Standing on the roof outside a bedroom window of a second-storey terrace house - which was less than 48-hours earlier submerged in floodwater - Taman Sri Muda resident M Uvarajan, 44, fumed as his neighbours down on the street worked to scrub layers of thick brown mud from what was left of their homes.

Uvarajan claimed rescue efforts by boat were carried out selectively among residents in the area, with alleged political considerations by those in power.

"People are suffering, you know? In 1996 when this (flooding) happened, the army was deployed and they did a great job.

"At least we were given food until the real help came in. This time, there was zero food. People were starving...