I’ve completed my Emergency First Response today. Now all I have to do is my Rescue Diver course..then I’ll submit for my PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.
Old School
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.
Mabul/Sipadan Here I Come
I was with the Aide de Camp to the Sultan of Selangor yesterday. He hasn’t dived for more than a year now. So he has asked me to go with him to the KD Sri Semporna naval base (the ADC is a Lieutenant Commander), put up a night there, before boarding our version of an LOB..the CB-90 combat vessel.
All I have to do is to pay for my air ticket KUL-TWU-KUL.
Drool people….
KD Sri Semporna
CB-90H Combat Vessel
A Year Ago…
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 is 3
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.
My Angel
I saw my Angel tonight…my Angel gives me traquility…
Such is life…
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
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah
To all my Christian friends, have a Merry Christmas!
To all my Jewish friends, chag urim samey’ach! Shalom alekhem!
Whale Shark Tag Tells Sad Tale
Whale Shark Tag Tells Sad Tale
The tag attached to a whale shark suddenly ended up stationary and on land – most probably because the animal was caught and eaten.
The 7.5m whale shark had been tagged and was being monitored by Australian scientists as it moved around off Western Australia. The satellite position signals eventually started coming from on shore at Ningaloo island and, reported ABC Online, emitted from the same spot for the next three months.
It is thought that the whale shark was caught by fishermen and taken ashore to be eaten, the tag being removed and discarded. As a result of the incident, Western Australia’s tourism minister has called for an “international treaty to protect them (whale sharks) and our tourism industry”.
Diving with whale sharks or spotting them from boats is a major draw for marine-orientated visitors to the region.
Bad Diver Part Deux
I have received positive and constructive comments from readers on this issue. Hopefully with their permission, I will post them here. The question was – Bad Instructor or Bad Diver?:
clos Says:
both
Snafu Says:
Why Both? Is always the instructor & instruction…as for the diver if they are lucky they will meet good diver that will help them BUT most of the case the diver will meet another diver that will slack & put em down insted of helping them to improve by showing it to them.
Most instructor .. MOST INSTRUCTOR do teaching for the MONEY, by cutting time on the teaching, Money they earn become bigger … NEW student wont even know where to start, or what is wrong … dey just ask How much & how long…. den get exploited by DIVING SHOP…DIVING Instructor…etc…etc
By the time they know the right method or right people… new diver pick up BAD HABBIT already & hard to be corrected.
Not that the INSTRUCTOR dont know anyway… but dey keep on doing it, ALL IN THE NAME OF MONEY!!!
Dig It hommieeeeeeEEEeeEEeee!!!!!
idcpro Says:
hhmm…I would say both are not wrong and right. In a scuba lesson there’s 2 things we have to keep in mind. Performance requirements and Mastery. I believe most student divers meet the performance requirements as well as the Instructor, well…as long as they meet all performance requirements, the Instructor can certify them. The question now is did they Master what they have learned? Mastery of a skill involves in the attitude of the Instructor, the Instructor just need to spend a little more time to repeat the skills in the confined water and questions like “why i only can hover at the surface?†or “why I keep floating or get headache after each dive†will not appear.
Good or bad diver depends on both the Instructor and student diver. It’s the student divers responsibility to transfer most knowledge learned in the manual apply it to actual diving and Instructors attitude towards his/her own teaching.
kimi Says:
It’s pity to the student if they got a lousy instructor. For me, the world doesn’t stop there. I’m willing to move forward n to improve myself.
Luckily for me, i got a very good dive buddy who can teach me to be better in every dive i do.
He knows who he is. Thanks bro!
SayLeng Says:
Both. Instructors must teach completely (no cutting corners) and students must learn properly (ask, understand, analyze, confirm & practice).
Ling Says:
I feel it is both. Well, instructions given definitely will affect how one dive that’s where they first contact with diving. But the diver himself must also be open and willing to learn. Be flexible to any constructive feedback.
So far the general concensus is that both parties are equally at fault and otherwise.
idcpro is correct in saying an instructor should not certify the student if requirements or part of, are not or have not been met. The instructor should use a little more time in transfering knowledge to the student. The student, on the other hand, needs to apply knowledge received to his/her diving.
Say Leng has summarised the points above into: Instructors should not cut corners (as in the case of the 20:1 ratio I had seen), and students should “ask, understand, analyze, confirm and practiceâ€.
Ling concurs saying how instructions have been given to the student determines the outcome of the diver. ut the diver must also be open and willing to learn.
We all learn as we go along. The mould the instructor casts is the gateway to either pleasure or torture when one is underwater. However, the diver, as he/she progresses, should be open and learn during each dive. Skills are taught not to be forgotten. Therefore the only way one doesn’t forget is by practising these skills underwater. I may have been diving since 1982, but I make it a point to practice most of my skills (whenever possible) during my first dive of the trip. Still, I do get complacent: I once did rapid descent to about 20 meters without the regulator being in my mouth, and instead of using my octopus which is usually placed at the D-ring near my chest, I did a CESA; second was using twin-tanks ready for rapid descent (wing fully deflated), jumped in and realised that I did not have either fins on. In the first case, had I remembered or practised switching to my octopus regularly, then I would have remembered having an octopus as a back-up. In the second case, had I done my equipment check topside, I wouldn’t have had to struggle using my hands to propel myself back to the surface from 28 meters.
So in my case, I was (and hopefully no longer am) a bad diver.
SeaDemon Says 
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