While there was a nearby school serving as a temporary relief centre, it did not have the capacity to handle more flood victims.

That was when Mohd Zulkifli Othman got into action.

The president of a group comprising 32 residents’ associations in Bandar Bukit Raja, Zulkifli, 53, made an urgent call to Md Nazri Mohamed Nor, the chairman of Masjid Bandar Bukit Raja’s construction committee.

While Masjid Bandar Bukit Raja is only expected to be fully operational next year, a decision was quickly made to open its doors and serve as a temporary relief centre for the area’s residents.

Built on higher ground than the rest of the area, the spacious mosque eventually played host to more than 1,000 residents, regardless of race, religion, colour or creed.

“I don’t care whether they are Buddhists, Christians or Muslims. In Bandar Bukit Raja, Alhamdulillah, our ties are like family,” said Zulkifli.

“Multiracial and multi-religious … we put them all in the mosque and we didn’t separate anyone.

“This is about humanity. We must help each other without caring about race or religion.

“My principle is simple. If you’re facing tough times, I’m facing tough times. I’m all right if you’re all right.”

About 700 of the flood victims were housed in the mosque’s main prayer hall while another 500 or so were put up at the mosque’s annex building.

Overall, the social welfare department (JKM) reported that there were 21,385 flood victims housed at 117 temporary relief centres in Selangor as of yesterday afternoon.

Zulkifli said that while flooding in Bandar Bukit Raja was hardly new, the area’s residents were generally unprepared for the two days of incessant downpour, and the floods that came with it.

Describing it as the worst disaster to have affected the community, the jovial president said he was touched with how the “brotherhood” among the residents ensured that the flood victims at the mosque were taken care of.

A doctor who lives in the neighbourhood helped attend to the basic medical needs of the flood victims, and the residents also worked together to cook for everyone.

“It’s not that we did not receive any food from the government, it’s just that with so many people to take care of, it was a bit late,” said Zulkifli.

“My focus was on feeding the children as I know it’s harder for them to hold off their hunger pangs.”

A team of residents with four-wheel drive vehicles went around the area to make sure that residents who were stranded in their homes were brought to the mosque, with another set of residents put in charge of maintaining the mosque’s cleanliness.

Other residents monitored the residents’ adherence to Covid-19 SOPs at the mosque.

In addition, six families who were under quarantine when the floods hit were moved to a separate surau about 2km away.

Although the last of the flood victims returned to their homes by Tuesday, those days spent at Masjid Bandar Bukit Raja just proved it will take more than a flood to dampen the spirit of Malaysian brotherhood.