Nov 18, 2010
House damaged, but couple thank their lucky stars
RETIREE Koay Chooi Eng and his wife, Ong Swee Suan, can count their lucky stars that they were not at home when a huge tree fell on their house in Pepper Estate in Penang.
The incident at 5pm on Nov 3 could have resulted in a tragedy as the tree fell right onto the master bedroom.
“It was fortunate that it didn’t happen in the middle of the night,” said Koay.
The couple, who live by themselves in the house, were out having a meal when a neighbour called Koay to inform him of the incident.
Koay, 59, said he thought it was not such a serious matter until he saw the extent of the damage caused by the tree which is said to be termite-infested.
The roof and ceiling of the single-storey house was broken, causing much of the interior of the house to be exposed. There were also cracks on a wall.
Koay said he and his wife, who is a part-time cook, had tempora-rily moved to their daughter’s house in Bandar Baru Air Itam.
“I estimate that it will cost us up to RM20,000 to fix the roof, walls and also the wiring,” he said yesterday during a visit by Kebun Bunga assemblyman Jason Ong Khan Lee who handed the family a RM1,000 aid from the TYT Disaster Relief Fund.
Ong said the Penang Municipal Council could not just go and trim the trees in Pepper Estate as it sits on private land.
“We can request the council or the Drainage and Irrigation De-partment to trim the trees if they are termite infested,” he said.
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