When the waves came crashing: surviving the 2004 tsunami

Free Malaysia Today

On the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Olivia Soo, her brother Edward, and his wife Emely Chai share their harrowing experience in Thailand, where they lost cherished family members.   Story by: Sheela Vijayan  Shot by: Hizami Safri and Fauzi Yunus  Presented by: Theevya Ragu  Edited by: Fathul Illham   *The footage in this video is sourced from various social media platforms for educational and non-commercial purposes only, with all rights remaining with their respective owners.   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2024/12/26/i-dont-want-to-die-how-the-soos-survived-the-2004-tsunami/   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTLifestyle #20thAnniversary #Tsunami #2004 #Survivors

Transcript

00:00it is this is our balcony

00:05december 26 2004 edward sue was on a holiday in southern thailand with his

00:11stepfather his mother his then girlfriend emily chai

00:15and his three young sisters they planned to visit

00:19emerald cave a popular destination that features a dark

00:22cave passage leading to a secluded lagoon

00:26and a beautiful beach before the day ended

00:30all their lives had changed forever

00:35tragically they bore witness to the 2004 indian ocean tsunami

00:41and i heard a very loud sound you know i turned around

00:44i saw a wave coming something like that i didn't think much about it

00:47before i even know it suddenly the whole tunnel was flooded i assumed at the time

00:52i held my breath i thought actually initially it was part of the activity

00:57you know maybe you know you go inside then the water

01:00flushes in let it end up then we end up in the in the bleach you know i thought

01:04it was part of the activity so i just hold my breath you know there

01:07was a point in time when i hold my breath and i was in the water

01:10and i realized that something was wrong in my mind

01:13can't be this long i held my breath to the point i can't hold it anymore

01:17as if we're in a washing machine then you realize okay it's not right

01:21something is not right i feel like my body was being

01:24thrown everywhere like especially at the side of the cave

01:28actually it's very rough and then it's like flashback and then it's like is

01:31this really it is this really the end of my life

01:36even before they had left for thailand edward and olivia's mother had felt

01:40uneasy and contemplated canceling the trip

01:46and on the morning of the tsunami

01:50the family had overslept

01:54and were unaware that a major earthquake had taken place

01:58off the coast of sumatra earthquake earthquake earthquake

02:06their uncle in hadi i had tried calling them to cancel the emerald cave trip

02:11but they didn't hear the phone as they were already on the boat

02:17although the sue siblings were lucky to have survived the tsunami

02:20their mother and stepfather weren't as fortunate

02:24olivia recalls the harrowing sight of her mother

02:28in the water she's no longer talking her head was in the water

02:32she's because we're floating right let's check that but her head was in the water

02:35olivia recalls several people helping to pull her out of the water

02:40upon detecting a faint pulse edward performed cpr

02:43on his mother but she eventually stopped breathing

02:48what if i've done something else differently what if i didn't do cpr

02:51would she have woke up by herself you know i always think that did i do

02:55the right thing i was just sitting down and i was just i

02:58was so tired but i think the only thing that kept me going was that thinking that

03:00you know my sister is still around we need to get out of this

03:03you know i need to get my sisters out of this i guess there's nothing that kept

03:06me going i said my mom already passed away

03:10that's it you know i there's nothing much we can do about it

03:12their stepfather's body was later found floating in the water

03:19the siblings emily and the other survivors were eventually rescued

03:24later that day the whole ordeal left a lasting impact on the family

03:29two of the youngest siblings moved to penang to live with their aunt

03:33while edward olivia and their brother who hadn't joined them on the trip

03:37remained in the klang valley over time the family found the strength

03:42to rebuild their lives throughout the 20 years when i look back

03:46you know each of us are married yeah even our youngest

03:48sister also is married we have our kids things may not be ideal

03:52but i would say we have gained back and we have been blessed with so much

03:56compared to where 20 years ago where we lost everything on the spot

03:59through this experience i've learned that we have to be

04:02thankful we have to be very grateful for everything that we have

04:06no matter how small

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Transcript

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