Thank you, dear friends, for calling me and crying with me, letting me know how you identified with my pain as you too, felt the grief that I am still feeling. I’m truly sorry but am so grateful that your calls and messages made me feel better. Some of you have journeyed with Rufus & I from the days of FFF rescue, babysat him in my absence and missions, and experienced all the hilarious drama he had gotten himself into (and you in the process) and I know that Rufus had an extended family in all of you.

I leave you with this peaceful picture of him curled up and sleeping on my bed and be comforted in the knowledge of what’s written inEcclesiastes 3:18-21: “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath (literally “spirit“); humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” And in Luke 12:6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.” Although there’s no biblical support to say whether dogs will end up in heaven, I still find the comfort in knowing that animals will continue to exist in the Kingdom of Heaven in Isaiah 11:6-9.

We buried him at the side of the pond near my house, underneath a shady tree. From dust he came, to dust he returned. Out of the 12yrs I had him, 9 of them were the most exciting, joyful, funny and adventurous of all. I only wished I had more than these 2 months of his remaining time to spend with him. He has brought me so many unforgettable moments as my bodyguard, outdoor companion furkid. May God resurrect him one day when Jesus returns for he was chosen in the Lord for me. (Romans 16:13) Rest in peace, Darling. You will roam free with the rest who had gone before you now.

Pictures taken on our last day outdoors together. We went to Genting Highlands where he could experience the cold in his winter attire and be in the natural again.

Then some despicable lowlife had caused all my files to be 201kb across the board and equally abundance of ZERO BYTES within those. I had started my 5th term of Chinese language learning in Taiwan and having to keep up with school work as well as rows and rows of mindless writing to commit to memory, I had to deal with this annoyance.

My last backup was in 2015, which made me realise I had taken a very long hiatus from blogging. Rightly so, my life changed with the prayer I had asked over New Year’s Day of 2016.

I had to search my archives for the backups and FTPing them took another zillion hours. I now know why I never carved out a career in web mastering. Best of all, my ex-boss conferenced call with me to troubleshoot all the irregularities, a reminiscent of the days where we used to work on web portals and he, write lines of codes. He said, “Here is your blank page, I will handle the boxes in Excel and remove the lines for you because I know you can’t be boxed up.” He was right. I am a blank canvas free to define what I feel.

My website is still not quite there yet. The gallery is inactive and I’ve tweaked whatever I could in the background. I just need time which I don’t have especially when I have a teacher who thinks I should know what was taught last term when I was not even in the same course. I did one year at NTNU and have now moved to Chinese Culture University.

I have tried to post some Chinese characters and they are not showing. Pardon the absence of pictures in some posts. I’m still trying to restore my files from this ZERO bytes problem.

In the last few months of hiatus, I’d spent my time with friends, relatives and catching up on outdoor pursuits all over Germany & Italy and getting a bit of underwater time in Egypt. I took a break from myself because I wanted to get more input to be able to give output. I was writing for work so much that I’ve lost some mojo in the things that once brought me such joy. One event led to the next, and though people may envy my travels, they don’t really know how disconnected I become when I come back from each trip, catching up on friends’ FB feed and desiring fellowship with great buddies. One friend got married, had a baby with a man I didn’t know she married because I thought she was still dating her long time boyfriend whom I happen to also know. I asked her privately, of course, much to my confusion and thankfully, it wasn’t as embarrassing as I thought it would be. Honesty and forthrightness go a long way to preserving relationships. I don’t believe in talking behind anyone’s back unless I’m giving them praises.

I got to a stage in life where I started to place importance in keeping friends who want to stay in touch, I began to keep away from those who are malignant. I became less attached to social media starting with my weaning off Twitter & Google+, using it only to communicate with several people pertaining to current issues. I stay in touch with good friends who are also busy, making no demands on their time as they made no demands on mine and when we meet, it would be as if no time had passed between us at all. I made a resolution last year to only write what would be of good cheer, useful and informative articles for the benefit of my audience who take the time to journey with me.

I was also getting over a traumatic event.

Just before the turn of the New Year, a Christmas party I attended at a dog shelter ended up in a disaster. I couldn’t write about it then because I was distraught and injured. What seemed to be a fine afternoon of celebration in the sun with cheery dogs running about, a sudden storm turned the river outside into a raging torrent that submerged the shelter and all other houses in the vicinity in over 2 metres of muddy water. 13 volunteers and workers including Puspa, the founder of the shelter, Aziz & myself, were scrambling to raise the cages & free the dogs but the flood waters rose so fast, there wasn’t enough time to get all to safety and dry ground resulting in deaths. Everyone did their best to get as many dogs out, those of us who could swim, were grabbing dogs paddling about to hoist them to higher platforms, those who couldn’t, were clinging on to several dogs on trees, pillars & roofs for their dear lives. The scene was right out of a catastrophic mudslide except that this happened in Kajang, on our soil, to our people. Having my supposedly waterproof Sony Xperia Z1 phone in my pocket while I swam to & fro the main gate of the shelter’s compound to call for help, had actually flooded it. If only I can get hold of the footage I filmed when the flood happened, it would give you an idea what we endured before risking our lives to save our dogs. The incident left many broken hearted.

The rain didn’t stop. When the waters rose passed knee deep. I began to pray. This was way beyond what I was trained for in disaster management and life saving but I couldn’t leave them stranded and knowing the majority of our nation could not swim, it was a call of duty. I knew Aziz could swim, having been educated in the U.K., I expected him to be able to. He was rescuing bags of food and the box of frozen chicken. I asked God what to do. By then, the water had reached my waist. A rat swam frantically by. There was also a snake in the water. I didn’t flinch. I was just stunned. It was barely minutes. I had a backpack filled with documents, electronic gadgets, tablets & devices that weren’t protected. I pleaded for help. Lord, if you want me to do this right, please protect my belongings! God made me turn around & there, I saw a bungee cord hanging on the door! Then He showed me a pipe near the roof for me to climb up the window sill to tie my bag there. In my breath, I heaved a sigh of relief and gave thanks to God who always fished me out of trouble. Then the rescue really begun. I tried to stay calm and talked to those who couldn’t swim. We released all dogs within our perimeters to fend for themselves. My priority was human beings, dogs go to heaven any way. Dogs have an inbuilt ability to swim. Humans don’t. The larger dogs in the outside compound cages were freed in time and being social animals, they clamoured onto us & clung on for dear lives onto our shoulders and backs. If I wasn’t a strong swimmer, I would’ve drowned in all that weight. I tossed whoever was in my grasp to either Baskaran, the staff who got onto the higher platform with 20 other panicky dogs or Aziz who would bring the dogs to stand above the hoisted cages. Somehow, they know trouble was brewing. I couldn’t let my voice falter or they would hear my tone of distress that would trouble them even more. The last thing I needed was for the 20+ dogs to jump out of the holding platform at once to head for the torrential river outside the gate. I had scratches and bruises and like the rest, I wasn’t going to let go of them. Joey lost her car in the floods. It was almost like a repeat of Pulau Selat Kering back in 2009.

When the firemen finally got to us, they asked us how many we were and if there are children present. They asked us if we needed to be rescued in the waters well over my head. I said to them, where’s the boat, we only want to be rescued if we know we can leave here with our dogs. Bomba left us. Hmmm……I guess they don’t rescue dogs.

Thiaga from DAP, the party who came to our aid, offered Puspa a factory premise nearby to temporarily host the dogs till she can find something more permanent. Having had floods before, the current shelter is no longer a safe haven and she has got to move before another flood hits and by then, it wouldn’t be coinciding with any more parties with volunteers who know how to swim being present. Coming out to attend Pesta Balakong, the DAP councillor gave us new T-Shirts to change from our totally soaked & stinky attire. My foot was bleeding from having kicked some sharp object underwater but the pain was nothing compared to the pain of losing these beloved dogs in the flood. I don’t know the figures because I didn’t stay behind to witness the depressing sight which the workers had the terrible task of doing. More volunteers arrived after our calls for help reached social media. Anthony was my beacon. I never cried so hard before for the loss of these innocent lives caught in a catastrophe. It was something beyond our control. I cannot speak for the accusations levelled at Puspa on the running of the association but I was there at the scene with her to see her risk her life for her dogs. And so did her workers and volunteers present. I went home in a daze and washed my hair 3 times. I caught a chill but my thoughts were with MIAR. We can leave the incident but the incident can never leave us.

Upon hearing our ordeal, Steven Yong on behalf of HTC Malaysia came forward and gave the 13 of us at MIAR a replacement phone each. What a wonderful thing to do! A major commercial brand reached out to those who stayed behind for their four-legged friends. Thank you, HTC! The HTC Desire 610 is serving me very well. I’m reminded of the dogs that didn’t make it and the dogs that did. I asked God for a place in heaven for each one of them who crossed the Rainbow Bridge that day. And may those who lent a hand during the rescue and the post-rescue clean-up be blessed abundantly for answering the call for help. The empathy shown just blew me away.

In the last two months of juggling courses & getting some underwater time with the blennies & slugs, I’ve been writing so much, communicating with magazine editors, LoyarBurok’s administrators & the European Underwater Federation secretary, that I forgot about my dad’s death anniversary on the 29 July. Not that he would mind, as he’s having a whale of a time playing golf in heaven as I was given a glimpse of the remarkable realm on one cloudy evening. It has been a hectic month attending meetings & getting the events sorted out for we won the bid to host the next meeting for ISO Standards next year! Woohoo! We’re bringing the movers & shakers of the dive industry to Malaysia!

On August 1st, the candlelight vigil that turned ugly, never made it to the mainstream media. Upon submitting the report to Loyarburok.com, it was picked up by Malaysia Today & gained a mention in Hufftington Post! The videos had thousands of views, gaining a few subscribers whom I wish, would follow my fish & slug postings instead! Call it accidental activist journalism, I certainly prefer chasing octopus & mating flatworms or be surrounded by real barracudas than men in arms & metal plates. The dive expo came & gone. It was an event where we dive professionals touched base with the players & reestablished ties with stakeholders. It was also my girl’s-nite-out with Suzette, the owner of Seaventures Dive, the converted oil-rig resort on Mabul island! We had a great time over wine & a delicious spread of buffet for dinner in Sheraton Imperial Hotel, cherishing every minute of our friendship across the seas. Thank God for girlfriends!

September is upon us & I endeavour to do away with caustic friends who bring detriment to me & my belongings when they run at the thought of accountability. Just when you think it’s safe to trust someone, they screw it up so badly that it takes away any respect I have left for them. It’s also a new beginning with STaRT, a society that focuses on training underprivileged kids in music, performing arts & life skills. I will get to teach kids from 10 different homes to swim in the pool! Thanks to supporters like you, who have seen me through the good times & the bad to enable me to pay it forward. Thank you for being my student, my associate, my client, my supplier, my advocator, my friend, my conscience & my hope!

Coral bleaching is the whitening of corals due to the expulsion of algae ”“ the food manufacturing processors that reside in corals by way of photosynthesis. This can be caused by a number of weather phenomenon triggers, most commonly a rise in water temperatures. Bleached corals are not yet dead.

The rise of surface temperatures in the water is caused why the El Nino weather patterns. El Nino is only one part of the Southern Oscillation. The counterpart to this coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon is La Nina, usually expected from November to January, often has reverse effects to El Nino. La Nina conditions would see a drop in ocean temperatures by several degrees, causing algae to return to corals.

I’ve witnessed a similar occurrence in 1997 and was diving in pleasantly warm waters until 1999 when La Nina brought the cold fronts of about 21 ”“ 23 degrees Celsius back to our waters and giving the algae the much desired environment to thrive in. We had 95% recovery and I believe, we will have a recovery as soon as the water temperatures in the region begin to drop.

El Nino has been around for centuries and has nothing to do with global warming ”“ it can enhance the effects of El Nino but it is not the cause. This is something that divers have known since encountering it during its last occurrence. Global warming is an atmospheric condition whereas El Nino occurs when the gush of warm waters spreads from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific.

What has it got to do with divers diving near coral reefs? If we were grazing corals or mowing them, then perhaps the closure is apt but divers hover way above the corals to avoid collision and injury to animal and man. Whether there are divers present or not, the coral will remain bleached until the cold waters (fronts/currents) are brought in by La Nina, which might or might not revive the bleached reef in time. These factors are not related to the impact of divers.
bleached coral

healthy corals

So what will the dive sites closure achieve? You would think that the authorities would do some research on coral bleaching before making such a drastic move that causes livelihoods to suffer. The Maldives, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia are experiencing the same but they are not jeopardising the tourism trade because of a weather phenomenon.

The efforts of the authorities to close dive sites will bring about dire consequences to the trade depending on dive tourism. Travel agents will stop selling/pushing the sales of dive resorts and packages for fear of getting flak from irked divers. This being said, agents who are not divers, will think it’s probably a blanket closure, not knowing where in the map is Chebeh, Labas, Tulai, Washing Machine, Fish Bowl and whatnots are at (dive sites’ names). They will err on the safe side by NOT selling dive packages.

This effect caused by the announcement has also reverberated to overseas travel agents (who also have no idea where Chebeh, Labas, Tulai, Washing Machine, Fish Bowl are) and they will be less inclined to sell diving and worse of all ”“ they are removing a source of civilian detection of “crime” at seas.

Let me give you an example of what goes on in the islands. Illegal spearhunters will plunder our dive sites and take those resident fishes that have grown accustomed to divers’ presence in the water leaving dive instructors like us with no attractions to show our students when visiting our reefs. When something like this happens, divers from different dive operators who witness the incident, would take photos and warn them to get off the site.

One such incident occurred and divers collaborated to chase the spearhunters’ boat off their territory. Several years ago, it was well-known that Kevin Hiew, the former Head of Marine Parks, detained a spearhunter in Redang waters who was also the owner of one of the resorts in Redang itself. He was prosecuted and fined for spearhunting in marine parks.

If you hold a speargun without a gun license, you are liable to be prosecuted under the Firearms Act 1971. The police have stopped the issuance of these licenses in 1985, with the minimum age set at 21 years to qualify to apply for one then. What age would you have to be now, if you are to be even seen as a legal owner? Make no mistake about this as we are not against spearhunting but against “spearhunting using SCUBA” in the vicinity of marine parks. We shall not go into the specifics of this now as spearhunting is a subject that’s been debated for years.

The presence of dive boats will also deter the encroachment of illegal and legal fishing boats from fishing too close to the marine parks demarcated sites. Regardless of whether they hold the “A” or “C” class fishing license, these fishing boats will anchor in the vicinity, causing untold damage to corals beneath. The Marine Parks and the Fisheries Department do not have sufficient manpower, boats to survey and enforce laws thus, are very much dependent upon dive operators to report and confirm sightings of spearhunters/illegal fishing boat in the area.

clown fish bleached corals

Lighthouse at Tokong Timur, Tenggol

A 100 metre well was dug in Tenggol bay, followed by a lighthouse built on Tokong Timur. What kind of crowd are they expecting to accommodate from this source of fresh water? Word has it that a jetty is being planned ”“ which means a flurry of boats would be making their way inwards to the bay where there’s a thriving house reef and divers learn to dive. They have constructed a jetty on Pulau Bidung already, much to the ire of divers and conservationist of Pulau Bidung. The island is not opened to the public, so what is the jetty built for?

Jetties alter the current flow that brings vital nutrients and sunlight to the reefs. Seabeds are dug deep and corals are killed in the process.

Is the construction of any structure legal in marine parks? Or does it fall within the jurisdiction of district councils and land offices?

Wouldn’t you want to know if this is just a way of removing the crowd so that no one can protest after such structures are built?

bleached corals

bleached corals 2

This article is also published in LoyarBurok.com

More about the Time Tunnel later in the new travel blog. You can access the article here:- Time Tunnelling In The Cameron Highlands