KOTA KUALA MUDA: If you visit the Tsunami Memorial Gallery in Kota Kuala Muda, you'll likely be greeted by Hamidah Che Rus, a friendly security guard at the one-storey building.
"Please sign the visitor's log," Hamidah says kindly as she enters the gallery to switch on the lights and air conditioning.
The gallery previously used to be a single-storey concrete house belonging to a local family that was destroyed in the tsunami that struck the village two decades ago.
Despite her calm demeanour, the 60-year-old single mother of three carries the painful memory of that day, which she wishes she could erase from her mind.
"I was sitting there with my neighbour," she says, pointing to a spot not far from the gallery.
"We were having lunch at a wedding reception around 1.30pm. The house was full of guests, and the mood was one of jubilation.
""Suddenly, a powerful wave hit us. Fortunately, I managed to grab my 10-year-old daughter before we were swept away," Hamidah recalls, gesturing to a spot near a tall coconut tree by the gallery entrance.
She describes the first wave as sweeping away everything in its path, creating chaos and devastation.
Next to the gallery stand rows of destroyed houses and about 26 damaged fishing boats, stark reminders of the deadly tragedy that claimed 17 lives, including an 11-month-old girl in the village.
A total of 57 homes across 10 settlements along the Kota Kuala Muda coast were destroyed in the disaster.
Soaked and shaken, Hamidah rushed back to her home to check on her two teenage sons.
"Fortunately, they were at a friend's house in a nearby village, so they were safe," she says.
Hamidah said she and her daughter then ran towards to a neighbour's house nearby, just in time before the second wave lashed its fury some 15 minutes later.
"We took shelter on the upper-floor of the neighbour's house. The second wave was way taller and stronger. I remember that it was so black, and I thought it was "kiamat" (apocalypse)," she says.
Hamidah, who lost her husband a year before the tsunami, had moved into her house just three months before the disaster struck.
"Though I would have loved to stay, it was impossible to remain after what happened," she reflects.
Hamidah now lives in Taman Permatang Katong, a government-built housing estate for those displaced by the Boxing Day disaster.
Despite suffering from post-tsunami trauma for years, she found strength to become a security guard at the gallery six years ago.
"I felt compelled to share my story with those who want to learn about the tragedy. I want to share how I survived the waves," she says.
"I thank Allah for saving me. I prayed so hard.
"The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra, remains the deadliest natural disaster in recorded history.
Over 230,000 people across 14 countries perished, including 68 in Malaysia.
Yusoff Awang, 60, a former Village Security and Development Committee member in Kampung Kepala Jalan, says it took up to eight years for many victims to fully recover from the disaster's impact.
"The aftermath was a difficult period for everyone. We lost everything—our homes, our loved ones, and our livelihoods," he says.
Idris Hussin, 71, says that even after 20 years, the painful memory of that day still haunts him.
"We were having a picnic at the beach when the first wave hit. We ran back to my house and to the upper floor before the second wave struck," he recalls.
"My parents were swept away when their house was destroyed, but they survived by clinging to trees in the bushes behind our village," says the father of six, now blessed with 18 grandchildren.