When Sapno Tukijo stepped out from the safety of the Taman Free School surau in Penang into the pouring rain and raging floodwaters in the wee hours of last Sunday, only one thing was on his mind.

"I didn't feel anything then, I just wanted to save the others," Sapno told Malaysiakini.

The bilal, or muezzin, had opened the doors of the surau to some 70 people, including Chinese and Indians, giving them refuge to wait out the floods.

His efforts had made headlines nationwide and earned him and the Taman Free School surau praise, including from Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

But once the limelight fades, Sapno's own personal struggles will continue.

Among them, is the Riau native's decades-long effort to become a Malaysian permanent resident (PR).

"I'm still using a passport... I have applied for permanent residency since 1994, but it keeps getting rejected.

"There is still no reason given why my application is being rejected," the father of six said, a tinge of frustration in his voice.

His Penang-born wife, whom he married in 1994, had tried to appeal the rejection.

"But we got a letter from the Home Ministry saying we can't appeal at this juncture," the 50-year old said.

Sapno had moved to Malaysia at the age of 21, on the promise of better wages as a welder in 1988.

Sapno said the management of Penang's Masjid Kapitan Keling, where he also occasionally serves as a muezzin, also tried to help him secure his PR status earlier in the year.

He has yet to receive any news on the mosque's bid to help him and remains hopeful that one day he will get his PR status.

This is Sapno's story, in his own words:

I WAS JUST A REGULAR congregant at first. I had moved to Taman Free School from Pulau Tikus five years ago.

One day a surau committee member, who is now deceased, asked me to perform the azan (call to prayer). "Try it, try it," he said.

So I called the azan, and I started doing it every day and it just stuck.

I FEEL BLESSED. I get to call the azan, and the people hear my voice.

I CAN SERVE ALLAH. Hopefully, at the end of my life, I can recite the syahadah. This is my savings for the afterlife.

In Indonesia, my brothers and I were remaja masjid (mosque youths), and we learned the rabbana and anything to do with religion. So religion is embedded in my heart.

I WAS TOLD I WOULD BE PAID BETTER WAGES once my company moved me from Indonesia to Kuala Lumpur.

I had been working with an oil company and am a certified welder.

But after months of working in Kuala Lumpur, it became evident that what I was promised was not true. So I had to find other work. I worked at a restaurant for a while.

TO EARN A LIVING NOW, I work as a contractor, renovating and repairing homes.

I'M USED TO FLOODS IN PENANG, but nothing as bad as last weekend.

I'm used to helping push a sampan (boat) so people can get to the temple across the street. Sometimes when there is no sampan, we help the elderly across using a tube float.

ON THE NIGHT OF THE FLOOD, the rain was very heavy and there were two feet of water in my house.

So I told my wife and children to take the important documents and leave with me. Life is more important than belongings.

MY WIFE STRUGGLED to wade through the waters. The current was just too strong. It took us some time to make it to the surau. But we made it, and she went inside.

Others had gathered opposite the surau where the current was not so strong. They wanted to get across the road to the temple.

There was a sampan filled with the elderly headed for the temple too.

THEY DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO THE SURAU... I told them they couldn't cross but they insisted.

I got a rope from my van that I use for my construction work, and threw one end to the people at the temple.

They tied one end to a post at the temple, and I tied my end to the Lengkok P Ramlee signpost.

WATER GUSHED into the sampan when we tried to push it against the current. There were elderly people in the sampan and they were helpless.

I told them "come to the surau, it'll be ok" but they were heavy hearted to come with me. I told them to go inside the surau, it was dangerous out there, and they relented.

I didn't feel anything then, I just wanted to save them.

I FELT RELIEVED after I got them here, our responsibility to save them was completed.

I AM GRATEFUL. When I read the news about it, I felt that what we did was really appreciated. I feel satisfied.

I DON'T CARE about the criticism of having the non-Muslims in the surau, that is life.

We have no problems with the non-Muslims here, there are no arguments or misunderstandings.

WE HAVE TO DEFEND the spirit of helping others, it needs to be encouraged.