I HAD a gig scheduled last Saturday at Live Fact – a popular independent live music venue run by my fellow musician friends – in Kota Damansara.

It was the last gig of a series of shows as part of its reopening after almost two years of lockdown inactivity.

It was to have been only my second and last band gig in the last two years since the pandemic and I was looking forward to it.

The soundcheck on Friday night went well.

I had my friend and fellow troubadour N.R. Lohan (from the band Cats in Love) as guest guitarist; we were all pumped for the gig.

It was a cool, wet Friday – steady rain began around noon from where I live – and I went about my day running errands and only made it from Bangi to Kota Damansara around 8pm trying to bypass the rush hour traffic.

All seemed fine. No traffic although I had to go through three tolls, of course, to get there on time but still I was happily surprised that the journey was clear.

All was good as we packed our gear. I left my guitars at the venue and we parted and went our own way just before midnight.

As I arrived home after my 45-minute drive, I got a message from our bassist Krist. He said floodwater had blocked the road to his house in Setia Alam and he had to sleep it out in his car until morning. I replied asking him to take care, stay safe and keep us updated.

The next morning, he sent us an update and some photos and videos on WhatsApp. The water hadn’t receded and he decided to wade his way through the ankle-deep water home after tapau-ing some food and leaving his car at the petrol station.

It had yet to dawn on me that something was amiss until I noticed the perpetually cold and grey skies as I was walking to the car with my bags and merchandise for the gig.

I was leaving early. My itinerary was, in order: attend a relative’s wedding in Shah Alam just before noon, catch up with family, makan, then make my way towards Kota Damansara.

Everything went swimmingly until I turned on my Google Maps. My GPS was not available and it showed that it would take me an hour to get there.

Peculiar, but hey, we deal with a lot of peculiar things in Bolehland, don’t we?

As I confidently followed the directions out of Shah Alam onto the Federal Highway, my gut told me that something was wrong.

For 2pm traffic, it was strangely gridlocked so I kept to the third and slowest lane, keeping an eye on the petrol stations before Batu Tiga as potential exits to take an alternative route if the gridlock persisted.

Even though I felt like just sticking through it, I instinctively took the exit at the Petron station to the left since the drizzle grew heavier and I suspected maybe, just maybe, floods were the culprit.

My entry back into Shah Alam brought me face-to-face with Aeon Mall Shah Alam and the traffic there too was congested but moving.

However, the flood waters were rising in this part of Seksyen 13 Shah Alam and the right turn near Stadium Shah Alam towards the NKVE was already flooded.

Volunteers from the public tried to avoid the turn. I (foolishly) tried to make my way back to the Federal Highway but at the final junction, realised that the line was not moving and made an executive decision to U-turn and seek shelter at Aeon Mall. It was sraight up the ramps to the covered elevated parking – and there I would remain for the next 24 hours.

It was probably the best decision I had ever made in my 40-odd years of life.

From the vantage point of the covered elevated parking, I saw the world around me crumble – gridlock standstill traffic on one side and rising teh tarik waters gushing and engulfing both mobile and parked vehicles on the road on the other side.

I could smell the panic in the air.

I had to find a café to charge my phone and for some free Wi-Fi to get more info so I made my way into the mall, which turned out to be a surreal experience. upon entering: like comforting womb, Christmas songs were playing on a loop and there was even fake snow blowing off from the top floor of the mall to the main foyer (replete with the usual DJ on loudspeaker hyping the event).

All of this while the world was going off the rails outside. Such is the cushioning oblivion in temples of consumerism.

To make a long story short, I had to pull out of my gig (Krist was still stuck in Setia Alam too). I announced it begrudgingly on social media (I am my own manager, media liaison, etc.) and slept in my car.

I felt a mixture of relief and frustration. Families would eventually park beside and around me (I heard kids playing and running around my car as I dozed off in the backseat in foetal position around midnight).

I would eventually make my escape (after several attempts at dusk and mid-morning to no success) around lunchtime and straight to a video shoot sans showering (how’s that for realism?).

What confounded me was that Shah Alam had become an island overnight – no access in or out of the capital of Selangor.

Of course, with the slow response and eventual revelation that our nation’s apparatuses are dysfunctional at best (and the dealers – not leaders – helming them nakedly incompetent), only the Internet and social media became our lifeline and with my limited data, what Google Maps and Waze displayed to me was far from encouraging.

As much as it was an act of God and also as much as we will remember the dithering and finger pointing amongst our national dealers that ensued, we must not forget that, unfortunately, it’s a tragedy that brings people together.

The fortunate thing is knowing that ordinary Malaysians do have a heart of gold and really do take care of each other, except for those in power, that is. They never have, never will. I’ll be glad to see them prove me wrong in the days to come.

But we’ve proved ourselves time and time again. 

Remember December 18, 2021, Malaysia. –  December 22, 2021.

* Azmyl Yunor is a touring underground recording artiste, and an academic in media and cultural studies. He has published articles on pop culture, subcultures and Malaysian cultural politics. He adheres to the three-chords-and-the-truth school of songwriting, and Woody Guthrie’s maxim “All you can write is what you see”. He is @azmyl on Twitter.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.