Water disruption dampens ‘Winter Solstice’ festival
KUALA LUMPUR: Each year, in conjunction with the ‘ Dong Zhi’ or Winter Solstice festival, student Goh Yih Weng, 28, would be with his family preparing the ‘ Tang Yuan’, a gingerly soup with glutinous rice balls at their home in Klang.
For the Chinese community, the ‘ Tang Yuan’ is a compulsory dish during ‘Dong Zhi’ as it symbolises the unity of family members before the Chinese New Year celebration.
This year, however, the ‘ Dong Zhi’ has been dampened for Goh and his family who had to cancel plans to prepare the dish due to the water disruption since last Monday.
“Preparing the Tang Yuan and cooking it requires sufficient water supply, but we cannot do it this year as we have to save the water which has been stored,” he said.
“We can gather for the family dinner at a restaurant, but we are quite disappointed as we cannot make the Tang Yuan ourselves this year because there is no water supply at home,” he said.
Customer services manager Kathrin Kwek, 32, said that after the water disruptions were announced on Sunday, she stored water in several large containers at her home in Subang Jaya.
“This being a festive week, with the Dong Zhi and Christmas, we need a large quantity of water for our daily needs and for cooking.
“However, we need to use water prudently as there are many people in my family,” she said.
Meanwhile, a Bernama check in Gombak and Ampang found many restaurants, launderettes and car wash services operating as usual despite the water disruption.
Car wash attendant S Kumar, 23, said the water stored in a big tank was sufficient to allow the business of cleaning cars to go on as usual.
However, while the car wash he worked at normally operated round the clock, these days it was only open from 10am to 4pm.
“We cannot operate for 24 hours because we are worried there would be insufficient water, so we can only open until 4 pm,” he said.
A cake- seller in Wangsa Maju, Mohd Hafizuddin Mohd Yusof, 34, said he had to reduce the number of cakes he made because of the water disruption since Monday.
“Before this, I would sell between 80 to 100 cakes but now, it is only 50 because I want to save the water we have stored,” he said.
The disruption in water supply was due to maintenance work by Tenaga Nasional Berhad ( TNB) at Bukit Badong, Kuala Selangor, which affected operations at the main water treatment plants in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
This affected consumers in Petaling, Klang/Shah Alam, Gombak, Kuala Langat, Hulu Selangor, Kuala Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
The TNB repair works were completed yesterday ahead of schedule and the Sungai Selangor Phase 1, 2, and 3 treatment plants are now fully operational.
The disruption was originally scheduled for until Christmas Eve but efforts were made to shorten the duration. — Bernama
We can gather for the family dinner at a restaurant, but we are quite disappointed as we cannot make the Tang Yuan ourselves this year because there is no water supply at home. Goh Yih Weng, student