Businessman A Suppiah from Penang almost lost his daughter, S Thulaasi, then 22 days old.
It was a miracle that Thulaasi survived the ordeal.
The huge waves that hit Miami Beach in Batu Ferringhi on Boxing Day in 2004 had smashed into Suppiah’s shophouse, before sweeping out a mattress with a sleeping baby on it into the sea.
Luckily, the second wave brought the mattress and the baby back to the beach.
Suppiah, 70, recalls the incident.
“In an instance, the situation became chaotic with people shouting and screaming. Earlier, a foreigner came to me and asked about the two white lines or bubbles he saw approaching towards the beach.
“I had no answer, but told him that December is a month of festivals in Penang, where there would be a boat race. But he said it was not it (boat race), and that something was wrong.
“And then, the sea level rose and everybody was running helter skelter. So did I, to save my 12-year-old daughter and Thulaasi, but I could not get to them in time as I was swept away by the force of the current. I was able to cling to a pole,” Suppiah told Bernama.
Suppiah said his wife and Thulaasi were in a room in the shop when the tsunami struck.
“I went to search for my baby, but failed to find her. An Indonesian man came to me and told me that my baby was found safe on a mattress,” he added.
The tsunami was triggered by a 9.3 magnitude undersea earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on Dec 26, 2004, and claimed more than 200,000 casualties in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Many of those killed were tourists enjoying their Christmas holidays in places like Phuket.
Aceh was the hardest hit as it was the closest to the epicentre.
In Malaysia, 68 people were killed, most of them in Penang.
Thulaasi made international headlines, and was named “the miracle baby”.
Suppiah said he was initially angry at having lost his belongings in the tsunami, until he read about the extent of the damage and loss of lives caused by it.
“After reading about the tsunami in Sri Lanka, Aceh and Thailand that killed so many people… and my family and I survived in the incident, it made me feel grateful and I prayed for God’s forgiveness,” he added.
Suppiah has been holding thanksgiving prayers every year on Dec 26.
Thulaasi, now 15, is grateful to God.
“I was told about the tsunami by my father when I was about four or five years old. How grateful I am to be alive and I always thank God in my prayers,” said Thulaasi.