PETALING JAYA: Netizens have harshly criticised the Kelantan government's proposal to transform the monsoon season, which brings annual floods, into a tourism attraction, calling the idea insensitive and foolish.
According to an FMT report, earlier today, Kamarudin Md Noor, the tourism, culture, arts, and heritage committee chairman, was reported by Astro Awani as saying that the state plans to promote activities such as surfing and traditional monsoon season foods to draw tourists. He mentioned that the state appears "deserted" during the monsoon season due to the lack of tourists.
Users on platform X expressed their disapproval, with one user named Zac reminding Kamarudin that lives are often lost during the floods. "And yet he thinks it (the floods) could become a tourism activity. He is really out of touch," Zac commented.
Another user, identifying as Xavier Naxa, voiced his "second-hand embarrassment" as a Kelantanese. He found it strange that some seemed to celebrate the floods while the residents of Kelantan suffer. "If stupidity could be converted to diamonds, these people would be millionaires," Xavier said.
User eKharus questioned how such leaders get elected. A YouTube user commended the newscaster for maintaining a straight face while reporting the news, while another quipped, "This is not thinking outside the box, but out-of-your-mind."
This evening, it was reported that more than 51,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes due to the floods on the east coast of the peninsula. In Kelantan, the worst-hit state, 42,048 victims are seeking shelter at 189 relief centres in 10 districts.