SEGAMAT: The cries by trader Liau Chin Ping auctioning off her wares, comprising bags, shoes and clothing, some for a discount of up to 50 per cent, drew the attention of passers-by to her shop here.
One of them was this Bernama reporter who was in the area to observe the impact of the floods that hit the town a few days ago and her presence caught the trader’s attention.
“Sister, you (are from the) media. Come, take a picture of my shop, and let the public know of the auction here. I’m auctioning off everything, all at very low prices,” said Liau, better known as Jess, as soon as he saw the media tag on this writer, who was accompanied by a photographer.
The woman, in her 40s, also took this reporter and photographer to a storeroom at the shop where there were piles of plastic bags containing mud-stained clothing, shoes, belts and bags on the floor.
In one section at the back of the shop, Liau’s younger sister was seen cleaning dozens of mud-stained bags.
Liau’s shop was badly hit by the flood, with water of up to waist level and submerged almost all her wares in the building, which she was auctioning off at very low prices to reduce her losses.
“Many of the damaged items are branded items and are newly acquired stock,” she said and estimated her losses at almost RM90,000.
She said this was the third time that she conducted the auction sale at her shop.
“The first was after the big flood in 2006 and then in 2011,” she said, adding that the flood that hit the town early this month was the worst since 2016.
Liau said it also happened so fast that she was unable to save the goods inside the shop.
Meanwhile, checks by Bernama found that cleaning work was still in progress, with some businesses, engaging cleaning companies from Kuala Lumpur for the task.
Segamat, which is located about two and a half hours drive from Johor Bahru, is one of the areas badly affected by the floods with a total of 11,023 victims still at the relief centres as of 8 am today. – BERNAMA
