In the aftermath of the flash floods, a man watched, from his old two-storey wooden house in Yan, Kedah, a bulldozer removing thick mud in the compound, with a smile and a look of pride to see his decoration of Jalur Gemilang untouched and still flying high.

Although still shocked by the floods that occurred following a water surge phenomenon in Gunung Jerai last Aug 18, which was regarded as a 'small tsunami' by the residents, Rosli Mohamad, 51...