Monday, August 31, 2009

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.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

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