Power was restored to all the homes at 5.30 pm today as residents tried to grapple with the enormity of the disaster. - Picture by Choo Choy May.
But some, like retiree Karu, refuse to abandon their homes despite the best efforts and advice of rescue workers.
"Why should I leave? This all an overreaction by some politicians," he told The Malaysian Insider.
With an umbrella in one hand, he was taking yet another walk around Taman Bukit Jaya, right at the top of the enclosed area at the top of the landslide.
He claimed that there were 16 of them who had decided to stay back, out of some 2,400 residents in the area.
"We got together on Saturday night, organised ourselves and walked around to survey the area," he added.
He smirked at others who were dragging bags or driving cars up and down the hill.
A neighbour of his, a man in his 80s who asked not to be named, also refused to leave the area.
The truth may be simpler. At his age, his family admitted that moving him in such circumstances would present a difficult challenge.
Their decision may have been justified given that as of 5.30pm today, electricity has been restored to all homes on the hill.
Karu's neighbour cheered.
"Yaay! Now I can dry my laundry," the lady in her 50s cried.
She had been upset that her hand washed clothes were unable to dry properly due to the incessant rain.
Water supply had been re-established on Saturday night.
Public Works Department officers surveying the area have warned of more earth movements. - Picture by Choo Choy May
Karu however remained upbeat.
He, his wife and some neighbours were looking forward to enjoying their "big buffet" dinner tonight with the various food packs picked up from four different points on the hill.
It is after all Hari Raya Haji.
"My neighbours told me, do not go down to get the food from Concorde Hotel, the one up here has got lemang," he exclaimed.
One Malay family had a less optimistic view of circumstances.
They had to make a 50-metre detour, trudging through running water and a muddy slope to get to their home, which was a good two kilometres away from where they had parked.
They had evacuated last night but had returned, like hundreds of others, to gather their necessary items to get ready for work tomorrow.
As for their homes, "Have to shift, lah" is their verdict.
"I don't want to leave, but I've got small kids," said another Malay man in his mid-30s as other evacuees walked by lugging their belongings packed in anything from suitcases to bed sheets.
Many others could not manage that level of lucidity, unable or refusing to think about what would happen to their homes.
Their only concern for now is that they have to return to earning a living after the Hari Raya Haji weekend.
A Malay woman looked shell-shocked walking past the taped off access road.
She was not certain where she would be staying.
"Maybe my sister's, for now," she replied when asked.
"It is nearby, at Setiawangsa," she added, before climbing into a waiting taxi.
Karu insisted that what mattered was not monetary loss as everyone who lived in the area were better off than many poorer people to begin with.
"My friend had just purchased a RM1.6 million home here weeks ago. And it was one of those that collapsed. But that is just bad luck," he shrugged.
Past the sub-station at the foot of the landslide, army rescue workers were frantically building an alternate route for vehicles to come down the hill.
A volunteer with NGO Jemaah Islah Malaysia (Jim) said that this was merely a "warning from God" as compared to his experience in Acheh after the Dec 26, 2004 tsunami, which he described as "a real disaster."
But not everyone had such life-and-death and philosophical concerns.
Jess Hon was worried about his two dogs now left in the compound of his linked-house in Bukit Jaya, near the affected area.
"I left eight kilos of food yesterday I am going to send more food as I do not know how long it will last," said Hon who was still waiting for the temporary road to be built so that he can take his dogs out from the area.
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