Your Opinion Does Not Matter
The wreck of what was probably a Portuguese vessel sunk in 1583 has been found off Melaka. Dr Mike Flecker, the Managing Director of Maritime Explorations said that the warship is located between Pulau Upeh and Pulau Panjang off Melaka.
I still have hope then.
At 11am today, shortly before he was to give a speech from the Pajero that was to ferry him, Tun Dr Mahathir was attacked using pepper-spray by unknown cowards.
Oops!
The Prime Minister has lashed out at the Sabah Chief Minister for wanting to go ahead with the construction project on Sipadan island, two months after the barge incident that destroyed a patch of corals near Barracuda Point.
I have therefore taken the liberty to send this E-mail out to the Editor of The Star:
Dear Editor,
Thank you for shining the light on Pulau Sipadan (‘Lay Off Sipadan’ – The Star, Thursday, July 27, 2006) by giving it the headlines. The Prime Minister should follow-up on his outrage over the matter and put a halt to this blatant stupidity, especially after the barge incident that destroyed that patch of reef on May 14, 2006.
It should be remembered that the government had ordered all resort operators on Sipadan to remove ALL structures off the island by December 31, 2004 following the findings of a study by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, to preserve the island’s eco-system. The study found that there were signs of water stress. This occurs when the island’s natural fresh water supplies are consumed faster than they can be replenished, and seawater flows in to replace the lost volume. Satellite images then showed that the island had lost 20 percent of its natural vegetation. Sewage was found in groundwater with e-coli bacteria contaminating the wells. About half the shoreline used by turtles to nest were taken up by buildings, and their lights deterred the turtles from nesting. Since the eviction of the operators, all visitors to the island have based themselves from resorts on nearby island, a short 15-minute boat ride away.
On May 19, 2006, four days after the barge incident, the Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah said to a local Sabah daily that there is a need for restaurants and toilet facilities to be built on the island to cater for divers numbering up to 120 daily. If there was such a need, why evict the original operators in the first place instead of upgrading the existing facilities? Why should there be any facility at all when the divers can relax in comfort after their dives at Sipadan at their respective resorts 15 minutes away?
This is the very same Deputy Chief Minister who, when the judgment on the ownership of Sipadan was passed by the ICJ, was quoted to have said the following:
“With the landmark decision we are now responsible for the protection and conservation of the abundant marine life around these remarkable islands,” he said.
He said that what followed were steps towards the full protection of Sipadan, including measures to remove the resorts with tourists no longer being allowed to stay overnight on the island.
Recent surveys found between 30 to 40pc of the island’s flora were damaged by resort development. As a result, Sipadan would undergo a period of “rehabilitation” during which “everyone” should take stock and evaluate how each and everyone can help, not just Sipadan but also Mabul and Kapalai, he said.
As for Sipadan, he said: “The jungle will be allowed to return to its natural state with beaches cleared for nesting turtles and we hope Sipadan’s reefs will be able to return to their former glory.”
As a diver from Malaysia I feel very much ashamed that the powers-that-be show very little appreciation for God’s gifts to us. I feel even more ashamed and disgusted that disrespect is shown by the leader of a state to the leader of our great nation. I can see no greater arrogance than that.
Capt (Rtd) Hj Abdul Rahmat Omar bin Tun Mohd Haniff
I am already 40. When Mohsin passed away yesterday, he was only 41. But does age matter? My MCKK batchmate, Johan Ismail or fondly known amongst us then as “Mawell” died three years ago of a massive heart attack when I was away in Geneva, Switzerland attending a trade show.. He was 37.
A member of Mohsin’s batch, Anis, who was there when Mohsin’s body was brought to the Serdang Hospital for a post-mortem around 2pm wrote:
Speaking on behalf of Crotalus 78-82 (his batch), the body arrived at around 2 at Hospital Serdang. Serene look on his face.
Post mortem was conducted by our very own Dr. Karim (budak kolek grad 1966 kot). Was about to negotiate for external post mortem but aruah’s case is classified as a high profile case, and he had to perform internal post mortem as well.
Post mortem findings basically reveals a bad and enlarged heart with pin point blockage of coronary artery(ies?). Calcification noted at the vessels. The rush to check in might have precipitated the ischaemic heart attack. (Was told by the accompanying sergeant that he was about to check in, suddenly became dizzy and fainted back first!)
So, may I suggest to those friends of mine, me included, especially those who smoke on a regular basis, aged 30 years and above, to just spend a day with your heart specialist and have yourself checked out?
Time I do that again.
It’s been a dull day. It feels as if it was more than a week that I have been back on dry land. Then I was SMSing with my favourite sister telling her how dull it’s been, and she seemed perplexed, asking me to meet up with her at Kiwi Express in Sri Hartamas. Well, it’s just too dull for me to even bring myself onto my feet.
I then tried calling Massive Headwound for a chit chat. It feels as if it has been a long time since I last spoke to her. Little did I realise that it was only three days ago that I had dropped her off at Bukit Jalil on the way back from Tanjung Gemuk.
Being out of water really is bad for me.
Happy birthday to my Little Wing! More dives in the future, I hope! 🙂
Hani Mohsin Hanafi, 41, passed away of a heart attack at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, early this morning. He is remembered by most Malaysians as an actor, and most of all, as the second host of ASTRO’s Roda Impian.
He was my senior by one year at my alma mater, the Malay College. He was active in dramas while still in college, and in 1982, was my platoon commander in the Pasukan Kadet Bersatu Malaysia (I was promoted to replace him the very next year).
In 1996, when Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi wanted to conceptualise his then-soon-to-be-launched TV station, he handpicked several MCKK Old Boys who were involved in arts/dramas/plays/movies/advertisements to help him out, so yours truly was included, because I was involved in stunts for movies, and also for my refusal to watch malay movies produced post-70s. The rest were Azizul Callahan, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Hishamuddin Rais and several others. For a week we were hosted at the Damai Beach Resort in Kuching. We came up with a tentative name for the station: ENTV. This became NTV7 later.
At one point, we were all watching local malay dramas and Effendi saw my point. He then asked if we knew any old boy who is actively involved in drama production. The name Hani Mohsin came up. So we called Mohsin (as he is known to us), and he was with us the next morning. I won’t get into how he lost Jacquelina to Effendi. However, when he was still married to her, he was looking for a house in Bukit Antarabangsa, where I lived for a while when I was single again. So he asked me to help him out. Even after Jacquelina left him, he continued to live there to the end.
I bumped into him on several occassions, mainly at the Malaysian Film Festival, Anugerah Seri Angkasa, and several other functions. I last bumped into him was last year at the Esso station in Desa Pandan, exchanged short notes, and hoped we’d meet again for teh tarik or something.
That never happened. And now he is gone.
So remember to always keep in touch with friends you have made along the way, and especially with your family members. Life is short. You will never know what you may miss.
Rest well, Mohsin. Al-Fathihah.
Yes, the circus is on. TV3 will be showing a LIVE TELECAST of the wedding of Siti Nurhaliza and Datuk K.
I suppose current affairs has no important things to mention anymore. The Israeli incursion of Lebanon and the Gaza Strip is not as important. The makcik who washes dishes for a living pleading for financial help for her leukemia-ridden child is not as important anymore.
How many, out of 26,681,203 Malaysian citizens (as at 9.48pm 24th July 2006), are Siti’s fans? How many of that are fans of Datuk K?
Well, I guess sensational news wins. Busybody wins. Minding other people’s business wins. That is the Malaysian culture.
Remind me to switch to ONLY ASTRO come 21st August 2006, please.
I’m back…and am already suffering withdrawal symptoms. Bored, lethargic, sleepy etc. I wish I’m diving somewhere. 39 days of waiting and only 12 dives over 3 days. Not fair at all. Anyway, I’m thankful to be back, missed my children.
Basically, the trip was a wonderful trip (what dive trip isn’t if it ends well?). Thursday we went off to Tanjung Gemuk in Pahang via Senawang, Kuala Pilah, Muadzam Shah, Leban Chondong, and Kuala Rompin. We departed the jetty at Tanjung Gemuk at 2.30am. Our first destination was the Varella Wreck (a.k.a Gyoshin Maru), did two dives that I enjoyed immensely. Then we went to the Kuantan Wreck (a.k.a Nichi Asu Maru). Current was exceptionally strong. Nothing I have faced before. Well, maybe 10% more than that stupid dive at Soyak Wreck back in Feb 06. After several failed attempts, including the capsize of the tender, we managed to go down to the wreck. But currents were too strong for us to do anything. We managed to explore some 5% of the wreck before Holemaster decided it was too strong. So we aborted. At the line while doing our safety stop, we were literally like Superman except we had both hands on the line hanging on to dear life. We were afraid too, for friends like Massive Headwound, Atok, and Pian who went down while we were on our way up, because as they came up, it as dark, stormy, with bolts of lightning lighting up the pitch-black sky. Anyway, everyone made it on board after an elaborate rescue mission. The sad news was we lost the tender to the sea a couple of hours later.
The next day we did one dawn dive at Chebeh, off Tioman, before making it towards Tiger Reef for another dive. We thought of doing Batu Malang after, but the southern winds picked up causing the LOB and a few other LOBs and speedboats moored there to roll. So we moved to Kador Bay for the next dive. We attempted to do a night dive at Chebeh, but very strong currents made any diving there almost impossible. How did we know the current was strong below? Well, Holemaster and I were down there at 13 meters. So we went to Kador Bay again for the night dive before mooring above Roger Wreck at Salang.
We did Roger Wreck at 1.30am. A lively wreck during the day, it looked so spooky at night. But I enjoyed that dive, taking photos as usual. At 3.00am, I went to bed after a nice shower. The LOB moored off Paya for a while before making towards Pulau Jahat, off the south-western corner of Tioman. One morning dive there, and another dive at Tokong Bahara, which is an anemone garden like Hin Son at Koh Lipe.
We departed for Tanjung Gemuk at 2.30pm and arrived there around 6.00pm.
It was a good trip and I would like to do this trip again….and soon.
SeaDemon Says 
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