LETTER | Former tourism, arts and culture minister Nazri Abdul Aziz has recently suggested that year-end floods could be an opportunity for volunteer tourism. This led to a public outcry and both local and foreign media had a field day reporting comments on such a maverick idea.

Following this, Nazri again spoke to the media to justify his proposal, but much water has already flowed under the bridge. As everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, I am also offering my two cents’ worth on the viability of promoting volunteer tourism by cashing in on our floods.

While the Malaysian Meteorological Department could issue weather forecasts up to seven days in advance, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage is unable to predict when and where floods will occur, other than notifying that the SMART tunnel is closed to drain stormwater.

While heavy rain is common in all parts of our country, floods always start with surface runoff when rainwater flows on the surface instead of being absorbed by the soil that is saturated with water, or the ground covered by manmade structures such as buildings, pavements and roads.

The flow of water could be partially or totally blocked by debris, sands or stones. For example, deforestation from logging has resulted in massive flooding as rainwater was not absorbed by jungles and a huge quantity of debris from trees, shrubs and wood waste was swept downstream.

In urban areas, flash floods occur when drains are blocked or constricted, or rivers have become shallow from heavy deposits of silt. Flash floods in the city could be averted by clearing drains and dredging rivers to deepen them, and ex-mining pools could be used as flood retention ponds.

But after a series of flash floods, Federal Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim has introduced a much simpler measure to control flooding in Kuala Lumpur. He announced that his ministry had prepared sandbags and water pumps to be used in the event of heavy rains.

If this method is effective, then the authorities ought to be blamed for not implementing earlier, as businesses and motorists have suffered much from frequent floods. Or will this idea turn out to be just as hare-brained as inviting foreign tourists to spend time and money in flooded areas?

He said: "We have identified 31 flash flood hotspots in Kuala Lumpur, and InsyaAllah, we have placed sandbags and water pumps at these hotspots”.

He added that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) had erected tents at 23 flood-prone locations where staff would be stationed to look out for flash floods.

So, does this mean we should promote flood tourism in both rural and urban areas? In the 2014-2015 Malaysia floods, more than 200,000 people were affected while 21 were killed. On Dec 23, 2014, most rivers in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Perak reached dangerous levels.

On Dec 16 last year, a tropical depression brought torrential downpours throughout peninsular Malaysia for three days. The resulting floods affected eight states and left at least 54 dead and two missing. The worst affected were Hulu Langat and Shah Alam, especially Taman Sri Muda.

In any event, floods can be unpredictable. If so, how do you market an occurrence that may not happen? Tour operators ought to be wary of the Trade Description Act 2011 that they could be fined up to RM100,000 or jailed for three years for making a false statement or advertisement.

In the 1990s, some hoteliers were ingenious by offering refunds for rooms on days when it rained, to dispel the notion that it would rain every day on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia during the year-ends. They were confident as the rain was no longer a certainty due to climate change.

Those who are bandy about tourism may not have grasped it well. According to UNWTO, it is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal, business or professional purposes.

During training, tourism personnel are afraid to speak their mind, fearful of what they say could be wrong. But if they are unable to describe what they think they know, then they may not have understood well enough. To benefit from tourism, they must be able to define it meaningfully.

Official or academic definitions are of little use for industry players. They must look at tourism as a gargantuan business that generates a huge amount of revenue for major sectors such as airlines, accommodation, restaurants, shops and attractions, and overlaps many other industries.

Tour operators ought to remember that tourism and tourists are umbrella terms that include many things they may not get involved in, such as leisure activities and recreational areas in easily accessible natural surroundings like beaches and jungles, plus the many manmade attractions.

The annual number of foreign tourist arrivals to Malaysia is based on headcounts of all non-Malaysians that entered our country and stayed at least one night. These include all those that came for various reasons such as holiday, business, work, study or visiting friends and relatives.

The best way to measure tourism is in terms of expenditure. In 2019, the combined tourism expenditures from domestic, inbound and outbound totalled RM240.2 billion, but the share for travel and tour operators was only around 1.6 percent of the total, or just RM3.8 billion.

As for voluntourism, it is doing volunteer work for the community or environment where a tourist is on holiday. While the intentions of these volunteers may be noble, the results they leave behind could be mixed, as there are both pros and cons in voluntourism and many charity work.

This reminds me of a “gotong royong” (voluntary mutual assistance) in Kuala Lumpur in the 1990s to clean up an eyesore area by travel trade personnel.

The exercise was supported by DBKL, which sent a truck and workers, who distributed shovels and tools to the volunteers. While the volunteers sweat it out, they also noticed that DBKL workers just stood by and watch.

At the end of the day, the volunteers found such voluntary work meaningless, as they were merely doing the work for workers that were paid monthly salaries by DBKL.

Likewise, if more manpower is needed to cope with a massive flood or its aftermath, our soldiers could easily be mobilised and such exercise would complement their fitness level and training, although they are unlikely to be deployed in a combat role in the foreseeable future.

Cashing in on regular floods to promote voluntourism would be daunting as no one could foretell exactly when and where floods would occur, and local authorities are unable to cope with rescue operations. Moreover, it takes a long while before foreign tourists could reach them.

In major disasters such as strong earthquakes, tsunamis or severe floods, the authorities could seek international help and some foreign governments would send professional search and rescue teams. Tourists without training and entering disaster zones are more of a hindrance than a help.

Floods are not unique to Malaysia. Any global citizen who wishes to help could start with their own country instead of spending much time travelling to Malaysia. When locals have difficulty leaving or reaching flooded areas, how could foreign volunteers make their way there to help?

Proposing the concept of assisting flood victims through voluntourism does not hold water. The idea is farfetched and probably started with a figment of imagination. Recommending tourism players seize such opportunities would be like water off a duck’s back.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.