Singaporean battles survivor's guilt decade after Kinabalu quake
Published on: Sunday, June 08, 2025
Published on: Sun, Jun 08, 2025
By: Diana Liu Text Size: Emyr (left) and Prajesh at Mount Kinabalu. Kota Kinabalu: Singaporean Emyr Uzayr Mohamed Sadri survived the deadly Mount Kinabalu earthquake that claimed 18 lives in 2015. But unlike others who may rejoice at the thought of being alive, he has yet to overcome survivor's guilt despite receiving counselling.
Advertisement The 21-year-old finance student at the National University of Singapore simply gets on his feet and starts running whenever the memories come back. 'I will just run,' he said, when he returned to climb Mount Kinabalu again to complete the ascent on behalf of the 10 schoolmates who did not make it that fateful day 10 years ago. Back in 2015, Emyr and colleagues were on a school expedition under the Omega Challenge programme when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Mount Kinabalu, triggering a deadly rockfall that killed 18 people. Only 11 then, Emyr recalled the moment he thought he would not make it alive.
Advertisement 'What I saw was too much for an 11-year-old. Thousands of rocks were falling at high speeds, some as big as vans. There was no way to escape. I looked around and saw everything, fully aware that it was only a matter of time before I would pass on. 'I knew time was running out. That was when I made my declaration of faith and prayed. Fortunately, I survived,' he said. Surviving posed questions over the years. 'How did I survive? My friends were kinder, smarter and had more potential in life than me. 'This thought stayed with me for 10 years. Personally, I feel like it is something you cannot really eradicate. 'So I look at it in positive light. I see that my friends were God's favourite. The saying, God takes the finest souls first. I agree with that. That statement actually rings true,' he said. The Omega Challenge programme has been discontinued, but their school continues to honour the victims with a dedicated memorial section. He started running at 17 before he served National Service as an officer. He took up the sport as a form of therapy and has since completed the full 42km race at the Standard Chartered Marathon last year. He also runs an antique business named which allows him to share his passion for history and educate others about vintage artefacts. Emyr said one way he overcome the guilt is by looking at things differently, instead of lamenting about why he survived. 'I take it that I was given a second chance to spread kindness. To live my life in a positive way. Maybe to inspire a few people. And to live life with no regrets,' he said. He volunteers at meet-the-people sessions, help residents raise and resolve community issues and is also involved with the M3 Foundation, which supports lower-income families, especially within the Malay community. On May 20, Emyr and fellow survivor Prajesh Dhimant Patel returned to Mount Kinabalu to complete the ascent they were forced to abandon a decade ago. 'This is my first return to Sabah after the tragedy. I always wanted to go back to finish what we started. 'This time, we did climb to the summit and I definitely felt overjoyed, but there was some sadness in me because my friends passed on and I could not finish this climb with them,' Emyr said. 'We were truly devastated. We thought it would be a failed mission after 10 years. But the crew from Amazing Borneo actually came up with a plan to extend the trip. 'Something I did not really think of. They tried their best, they asked around, and eventually we did get the extension,' he said. Emyr carried messages from his late friends' classmate to read at the Kinabalu Earthquake Memorial. 'They wanted to express their gratitude to the deceased for being kind people to them,' he said. As for the mail he posted through the mountain mailbox for his future self, he said what he wrote was basically a reminder to not set such high expectations. 'I tend to strive for the best, which is good, but sometimes I need to take a step back and breathe, so I do not stress myself too much. I reminded myself to pat myself on the back once in a while,' he said. Emyr wishes to find the mountain guide who saved his life. I really want to find out who actually saved me. 'Because there was this guy who actually cut my rope and told me to get to safety. And I still don't know who he is. 'Because of the rock fall, a lot of dust entered my eyes. It was really blurry back then, so I cannot recall how he looked like at all. 'I want to tell him that I am really thankful for what you have done. You could have just walked away, but you went out of your way to save me, I am forever indebted to you,' he said. Comparing safety requirement for climbers then and now, Emyr said a lot more safety precautions are put into place nowadays. 'There are more railings and more regular patrols by mountain climbers. The guides go out of their way to care for you. 'They really ask you questions like, 'Are you okay?' If you are not okay, they have other ways to help you.' Emyr said he might one day bring the other survivors to complete the Via Ferrata Walk the Torq, the very route where he lost his friends and teachers during their school trip. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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Published on: Sunday, June 08, 2025 Published on: Sun, Jun 08, 2025 By: Diana Liu Text Size: Emyr (left) and Prajesh at Mount Kinabalu. Kota Kinabalu: Singaporean Emyr Uzayr Mohamed Sadri survived the deadly Mount Kinabalu earthquake that claimed 18 lives in 2015. But unlike others who may rejoice at the thought of being alive, he has yet to overcome survivor's guilt despite receiving counselling. Advertisement The 21-year-old finance student at the National University of Singapore simply gets on his feet and starts running whenever the memories come back. 'I will just run,' he said, when he returned to climb Mount Kinabalu again to complete the ascent on behalf of the 10 schoolmates who did not make it that fateful day 10 years ago. Back in 2015, Emyr and colleagues were on a school expedition under the Omega Challenge programme when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Mount Kinabalu, triggering a deadly rockfall that killed 18 people. Only 11 then, Emyr recalled the moment he thought he would not make it alive. Advertisement 'What I saw was too much for an 11-year-old. Thousands of rocks were falling at high speeds, some as big as vans. There was no way to escape. I looked around and saw everything, fully aware that it was only a matter of time before I would pass on. 'I knew time was running out. That was when I made my declaration of faith and prayed. Fortunately, I survived,' he said. Surviving posed questions over the years. 'How did I survive? My friends were kinder, smarter and had more potential in life than me. 'This thought stayed with me for 10 years. Personally, I feel like it is something you cannot really eradicate. 'So I look at it in positive light. I see that my friends were God's favourite. The saying, God takes the finest souls first. I agree with that. That statement actually rings true,' he said. The Omega Challenge programme has been discontinued, but their school continues to honour the victims with a dedicated memorial section. He started running at 17 before he served National Service as an officer. He took up the sport as a form of therapy and has since completed the full 42km race at the Standard Chartered Marathon last year. He also runs an antique business named which allows him to share his passion for history and educate others about vintage artefacts. Emyr said one way he overcome the guilt is by looking at things differently, instead of lamenting about why he survived. 'I take it that I was given a second chance to spread kindness. To live my life in a positive way. Maybe to inspire a few people. And to live life with no regrets,' he said. He volunteers at meet-the-people sessions, help residents raise and resolve community issues and is also involved with the M3 Foundation, which supports lower-income families, especially within the Malay community. On May 20, Emyr and fellow survivor Prajesh Dhimant Patel returned to Mount Kinabalu to complete the ascent they were forced to abandon a decade ago. 'This is my first return to Sabah after the tragedy. I always wanted to go back to finish what we started. 'This time, we did climb to the summit and I definitely felt overjoyed, but there was some sadness in me because my friends passed on and I could not finish this climb with them,' Emyr said. 'We were truly devastated. We thought it would be a failed mission after 10 years. But the crew from Amazing Borneo actually came up with a plan to extend the trip. 'Something I did not really think of. They tried their best, they asked around, and eventually we did get the extension,' he said. Emyr carried messages from his late friends' classmate to read at the Kinabalu Earthquake Memorial. 'They wanted to express their gratitude to the deceased for being kind people to them,' he said. As for the mail he posted through the mountain mailbox for his future self, he said what he wrote was basically a reminder to not set such high expectations. 'I tend to strive for the best, which is good, but sometimes I need to take a step back and breathe, so I do not stress myself too much. I reminded myself to pat myself on the back once in a while,' he said. Emyr wishes to find the mountain guide who saved his life. I really want to find out who actually saved me. 'Because there was this guy who actually cut my rope and told me to get to safety. And I still don't know who he is. 'Because of the rock fall, a lot of dust entered my eyes. It was really blurry back then, so I cannot recall how he looked like at all. 'I want to tell him that I am really thankful for what you have done. You could have just walked away, but you went out of your way to save me, I am forever indebted to you,' he said. Comparing safety requirement for climbers then and now, Emyr said a lot more safety precautions are put into place nowadays. 'There are more railings and more regular patrols by mountain climbers. The guides go out of their way to care for you. 'They really ask you questions like, 'Are you okay?' If you are not okay, they have other ways to help you.' Emyr said he might one day bring the other survivors to complete the Via Ferrata Walk the Torq, the very route where he lost his friends and teachers during their school trip. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
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I don't remember the exact date. My brother, Bunseng, Sergeant No 433, was the police officer in charge of security of Lundu District. He allowed me to stay with his family at the barracks while I was going to the Sekolah Bumiputera where I was taught the Romanised Malay (the Za'aba System of spelling) and the Jawi script. One evening, suddenly there was a commotion in the barracks. My brother was calling out to the constables to wake up, yelling: 'Pasar angus! Pasar angus! (The bazaar's burning! The bazaar's burning!).' He was having problem with his boots (no puttees were handy – constabulary's regulation required the puttees to be worn with the boots) and he could not find them. Normally my brother was sticking to the strict police code, but this time he had to break the regulation. In an emergency, he had to go on bare feet. With his 303 rifle slung over his shoulder, he rushed towards the direction of the bazaar, a few hundred yards from the barracks, warning everyone not to loot, not to steal. Some hope! There certainly was looting all right, which he could not control. I was running out barefooted too. I owned a pair of canvas shoes, but those were for wearing to go to school. Still, vividly in my mind, I was watching flying fiery material landing on the roof of the Lundu Studio, and the fire was gutting the building fast. The photo shop was owned by one Ah Chee, the town's photographer. He was doing a brisk business after the Pacific War (1941-1945) because that was the period during when people in the district were required to get themselves registered as citizens of Great Britain. They would be issued with the identity card, which required a personal photograph. Ah Chee's studio was to provide the photographs. I was watching how the fire was spreading from shop to shop. The smoke preceded the flame! The sparks jumping from shop to shop were awful sights. 'The lady with a bolster' I saw a woman rushing out of a shop owned by Kapitan Goh Hong Ping. She was carrying a colour portrait of Dr Sun Yat Sen, the Mainland Chinese leader, in one hand and in the other hand, she tightly clutched a fat 'bantal guling' (a bolster or 'Dutch wife'). Crying and muttering in Teochew, I could not understand her. A distressful moment indeed – I could not do anything to help her. Months later, I asked her grandson, Ah Kow, what it was that her grandmother had done with that pillow. Ah Kow said it had been stuffed with the 'Straits Dollars' – hundreds of them. He did not get a cent of it, he complained, but the content of the bolster helped the family a lot, post-fire period. The next day, we boys from the barracks and the villages descended on the area, searching for anything of use, avoiding the spot where one death was reported. We went for the hair cream and perfumes ('Santalia'). I went for the penknives. The hair cream ('Vaseline') glass bottles were empty, and the penknives were useless. We collected a few burnt coins, but they were not accepted for gambling – let alone for buying things. The marbles were all burnt out too. Before the fire of 1949, Lundu Bazaar – built on the bank of the Batang Kayan – consisted of two parts: the 'pasar tanah' (landbased) and the 'pasar gantong' (on stilts). The looters concentrated on the 'pasar gantong'. Bundles of clothes and new textiles were carted off the shelves and piled up onto the boats. The boys from the nearby village went for the bottled drinks, the fizzy lemonade 'Chong Kim Eng Aerated Water', while the men preferred arrack. There was no such thing as the fire brigade in the district. The only weapon was water, pails or buckets of it – no good at all to douse a conflagration. 'Rebuilding Lundu' I can claim the credit of helping to rebuild the present Lundu Bazaar in the sense that I was involved in levelling the sites where the (then-)new shophouses would be erected. I was a coolie, 13 or so years old, a member of the 'Changkul Gang' – working from 7am to 11am, and back at 2pm till 5pm. Exhausted but happy to have earned some money for myself, I was no longer relying on pocket money from my brother. I was also employed as a painter by Encik Bakri Kaya, a contractor from Kuching. I was also working for five dollars a day for Sim, building the District Office that had been operational since 1952. I painted parts of the wall of the old District Office. But that was not the first time Lundu Bazaar had burned down. I found out, from the 'Sarawak Gazette', that the same thing had happened in October 1893. Obviously I don't remember that one! Here's the story: 'FIRE AT LUNDU' — The greater part of Lundu Bazaar has been destroyed by a disastrous fire, which broke out in the night of the '3rd Ultimo'. 'The flames were first noticed about midnight proceeding from the kitchen of one Tai Seng Hin. 'His shop was attached to another, which was used as a store and here, the fire got a good hold and, aided by a strong westerly wind, rapidly spread in the direction of the Fort, which with boat shed were only preserved by the precautions of men stationed with buckets of water. 'By 1.30am on the '4th Ultimo', 15 shops had been burnt out and a great deal of property destroyed. 'The total loss is estimated at about $40,000. The owners of the shops destroyed are Yong Soon (2), Wee Cha (1), Ah Pua (1), Seng Kow (1). Kim Foh (1), Ah Kam (1) Seng Soon (8)Hong Chua (5). 'The Assistant Resident was absent at Bandong at the time of the break out'. So here's a word of advice: Lundu shopkeepers are strongly urged to keep fire extinguishers on their premises! > The opinions expressed in this article are the columnist's own and do not reflect the view of the newspaper.
