For poverty-stricken family in Perak, water a luxury as well as a bane

For the Chua family who live in a ramshackle old house at the far end of Kampung Baru Ketoyong in Perak, water is both a luxury and a scourge.

There is no clean water supply in the house, which is constructed entirely out of wooden boards. This means that housewife Yap Su Chong spends her mornings hauling barrels of water from her neighbour's house to use for the family's daily activities.

"I take maybe two barrels of pipe water at 7am every day for drinking water and to use when I cook," the 51-year-old told MalaysiaNow.

"At 9am, I go to my neighbour's house again to help her with her laundry as a token of thanks for letting me use her water."

There is a pipe which leads to the kitchen, but the water that flows through it from the old well at the back of the house is dirty and unfiltered. It is not fit for drinking, and can only be used for bathing.

In the kitchen, water is stored in containers of all shapes and sizes, arranged in neat rows on the cement floor.

For the past six years, this is how the family has lived.

Yap's husband, Chua Theam Kok, said he had raised the matter before with their landlord.

"He told us that if we didn't like living here, we were free to move," he said.

Chua's family is among some 3% of Malaysians who do not have access to treated water.

The risks that come with using untreated water include health problems such as cholera and diarrhoea.  

But while getting clean water is a struggle for the family, their problems are only compounded during the monsoon season when rain comes pouring down nearly every day. Their house sits on low land and is in regular danger of floods.

"The last time it flooded was in July," Chua's oldest son, Chi Wa, said.

"The water rose above ankle level."

But the worst floods were several years ago, when the water went up past their knees. The roof, made out of zinc and rotting wood, sprang leaks, letting water in from above as well.

In their desperation, the family once asked a carpenter to take a look, but he told them that even a strong wind would destroy everything that had been repaired.

"The most dangerous part is when rain water flows near the fuse box and the switches," Chua said.

"Whenever it rains, we use a wooden ruler to turn the switches on and off, because we're afraid we'll be electrocuted."

Chua used to work as a handyman but was forced to stop after a motorcycle accident.

"It's an old house," he said. "There are three rooms but only one of them can be used. The other two can only be used as store rooms because the roof leaks and water comes in whenever it rains."