northeast monsoon season, which runs from November to March, has been exacerbated by the La Niña weather phenomenon, which meteorologists warn could intensify rainfall and cause further flooding.

In Rantau Panjang, a Malaysian town near the Thai border severely affected by flooding, 17-year-old student Nur Ariana Mohd Rozizi broke down while recounting her arduous 5km (3-mile) journey to the evacuation centre. “This is so hard, even with boats. We almost capsized just trying to get here,” she told local reporters.

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Malaysia faces worst floods in decades, as national exams go ahead

Nur Ariana is among 300 students evacuated by the military to other schools less affected by the floods so they could sit the Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM) exams, which began nationwide on Monday. Equivalent to the GCE O-Level used in other countries, the SPM plays a crucial role in determining students’ eligibility for university.