Some of the things we did.
Top left: play guitar. Bottom left: waiting for meals. Top right: having meals. Bottom right: sit around and chit chat. Oh, we also did PT before dinner. That was usually the non-diving highlight of the day. Best way to kill time was to nap. But not in the room, too stuffy. On the benches, sometimes there are sea breezes.
Many of the boys do not have clothes to wear. Not like they seem to mind.
The more traditional Bajaus continued doing their thing on the water. Their boats are small and narrow wooden self-made crafts, their paddles no more than a piece of wood with slightly enlarged ends as the blades. Young kids follow their older siblings out at sea, many of them still unable to swim, or so I was told.
Top: A young Bajau boy paddling at sunset. Mid: Items for sale, crab in a bottle. Bottom: Sea urchins for food and sale.
A look at the Sphere Divers Lodge. Nice rustic and basic. Really a place to eat sleep dive.
I love these old school thermo flasks! Keeps water hot for a very long time. In other words, coffee anywhere anytime!
The lodge does boasts some pretty sights especially during sunrise and sunset. (Bottom picture by Raymond, our newfound friend from KL)
In the evenings when it was cooler, we would walk around Mabul island. It's a really small island (20ha) and you could walk around it in less than 1hr. Bottom pic: Look, Sham has a daughter here!
A visit to Mabul would never be complete unless you take a look at what the rest of the island has to offer other than diving. All photos here are from Raymond.
 |
| Photos by Raymond |
A look at the village houses of the Bajau people, commonly known as the sea gypsies. These people have come from Mindanao in the Philippines many years ago, mainly to flee from the religious unrest involving Muslims in southern Philippines. Thus you can see some of their signs are written in Tagalog and they seem to enjoy basketball more than other sports. Some of them have settled on the island, building small village houses on stilts by the sea, others have continued living in their boats in the sea. Apparently they have no official citizenship, even though many were born in Mabul, because of their Philippine origin. They continue to ply their trade as fishermen for survival, and with an influx of tourists they will sell some of their items to them. Usually they will go to the various resorts on their boats, holding up their catch of the day for sale. Items include fish, crabs, sotong (cuttlefish) etc.
 |
| Photos by Raymond |
Many of the boys do not have clothes to wear. Not like they seem to mind.
 |
| Photos by Raymond |
 |
| Photos by Raymond |
 |
| Photos by Raymond |
 |
| Photos by Raymond |
Because the Bajaus are not officially Malaysian citizens, they are not allowed to enrol in government schools. Thus many of them do not have a proper education. Mr Stanley Sie, co-owner of Sphere Divers Lodge, decided to set up an informal school specially for them. Stanley estimates that there are about 700 children who are not able to enrol in a government school. Hiring a local known as Encik Ahlee, he conducts classes at night for the kids in a small classroom beside the local mosque. The school is aptly named "School of Hope". Participation is voluntary but each night there are 50-70 students in the class. They learn subjects like English, Mathematics and Art.
 |
| Photos by Raymond |
Youtube videos:
After reading this, maybe you would also like to contribute to the efforts to bring a brighter future for the Mabul locals?
Like all OBS expeditions, I shall end with a little piece of reflection from Fong:
"Spending 6D5N back to basics was never part of my
holiday plans. Thanks to Nadiah (sincerely not sarcastically), the journey to
Mabul Island with my fellow family widened my perspective, filled my heart and
fed my soul.
Azhar, the passionate and ever-caring boss, shows
his passion and concern in an unorthodox manner. If one doesn't know him well,
one will think that he is a nonchalant person. His passion to dive was not only
displayed when he gave up his high paying career but the way he develops his business
model. Dive packages are made affordable so that anybody can take up diving.
His time and effort is not on how to make profits but to make the people feel
at home during the stay. He takes pictures (professionally taken ok??!!) of
every dive painstakingly so that the divers can bring the memories home.
Lesson learnt: Not all businessmen are out to make
profits, I am grateful to be able to meet a sincere one. Passion can really be
sustainable as long as you can live with the basics. (Sounds like OUR ‘LIFESTYLE’
aka job too! Haha!)
Alexa never fails to welcome us back from our dives.
“Kakak... nak ikut!” (want to follow!) “Kakak... nak mandi!” (want to swim!)
“Kakak... nak main” (want to play!) were some common phrases which Alexa likes
to say when we returned. We can never tell from her cheerful personality that
she lost her mother 3 months ago to cancer. Her fighting spirit, I believe, is
one key factor to keep her father going. Alexa is now living with her father
who is working for Azhar. Azhar provided them the lodge to stay too. They share
a single bed, only a bed with no pillows, his bolster is Alexa. Still, we can
see that they are both happy to have each other as company, a shelter over
their head and 3 meals per day.
Lesson Learnt: Kids have their magic to keep adults
going. They bring laughter to lives and simplify the world.
Stanley, the other business partner, loves to serve
the community. He set up a school, collect clothes, toys and stationery for the
villagers.
Lesson Learnt: If a small and insignificant dive
centre can make great impact to the environment, am sure we can do more than we
think we can! (Sounds familiar too....)
Commitment: To organise a dive trip next year to the
same place. This time, is not about the dives, but the heart work. Do join me
and the rest to collect old clothes, soft toys and stationery for the kids in
Mabul. Most importantly, to support Azhar’s passion! =)"
End
No comments:
Post a Comment