SUBANG JAYA, March 18 — As Aidilfitri approaches once more, the usual anticipation of celebration is tempered by unease in Kampung Kuala Sungai Baru, Putra Heights, here.
It has been almost a year since the Putra Heights gas pipeline explosion tore through the neighbourhood on the second day of Syawal, turning celebration into chaos in a matter of moments.
For the residents, the festive season is no longer just about reunion and joy. It is also a painful memory of the tragedy that shattered their homes and their sense of normalcy.
Nearly a year on, 70-year-old former contractor Mohamad Nasir Abd Hamid still returns to what remains of the house.
Where a home once stood, only fragments remain. Yet he chooses to stay. Under a simple mosquito net, he spends the night among the ruins, not out of necessity, but devotion.
“This place holds my memories. I feel at peace here,” he told Bernama, standing on the one-acre plot inherited from his parents, where he painstakingly built his home piece by piece without hired help.
For safety, Nasir has taken down what remained of the damaged structure. Yet leaving entirely has never felt like an option, at least not until a new house rises beside it.
For now, he and his wife, Aliyah Ismail, rent a modest house nearby, paying RM1,000 a month while waiting for a new beginning. Their future home, under a scheme by Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd, is slowly taking shape beside the old site.
This Raya will be simple — preparations will be quiet, there will be no open house or large spread, just a visit to their children, and perhaps, a moment to breathe.
“It’s alright. We will celebrate simply this year. I’ve been told the new house will be ready after Raya. I’m grateful, even if it will never be the same as the old one,” he said.
The blast did not just take down walls and roofs. It stripped away livelihoods. Nasir’s wife’s catering business, which used to be their steady source of income, was reduced to nothing when all the equipment was destroyed.
Now, they begin again in smaller ways.
“We bought second-hand equipment and now take orders for biscuits from our rented home. Restarting the catering business is difficult. I’ve retired, and we don’t have the capital," he said.
Gratitude, however, remains.
“I’m thankful we will have a home again,” he says, even as he acknowledges that what was lost cannot truly be replaced.
For others, the scars are less visible but no less real.
Nurul Adawiyah Mohamad Ahwan, 38, who moved into a replacement home earlier this year, said the trauma still lingers, especially for her children.
“At times, my three daughters are still affected. Loud sounds like thunder or fireworks can frighten them,” she said.
According to the Petaling District Disaster Management Committee, 16 families have so far received completed replacement homes, while two more are still under construction.
But across the community, recovery remains uneven. The blast left 81 homes severely damaged, another 81 partially destroyed and 57 more affected.
Now, as the festive lights begin to glow again, Putra Heights stands in a space between past and present, where celebration is gentler, laughter softer, and remembrance never far away.
This Aidilfitri, the village does not just mark a festival. It marks survival.
