Month: December 2005

It’s been slightly over a year now that the South Asian Tsunami struck 12 nations fringing the Indian Ocean. The earthquake that generated the equivalent to 60,000 Hiroshima A-bombs has all but been forgotten, especially by those whose lives were not directly affected by the tragedy. A year later we notice that the weather has gone awry, the sun sets slightly more to the northwest than on Christmas Day 2004….and asian tourists still shun going to disaster-affected areas.

Yes…not just that: even Malaysians shun beach areas. A friend of mine who runs a windsurfing school/facility in Port Dickson makes only around RM30 a month after paying his staff. He is now behind in terms of rent. That is Port Dickson…it was not affected at all by the killer waves that struck coastal areas some 400 kilometers to the north. Port Dickson that once commanded an average of 60% occupancy rate, fell to just over 30% early 2005. Among reasons cited was fear of tsunami. Even in the Perhentian Islands occupancy rate dropped in July 2005…again, fear of tsunami occuring there was the main reason. I suppose not many people liked high-school geography.

What about in Thailand? The number of tourist arrivals in the provinces of Phuket, Phang-nga and Krabi dropped from 2.9 million to 1.2 million over the same period, and corresponding revenue dropped from RM490 million to RM150 million. Again, superstitious Asians have shunned from going there, especially from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, whose numbers fell most precipitously. Asian people believe that it is not auspicious to visit places where there are a number of people who died.

Therefore it is up to divers like us to play our part in helping countries of this region to boost their tourism sales…by using our network of divers and nature lovers aggressively to bring in more tourists.

If we don’t help ourselves, no one else will…

ยุ่งน่า

I came to work today just to find out that my leave for the rest of the year has been approved. However, luckily I came to office today as the package of three music VCDs from Thailand had arrived. I bought a VCD of a concert by Jetrin Wattanasin for an old album called 108-1009 that was released back in 1993; another karaoke VCD of a group called U4 (a one-hit wonder) that existed back in 1994; and a karaoke VCD of a group called LoSo (Lo Society) for songs released mid 1990s.

Yes, I’m an old school person…conservative in some matters…not all though.

A year ago havoc struck the region when a high magnitude earthquake displaced the ocean floor in the Indian Ocean region. This in turn sent huge waves crashing, first into the Acheh province in northern Sumatra, followed by the southwestern area of Pulau Langkawi, before hitting coastal areas of mainland Kedah and Penang. These waves of destruction then traveled north hitting the Phuket and Phang-nga provinces on the west coast of Thailand before hitting Sri Lanka and southeastern India in the Tamil Nadu province. It did not stop there. People died on the east coast of the African continent. By the time the waves finally subside, they have traveled all the way to New Zealand and Alaska.

Let us not be caught off-guard again. An early warning system may not be able to prevent another tsunami from happening, but it would certainly save more lives.

My son, Mohamed Amirul Farhan, was born on Christmas Day 2002. He is the apple of my eye. A handsome and sharp boy. I hope he will learn the bittersweet aspects of life and that it would help him mature to face this cruel and cold world.

My, My what a big boy you’ve become,
Seems not too long ago, you had just turned one.
Yet, today is your Birthday, sign of another year past.
It’s hard to believe you’re already 3, and still growing up so fast.
Before you know it, it’ll be girls and a car,
Then off to college, or perhaps you’ll be the next Big Movie Star.
No matter where your Fate shall take you, or your Adventures should roam,
Never mind the reason you’re always Welcome to come home.
For now it’s bikes, bugs, or maybe your favorite play toy,
Nevertheless, you’ll always be my “Little Boy”
Forever, My Son.

I saw my Angel tonight…my Angel gives me traquility…

There’s a message in the wire and I’m sending you this signal tonight
You don’t know how desperate I’ve become and it looks like I’m losing this fight
In your world I have no meaning though I’m trying hard to understand
And it’s my heart that’s breaking down this long distance line tonight

To all my Christian friends, have a Merry Christmas!

To all my Jewish friends, chag urim samey’ach! Shalom alekhem!