Sipadan Diving cum Wedding adventure

This was a unique trip as the 9 divers have planned this trip exactly one year ago and they booked the dive packages through G.O.D. during MIDE 2009. It was a very special trip for Mervyn as he had planned his engagement proposal a long time ago and would need me to assist in doing the proposal underwater. It was to be a surprise to Joanne, his future bride. What I kept asking was " what if she rejects ? " Mervyn assured me his charm will win the day. The day was also to be threaten by tales of typhoons in the Philippines which will definitely affect the visibility of the water and the planned invasion of Malaysia with the first point of attack being Tawau. However, nothing was going to deter us, not when we cannot cancel the holiday without suffering financial losses.

We all met at 5am on the morning of the 7^th October at LCCT and made it to the Kapalai~SipadanWater Village at around 1.45pm . The weather was cloudy and remained this way throughout our stay except for a sunny Friday. Little did we know we will experience thunderstorms that will shake the foundations of our water chalets and strong hallowing winds. We had our first orientation dive at 3.08 pm ( this was the secret engagement dive ) and the 10 of us descended into Mandarin Valley, the house reef of Kapalai Village. Visibility was poor at 3 meters and those with cameras were having difficulty locating the couple. After ten minutes of diving around wrecks, the dive guide settled us on sandy bottom, the signal for Robert and Grace to unfold a banner “ Jo, would you marry me, Mervyn”. Joanne was shocked ( lucky she didn’t float up ) and Mervyn proceeded to bring out a large diamond ring and placed it into Joanne’s finger. I was the only videographer and had to swim in all directions to capture the scene amongst sandy particles and the glare of the diamond ring. I almost lost my buddy, Jess, who was still trying to get to terms with her buoyancy. All went well and went we surfaced, Joanne was presented with bouquet of flowers from the proud parents of Mervyn . This was the only35 minutes dive that I was not aware of the fishes in the ocean. I was told that several Oriental sweetlips, 3 groupers, a school of bat fishes and butterfishes, probably sent by Neptune, witnessed this magical moment.

Some of us did the dusk dive and witnessed mandarin fishes doing their mating dances hinting to Mervyn and Joanne.

The night was a stormy affair with strong winds and heavy rain. Most of us did not sleep well and I could have sworn seeing a fish flying through my room. My roommate was Leong, who slept through the night enjoying the breeze from the open sea. Half of our group had to wake up early for the 4 dives in Sipadan Island as the remaining half were only scheduled to dive Sipadan the following day. Sadly, Mervyn and Joanne had to dive separately as the Sipadan permits could not be changed. Luckily, I bought an extra camera with underwater housing and Mervyn enjoyed his novice underwater experiences. We all enjoyed our dives in Sipadan as we witnessed the barracudas and jacks performing the vortex. I too saw a large school of reef sharks at Barracuda point and this time, the turtles appeared more inquisitive as they swam in amongst the divers.

Other days we dived in Siamil Island and the nearby Mabul Island. During surface intervals, most of the guys posted with Robert and Grace for their wedding photos. This adventurous couple did all sorts of stunts in their wedding costumes including free dives. Needless to say, they too were very satisfied as they have great friends who have sacrificed their time to be with them. Truly I have not seen such a good bunch of friends and for them to welcome crazy me into their group was indeed the satisfaction of me setting up G.O.D. As for Dunstan, he was a true ambassador of G.O.D. and he went round to almost every table promoting G.O.D. I soon realized that most people have no groups to dive with and they do need agencies like G.O.D. to give them better options and company.

After one calm night, the next night was scary. It was the day that the Indonesian to be lead by some moron was to invade and capture Tawau. We thought he must have hired a submarine and battleship and bombarded our chalets. The chalets were shaking and swaying BUT not from the attack that never materialized but from the strong winds and rain. This time, I could have sworn seeing a whale shark passing through my room.

We all departed at 1.30pm on 10^th October and whole group except Mervyn’s parents and me stayed on to defend Tawau from falling into wrong hands. I had to go back to reality.

My next dive trip will again be in Sipadan during X’Mas and I planned to dive in full Santa Claus costume. I imagine sledding thru the water with bumpheads as my reindeers and a group of Mantas following behind. Join us for more fun and adventure.

One Bullshit Malaysia

Our PM, Najib, the son of the 2nd PM of Malaysia is still harping about his OneMalaysia concept that basically equates all the different races of Malaysia as One with of course, the Malay or Bumiputra race at the top with special privileges but not as much as before. Will this work ?

I say..BULLSHIT. Yes, just a bullshit concept that wasted a lot of advertisement money as it will not work unless there are complete changes in the whole political, religious and economic scenarios.

By changes, I mean:

1.0 Disband all political parties under racial and religious lines. NO UMNO, MCA, MIC
and PAS.
Only multi racial parties are allowed.

2.0 Change the constitution that allows all Malaysians regardless of race and religion to be
Heads of states and even the PM of the country

3.0 Discontinue with the Bumiputra concept as all Malaysians are rightful children of the
country.

4.0 Allow more freedom of speeches and expressions but not along racial or religious lines
that can cause disharmony.

5.0 Revamp the Police, judiciary and legislative system so that opposition are not unfairly
prosecuted.

It is a far fetched dream that any of the above will be done in my lifetime as the UMNO
government is not genuine to see the well being of all races taken care of but just their own.

So Merdeka means nothing to me. We have just achieved independence from the British but enslave by the UMNO corrupted crooks that viewed themselves as Lords of the Land.

Whale sharks in Tenggol island, Malaysia

If the Whale sharks continue to camp in the Malaysian waters off Tenggol island , Malaysia will soon become THE place to dive with the majestic whalesharks.

I couldn't resist as I find these animals so fascinating and I went there with my buddy and partner in crime, Noor Hadi. Although I must have seen at least 30 whale sharks in the last 3 years ( mainly snokelling in Donsol ), but diving with whale sharks is still one helluva experience. You just do not know when or where they will appear.

We decided to do a budget trip and went there by bus on Thursday night. It was a 40 seater bus ( all tickets on Executive or Luxury liner /buses were sold out ) and we reached at 5 am. Killing 3.5 hrs wondering the street of Dungun can be no fun as even small hotels were full.

The first day we did 3 dives and 2 were in areas that the whale sharks have frequent. On the third dive at Gua Rajawali, our group of around 8 ( 6 were divers from UKM~ fun people ) saw the whale shark except me as I had wondered off further out from the reef. It was a small whale shark and there are good photographs and video of Hadi avoiding being slapped by the shark.

The next day we did a 3rd dive at Gua Rajawali again and this time we went into the water at around 5.30pm. There were 12 divers and I dived with a fellow called Chan who is doing his Masters in UKM. We swan ahead of the rest as they were taking a long time getting into the water. It was just a simple dive. Just dive parallel to the reef about 50 meters away .

Chan swam just above me at around the 10 meters depth mark and we swam for some 25 minutes in blue water ( visibility was just 5 meters ) seeing nothing but plankton. It can really be a real strain on the eyes as you see black shadow in the water and you think its a shark. Chan then signaled to me that he has had enough and wanted to surface because of a headache. I decided to surface with him and as the area that we were diving had a lot of boats, I deployed my safety sausage. I struggled with the release clip of the sausage for awhile and finally inflated the sausage. As I swam upwards towards Chan, I realized that I had dropped my camera with the attached HDI Video light that weighs like a ton. As the camera would sink, I decided to give the sausage to Chan and asked him to go up whilst I go down and search for my camera.

I prayed that the depth was not too deep and with 100 bars of air, I ventured downwards in almost pitched darkness. After a few kicks, I saw the bottom and it was a flat garden of soft corals. The depth was just 25 meters. After just a few seconds of search, I saw my camera. I picked it up and slowly ascend. As visibility was getting bad, I switched on my video light and sang the song "you light up my life" ( just kidding, actually I was beginning to feel a little nervous ). Then it all happened!!!!

I saw a one 0.75 meters length cobia ( a species that always seem to be the tour guide of Mantas and whale sharks ), then another and as I turned left, I saw the eyeball of the whaleshark. Honestly, the whaleshark appeared right in front of me and I think it must be the light that had attached it or my body odour. I immediately switched on my camera and happily videoed it for the next 2 minutes. The shark seem so curious and I could see its eye focusing on me wondering what sort of strange creature I am . I swam right in front of it twice to shot the video of its mouth and face with all the cobias and remoras and we were avoiding each other from near fatal collision. Then all of a sudden, my camera powered off. I thought it must be the battery. Not now!! the whale shark is still there. I turned it on again and then cursed myself. I forgot to turned on the video button and had actually not recorded the whale shark the whole time. Shit!!

I turned it on and whispered to the whaleshark ..."please stay for more video shots". It did. I then took the video that I have attached for you all to see on www.youtube.com/redwhaleshark .

The shark this time was swimming a little faster and I had some difficulty keeping up with it and after 2 minutes decided to let him go as it was no point chasing him.

It was an experience that I will never forget and the constant thought that my first sight was the eyes of the whaleshark still sent a little tinkering thru my body.

I saw a few videos taken of the sharks during my weekend stay at Tenggol and ahem...none was as lengthy as mine ( all just say..your shark swam slow lah....blah blah blah ) and from the markings at the side of the sharks, I must say that there are definitely more than 5 different sharks in and around Tenggol now ( 2 babies and 3 medium to large sharks ). This has never happened before and one day, Malaysia may become famous for the whale sharks as Ningaloo reef in Australia.

So guys, you need not go far to dive with whalesharks...sacrifice some time and comfort, stay at Tenggol and see the sharks whilst they are still there. For the sake of some of my friends who are going there soon, I hope they will still be there until mid September....if they are i will go again.

see www.youtube.com/redwhaleshark

Aren't there any good men left ?

I believe that there must be some good men and women left in the Public sector~ be it the Police Force, the government and even in MACC. For a peace of mind, quit now and if you are brave, tell all about the corrupt ways of your colleagues. But fear and repercussion are not easy to overcome.

Let me tell you a true story. There was this honest cop, a high ranking officer that one day, due to his diligence and that of his men, arrested some big gangster bosses in Johor. He found evidences and wanted to press charges. His superiors, being partners with the gangsters immediately ordered this honest cop to withdraw his report and get all the gangster bosses released but he refused. Guess what? The honest cop was charged with some corruption charges and when his lawyer came to defend him, he too was charged with tax fraud. In the meantime, the gangsters continue to enjoy a prosperous life of crime and contribute to the 30% or so yearly increased in crime rate in Maalysia.

This story can be found in the MalaysiaToday website. But then again, you may say that MalaysiaToday talked cock. But you shallow in whole all the bullshit that the Malaysian government says.

Now Najib after his pilgrimage ( not sure whether he went to meet GOD or the Devil ) decided to call for a Royal Commission on the death of poor innocent Teoh Beng Hock. BUT the Royal Commission is only to investigate and report on MACC's procedures on questioning suspects. Hello ??? After some months, they will say that procedures can be subject to abuse blab blab blab and we should be more humane and give the interrogators some time of from question and overtime pay. Hey..what about the witness, suspects or what have you in custody. Ohh..they are not under the purview...so that's another commission's baby.

In the meantime, some junior magistrate will conduct an enquiry or inquest ( little powers are given and this magistrate has his hands tied ) on the death of Teoh. If judges can be influenced by saying Anwar sodomized even a camel, what is there hope that the truth will be told. Don't ordinary Malaysian see that this are all a joke to the Government.

We must take drastic actions. Writing, blogging and speeches are now useless. We must either stone the MACC building or just not pay taxes. If all of us do that, we will cripple the government into submission. They surely cannot arrest all of us , can they ? Some may suffer more but how many can say that they have suffered more than Teoh or his family or his unwed wife or his fatherless child.

Are we going to sit still and wait for another death

Are we going to sit still and wait for another death ?



Teoh Beng Hock was just a 30 year old man aspiring to serve his country one day. He was to be engaged the day before his sudden death to his fiancee that is now 2 months pregnant with his child. Teoh is now dead.



I can only guess and conclude that Teoh definitely did not kill himself and that is what the authorities don't want us to believe. The two heads of MACC, Datuk Ser Ahmad Said Hamdan and Datuk Shukri both claimed that MACC is not responsible as Teoh have been released from questioning. The officers of MACC questioned and probably tormented a person for more than 8 hours until 4 am in the morning and then released him so they as claimed. According to them, Teoh was so tired he decided to take a rest in the settee until he decided to take some fresh air and jump out the window.



Are we to believe them? Teoh was released and as such, no longer MACC responsibility. Show us the release letter . How can MACC not be responsible ? He was killed in their premises for damn sake. The culture of disowning responsibility by Heads of Government departments and from Ministers are common in Malaysia. Until the day they are sacked, they will continue to disown responsibility.



I sense that the people are all getting really angry and frustrated and at worst, they will take to the streets and throw stones at MACC buildings. I say it is about time. After all, MACC only serves as UMNO's agents somewhat like how the SS and Nazis served Hitler.



We must no longer sit still and watched all those who are brave enough to fight for us suffer in vain. We must do our part even though it means we too may suffer the same fate. If we all rise together, what can the Police, Army or whatever that UMNO do against 10 Million people ? Yes, at least 10 Million of us hate this government and this is not a small number. If this happened in Thailand or even Indonesia, the present government would have fallen long ago.

Malaysia future going backwards

The recent announcement by our Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Muhiddin that Science and Mathematics will revert back to native languages from English will set Malaysia back to the Dark Ages. The reason is purely political. To win more votes from the rural folks and the urban Chinese speaking Chinese. Noted that I did not say Urban Malays. I think most would like to see to maintain as an English taught subject.

Their reason given is very shallow like all decisions of the Government. There is negligible improvement when the subjects are taught in English. What happens when after another 6 years after the implementation and there is no improvement. Revert back to English? This ping pong policy of our Government destroy all confidence in most of us on the future of our children.

What the government should have done is to have English language schools or fully sponsored tuition classes to teach English in the rural areas. Get good English teachers from England. There are so many of them willing to work in Malaysia. I should know. I bump into so many of them in Phuket alone. They go there for 2 to 4 years, teach in private schools and enjoy their time diving. We can easily attract them to work in the rural areas of Pahang, Trengganu and Kelantan.

I am just an average Joe in Malaysia and cannot afford to send my children to fancy International schools but have to put them in National schools like most average Malaysians. I speak my Hokkien dialect fairly well but English better as I was educated in Christian Missionary school, La Salle. My children can hardly speak any Hokkien but that does not bother me. What is important is that they learn the languages that will offer them a better success in their future ie English and Mandarin.

I will vote out the silly people who wants to maintain or go backwards on their decision. I will even vote against Anwar Ibrahim. So what he has fought hard against the present Government? Adhoc policies to gain votes is not acceptable. In Malaysia, 70% of the votes from rural constituencies determined the composition of the seats of the government, so pleasing rural folks is more important to stay in power than pleasing the urbanites who fund the government in terms of income taxes.