ELECTRICAL items worth hundreds of thousands ringgit that were damaged in the recent floods in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam were salvaged by a group of volunteers who repaired the appliances for free in their bid to help the victims.

Calling themselves “KakiRepair”, the group comprising men and women, were joined by volunteers from the Selangor Technical Skills Development Centre (STDC) and Eco Free Market to repair more than 200 home appliances including plasma television sets and laptops.

KakiRepair founder Johnson Lam told The Malaysian Insight he estimated that over RM200,000 worth of items were fixed by more than 50 volunteers during the group’s four-day mission in Taman Sri Muda.

“KakiRepair is a group that has been around for five years. We love fixing electrical devices and, at the same time, we teach others how to fix their own damaged electrical appliances,” Lam told The Malaysian Insight.

“We go all over Malaysia to teach people how to repair their stuff. Our method is: you bring your item and we will teach you how to fix it and, at the same time, you’ll learn some new skills.

“However, because of the floods, we decided to help the victims because it is not practical for us to teach them when they have lost almost everything.”

Lam described the four-day repair mission as a success as almost all of the items brought to the group were repaired with minimal cost.

In some cases, when the items were not able to be fixed, the owner was introduced to a supplier that sold parts or replacement items at a cheap price.

“Some items, such as fans, rice cookers, ovens or microwave ovens are easy to fix, you only have to replace the fuse. Ninety per cent of it is usable.”

For items that were only slightly damaged, members of the group took parts from other appliances owned by the resident.

“For example, take a stand fan with a broken capacitor. We will take the capacitor from a fan that is badly damaged. Of course, we asked the owner for permission first.

“For some items, like an oven with a broken lightbulb or a laptop with a damaged adapter, we stuck a note to let the owner know that they only needed to replace the certain parts that were easily available.

“All the cleaning, repairing, inspecting and installing was done free of charge,” Lam added.

Volunteers from all backgrounds

Lam said not all the volunteers were experts in fixing electrical appliances.

He said some were housewives who lent a hand cleaning the devices before they were passed down the line for inspection.

“Actually, they were the ones who helped to speed up the process. They cleaned the mud and dirt, making it easier for us to inspect the items.

“You don’t have to know about fixing, just be brave and be ready to try. We have students from STDC with limited knowledge, but we guided them and they did very well,” Lam said.

He expressed gratitude to the volunteers who came on their own expense to help the victims.

“We did not provide anything. They came to help and offered what they could to the victims.

“I am grateful that we all contributed, especially the women who came to help with cleaning the devices. It may look simple but that saved us a lot of time,” he said.

Hulu Langat this weekend

KakiRepair will head to Hulu Langat this week to help the flood victims there.

Lam also said the group is planning to go to Pahang and Johor next.

“We hope to have at least two days in Hulu Langat.”

“The trips to Pahang and Johor will not happen anytime soon, because it is still raining heavily there.

Lam said those with knowledge in fixing electrical items, or have an interest in doing so, are welcome to join the mission.

“They can check our Facebook group page KakiRepair by KakiDIY.”

A heavy downpour two weeks ago caused widespread flooding across the peninsula, displacing tens of thousands of people and leaving at least 50 dead. Two people are still missing.

Selangor was one of the states that was earliest to be hit, and where thousands had to be evacuated. Widespread flooding was also reported in Pahang, Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor. – January 4, 2022.