A tsunami survivor in Penang has appealed to the government for immediate financial help as he has not been able to work after he was hospitalised following the Dec 26 tragedy.

Abdul Mutalib Hassan, 36, a carpenter and part-time fisherman was swept away while he was fishing with a friend at Pantai Pulau Betong in Balik Pulau when the tidal wave struck.

He spent five hours swimming in the sea, saying it was a blessing that he knew the area well. He eventually made it to the shore, not far from where he was swept away.

Mutalib said that he has not been able to work since his hospitalisation on Dec 29 following extreme back pain. He was discharged on Jan 3 but was too weak to go out to sea or resume carpentry as he has frequent bouts of fever.

He made an impassioned plea to the government for financial help, saying that all he had received since the catastrophe was RM200 from Tabung Haji.

"I hope there will be some form of compensation from the government for a victim like me," Mutalib told malaysiakini.

Mutalib's appeal opens up the floodgates of the many survivors in similar situations. The question is - will tsunami survivors like Mutalib be eligible for some forms of compensation for the government?

So far, not all forms of aid or financial assistance from the government have been made public, except for the housing needs of those who lost their homes.

Rescuers did not help

Mutalib recalled that people came to his kampung soon after the tragedy to take down particulars of those injured or details of properties lost. However, he was not sure whether they came back as he has not been at home.

Recounting the events of Dec 26 to malaysiakini, Mutalib expressed disappointment that rescuers at the beach that day did not attend to him soon after he got ashore.

He said he met police and fire department officers on the beach and informed them he had been struggling in the sea for five hours.

"It's unfortunate that they took a nonchalant attitude. It was as if they did not want to hear what happened to me although I told them I was swimming in the sea for five hours. They didn't send me to the hospital but asked me to go back home," he said.

Although upset with the "unsympathetic attitude" of the officers, he said he was not angry with them as the tsunami was an unexpected disaster.

"I am not angry as I have survived. I think nobody had expected that to happen. They (rescue team) also did not know what to do. I just hope that it will not happen to others next time," he added.

Mutalib recalled that as soon as he got ashore that day, he did not go back home directly but went to his friend's home to check whether he was safe too.

"After I found that he was safe, I fainted at his home," he said.

However, Mutalib was not traumatised by his five-hour ordeal at sea.

"Even when I was struggling in the sea, I was not nervous because I am a fisherman who earn a living from the sea. As a Muslim, I think the matter of life and death should be submitted to God," he said.