Day: February 8, 2008

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Korek, Korek

Korek must be the buzz word nowadays. It can also be habitual. I caught my son picking his nose the other day (Korek Hidung) and scolded him. But how on earth can I tell him that such act is unbecoming if this woman does it too?

Queen Elizabeth II picking her nose

I remember back in 1993 when my squadron also doubled as the base’s Provost, one of my Senior Non-Comms, Sarjan Uzaid, informed me that some men were going for Kopi Korek after work and were getting the attention of the religious authorities. For a moment, it did not strike my mind how “Digging Coffee” would be detrimental to one’s religious or moral standing until Uzaid described me roughly what the term meant. I decided I had to put a stop to those visits before they become habitual. Of course all the Koreking happened in a darkened coffeeshop:

Korek! Korek!

Man, gone are the days when the term Korek would be associated with something more productful, like the Kapal Korek (Dredging Vessel), something that would have been a normal view for those passing through the Bidor to Teluk Intan road, or the Tronoh and Tanjung Tualang areas. Those born after the late-70s may not know what I am talking about, so here is to Korek your memory bank:

Kapal Korek

Of course, the most famous Tukang Korek now is none other than our very own VK Lingam, who has been associated closely to my paternal aunt’s ex-husband, Eusoff Chin (yeah, the plonk used to be married to my Mak Andak when he was a High Court judge). Lingam’s famous Korek! Korek! is now one of the most downloaded ringtone. What he was saying was “Correct! Correct!” in his purported teleconversation with the former CJ Ahmad Fairuz. For those who have not heard how Lingam Koreks, you may click on this link.

Ahmad Fairuz had to endure Lingam's non-stop KOREK
Ahmad Fairuz had to endure Lingam’s non-stop KOREKs

Lingam, during the Royal Inquiry, had repeatedly denied the fact that it was him who was shown in the video when all evidences proved that it was him. And his Korek had become so habitual that he even used those words during the inquiry.

Anyway, Lingam is now a superstar, both in court and off-court. If you don’t believe me, he has a chance to make it as big as Snoop Dogg or 50 Cent. He now has his own rap music cut for him, it is called the Lingam Korek Rap.

This insomnia had better not be habitual otherwise I’ll have to find more things to write about Lingam.

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Prosperous Tapioca Industry

A friend and I had this conversation about the Orang Asli earlier on, and I related to him several experiences of mine with the Orang Aslis. For those who have been following this blog would know that my ties with the Orang Asli go back to around 27 years ago. However, this one story he found truly funny.

Orang Asli home

If you look at the above, this is the typical Orang Asli home. It is usually of the studio concept where parents and their 4 to 6 children would co-exist in a tiny space that would make the population density of Bangladesh (2,200 people per square mile) look spacious. That would be where they sleep and eat.

One day, as I visited several families of Orang Asli from the Temuan tribe in south Pahang, I noticed how the men and women were missing; not the older ones, but those young parents. The teenagers were at the horrendously uneven football field playing football barefooted, and the kids were wallowing in dust together with their dogs, playing games. I went up to one of them and asked, “Ayah mak ada?”

“Niak,” the reply would come from each of the children.

“Ayah mak pergi mana? I asked again.

“Pegik tanam ubi.”

That’s about 20 missing couples in the jungle planting tapioca. It must be a cooperative thing that the government has been encouraging the Orang Aslis to do, and this community has chosen tapioca as its source of income. I thought I should go see this tapioca farm.

“Jom ikut akuk caik kek mana mak ayah tanam ubi, nak?” I asked one of the kids.

“Ngan, mak ayah marah,” came the reply from the oldest of the lot. “Pukul tujuh malen baru balik.”

That night as I sat with the Tok Batin and the village elders, I told him how proud I was to know that the community is active in planting tapioca. The Tok Batin and the rest laughed, looked at each other and said, “Owang hempam tu.”

I couldn’t understand what was said, so I just drank my coffee and dunked some Jacob’s Cream Crackers into the cup.

The next evening I decided to go visit this tapioca farm of theirs without asking for an escort. After ten minutes of walking into the jungle it became evident that there was no clearing for them to plant tapioca in. Then I heard voices. I went into the direction of the voices and soon, about 50 meters away, were a couple planting tapioca. I could only observe from far for a moment and then walked back towards the village.

That night, more laughters came from the Tok Batin and his merry men.

Then I knew what kind of tapioca they were planting every evening; then I knew the meaning of the word Hempam; then I knew how they were able to make babies with their children sleeping around them at night.

It was all done during the “tapioca” planting time.

No, not a single tapioca tree was to be found inside that jungle.

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Before The Next Season Starts…

Well, I can’t wait to get back underwater. So before I go back to my favourite realm, I just want to take a trip down memory lane:

Safety stop at the Vietnamese Wreck - March 2005
Performing safety stop with Nizar and Mior at the Vietnamese Wreck, Perhentian – March 2005

My first underwater shot
This was my first underwater shot using my (then) newly-purchased Nikon Coolpix 4200, Redang – May 2005

PD's best viz
This was Port Dickson at its best – a dive off Blue Lagoon – June 2005

Tukun Laut - Perhentian
This was taken by Andy Lim at Tukun Laut, Perhentian in July 2005. Still one of the best trips ever.

Long Beach, Tulai
This was taken during surface interval at Pasir Panjang, Pulau Tulai – September 2005

Hana and Iqa during night dive at Labas
Exactly a week later, I took my daughters Hana and Iqa to Tioman and they did their first night dive at Pulau Labas – September 2005

Little guy
2 weeks later I was back in Tioman to photograph this little guy – October 2005

Prepping the YBOD
2 weeks after that, I was back in Tioman, seen here prepping the YBOD (Yellow Box Of Death) for a dive – October 2005

Syed and I
A month later, Syed and I were doing work underwater during a dive trip to Pulau Jarak on the Kaleebso – November 2005

Lionfish at Lipe
Two months later, I was diving Koh Lipe in Thailand – January 2006

Monsoon still in Tioman
A month later, I went back to Tioman during the monsoon. And the usual 1 hour boat ride became 3.5 hours instead – February 2006

Little guy at Vietnamese Wreck
2 weeks later I was back in Perhentian and shot this little guy near the Vietnamese Wreck – March 2006

Kuala Besut jetty
2 weeks later I went back to Perhentian – April 2006

Deploying artificial reef
2 weeks after Perhentian, I was deploying artificial reefs in Tioman – April 2006

Gee and I
A week later, we (including Gee) were back in Tioman to complete the deployment – May 2006

Critter at Sugar Wreck
And a week after Tioman, I was back in Perhentian and took this pic at the Sugar Wreck – May 2006

Gee at Aquaria
Three weeks later, Nizar, Gee and I dived at the Aquaria. This is Gee feeling cold – May 2006

Turtle at Chebeh
5 days later I was back underwater in Tioman – May 2006

Me on Bali Hai's dive boat
Two weeks later I was back in Tioman for a technical diving dive trip – June 2006

Nembrotha kurbayana at Labas
Two weeks later I was on the Wavebreaker and took this pic of the Nembrotha kubaryana feeding on a sea squirt at Labas – July 2006

Me by the rudder of the Sugar Wreck
The next month I was in Perhentian experiencing the best visibility ever – August 2006

At Pinnacle One, Aur
A month later I was back on the Wavebreaker headed for Pulau Aur – September 2006

Me at Teluk Panglima Abu
12 days later I was in Perhentian before the season ended – September 2006

Monsoon diving at TRD
Two months later, we forced a dive center in Tioman to open up for us because we wanted to do some monsoon diving – and it was stormy but still good – November 2006

Me doing a video shot of the Tengkolok
Two weeks later, in the middle of the monsoon, I was at Pulau Bidong doing video shots of the underwater gallery – November 2006

Prep
Two months later we were missing the sea water again, so a group of us went to dive Port Dickson again – January 2007

Me, Peter and Syed on the kaleebso
A month later, we went on Kaleebso’s penultimate trip to Pulau Jarak – February 2007

Underwear at D'Lagoon
A month later, monsoon was still in full force but the four of us returned to Perhentian. There was a lot of rubbish underwater and I got this nice photo of a floating underwear – March 2007

Chew Sun, Ina, Me and Gee
Two weeks later, Gee and I went to Perhentian for 5 days and were joined by Nafi and Ina and the rest of the gang towards the end of the trip – March 2007

Moray
A month and a half later I was back in Perhentian – May 2007

At Sawasdee Wreck
3 weeks later, I went back to Tioman to do several technical dives – May 2007

Gee and I exploring wrecks
2 weeks later, Gee and I were in Bidong exploring wrecks – June 2007

Secret Reef
I went for a dive trip with Deepblu in July but do not have any photos taken except for this one of my 200th dive (which really was my 483rd)

Me and the flag
A month later, I went back to Perhentian with Trisha, Kurt and Bakawali. Bakawali took this pic of me and the Malaysian flag at the Sugar Wreck – August 2007

Holding hands in Kuala Terengganu
Early September 2007 I went to Perhentian with someone.

Perhentian again
Followed by another trip with another someone a week later – September 2007

Redang
A week after that, I was in Redang with the guys – September 2007\

On the way to Perhentian
On the second day of Hari Raya Puasa, I was back in Perhentian – October 2007

Chevrons
A month later I was in Sipadan. I went very happily, but came back a sad person – November 2007

Seahorse at Pulau Sembilan
And this was the first seahorse I saw on the trip to Pulau Sembilan on board the Kaleebso. A very sad trip indeed, a closure for everything and for the year – December 2007