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Published: January 25th 2009
Our mission
Borneo is world's third largest island and filled with authentic people, amazing culture, extra-ordinary nature and details you wouldn't find any where else. The plan was simple - dive Sipadan Island, explore the
Sabah jungle and climb
Mt. Kinabalu.
Mabul
Of course the profit goes into the the pocket of the already rich owners. The locals, who have customary rights to the land, are left with scrapes.
After our night in Kuala Lumpur (details in another blog coming soon), we took the early morning flight to Tawau. We got picked up by
Chok and reached Semporna after an hour of drive. I needed to withdraw come cash but the only ATM of the town was empty on cash that day so instead we were soon on a boat heading to Mabul. Mabul is the closest island to Sipadan and the ideal place to live if you like to dive Sipadan. When researching about Mabul on the internet, you are most likely to find luxury resorts and diving operators. Mabul offers a bit more to see if you are willing to change focus from macro diving, 5-star dining and satellite TV to the people of the island. There is a growing 2000+ population living there and the contrast is huge (of course) between the living standards of the locals and the resorts just next to them.
Gathering food
Daily life of a sea gypsieThe island is so small that it wouldn't take more than 1 hour to walk around it and the settlements. There is a culture of Bajau people who are traditionally sea gypsies but who are now settling down in permanent housing on Mabul. Many are immigrants from the troubled Philippino Sulu archipelago. There are lots of children running and playing around everywhere on the island and at first glance the sight of them may seem idyllic. Their English language skills are in most cases none but 'Hellooo'. Although some kids would add 'money' after as they reach out a small begging hand to test your generosity. Some of the little ones have mastered the art of playing Western guilt so that they give you a troubled look as long as they have your attention. Whether rewarded or ignored, as soon as they think you're not watching anymore they'll get back to their normal, un-troubled look of a child who knows little about the injustices of the world he is about to grow up in.
I realized how non-stimulated the kids are. There is not much to do for these youngsters after school hours and naturally, to my enviromental displease, I
discovered that they are the little devil responsible for most of the littering (mostly candy papers and plastics) on and around the water of Mabul. Of course the children are not to blame for this blunderness. Neither are the parents. Simply lack of education and activities. What's funny is that although the island is probably attracting millions of tourist money each year, not much of it actually goes to the island nor the Islanders. They have simply nothing to offer a beer thirsting diver whos mind is occupied with discoveries of the last dive and expectations of the next one. Not so suprisingly, I find out after my visit that there are
plans for huge investments to transform most of the island into a 5-star oceanarium which would be devastating to the authentic people and enviroment of the island. One could ask why? Why would they want to 'develop' a naturally beautiful island into something like
this. There's two simple answers to that: Money and money. As we would find out later such (corrupted) investment decisions are part of some governmental officials' strategy to nische Malaysia as a luxury destination. They think being 'un-developed' (i.e. keeping it natural) sends signal of being under-developed. I will discuss the term 'development' more in coming blogs
Mabul kids
Imagination is a powerful toy (simply cause I have a alot to say about it) but all I can say for now is that if this is truly the Malaysian goal and strategy for its tourism, it is wrong! It doesn't take much imagination to think that such concepts are falsely justified by the 'success' of places like Maldives or the future luxury ghost town of Dubai. Actually, the Malaysian government is failing to realise the huge potential of keeping things natural and attracting mainstream tourist instead of over-consuming jet setters and newly rich. They also seem to fail to realise that budget and back-packer travelers, who spend a long time in the country, not only spend a larger total amount of money but they also spread the money geographically which means more of the population can benefit from the visitors. Unfortunately, the government seems to be lured by fast-cash travelers who have no more time than a quick visit to the top of the cream spots, spending all their money in one place and leaving behind nothing but a pile of garbage and a trail of sun-screen on the surface of the water. Of course the money goes into the pockets of the already
rich resort owners. The locals, who have customary rights to their land, are left with scrapes. Luckily,
dive operators, locals, enviromentalists and organisations like WWF are struggling to hinder such stupid developments in one the world's most beautiful places. For those of you who know how to help - get involved.
I confiscated the weapon of mass destruction
The second day on Mabul turned out to be really awesome. I had my first dives in Sipadan (will tell you more below) in the morning and in the afternoon I heard rumors about a local wedding being held on that evening. After dinner I decided to leave my poor, over-worked cousin (doing his diving course) behind and go to the wedding on my own. It's not hard to find out the location when most of the people you see are headed the same way on an small island. Wearing a linen and fisherman pants I hesitated for a while thinking if I should go back and change. But decided that I will scout the guests on their way to see what is customary clothes. I was relieved to see other men with linen so I kept going til I reached the stage, the crowd and the entertainers.
The ceremony was amusing and interesting. First
of all, the cultural pressure of having a (relatively) lavish party despite obvious poverty was interesting and made me think of similarities with other cultures where shame, honour and guilt play an important part in people's lives, mind and behaviour. Another interesting thing was the limited repertoar of songs that the hired entertainers (a singer and a 'dj'😉 was performing. The first 3 hours consisted of playing the same tune and singing the same song. They would read names from small pieces of paper after which a girl or a young (single) woman would appear on stage to dance for the exhausted couple (the bride and groom were both sleepy and you could see the discomfort of being put on the stage with the strong searchlight directed on them after what must have been a long day). The dance was very traditional. As far as I could tell, the girls and young women did this dance to show themselves not only to the bride and groom but also for the single men of the crowd. Consequently, the more appreciated their movements and appearance was, the more (hopeful, single) men surrounded her on stage to give away their bills. Despite times
of tumoil, the girl/woman stuck to her routine and continued her dance mostly unaffected (although when the frenzy was alot you could see a hidden but satisfied smile on her lips). Her finger movements reminded of scissor blades cutting and the men would either leave their money between the fingers or on top of her head. As the interest for the dancer started to lower (although some dancers were so popular they would dance for what seemed like ages) the music would stop (even in the middle of a lyric) before another name was read and the next candidate entered stage.
As this was going on I was really enjoying myself taking pictures and videos. But a smell of burnt hair slowly reached my nose and before I could think I felt a terribly painful sting on my ass. As I turned around I spotted a little girl (4-5 years old) playing with her new toy - flying, burning match sticks. So this little hellraiser was lighting the matches and letting them fly into the crowd to her random please and aim. So one of her missiles had hit me and burned a hole on my beloved Thai pants. What's
worst, just as I turned around I noticed her next target, one of cutest and smiliest girls who was sitting a few metres away from me. I was too late to stop the burning arrow but saw luckily how it missed her nice, long hair. I was furious with the lack of manners in this kid and thought how easily such stupid games could end up burning down a neighbours or their own home. So as any responsible adult I confiscated the weapon of mass destruction and made her understand the dangers and stupidity of her actions, non-verbally, through my facial and body language that: THIS IS NOT OK! I think she got the message and started looking for another toy of irritation.
Meanwhile, the wedding seemed to be coming to an end as the couple got off their seats and left the stage. I joined the other villagers in following them the whole 25 metres to their house. But I was mistaken as apparantly nothing had ended. Instead, refreshments were being carried to stage so they could be handed out to guests. At this time I went back to our hostel for
kassra only to find him with his
Kids enjoying the marriage festivity
The girl to the right was the target of the burning match stick launched from the small hands of the little devil ;) Fortunatly, she was safe! face in the theory book. I told him how great the wedding was and asked his instructor if he could allow
kassra to join me - if only for 15 minutes? He said he could join me but that would mean that he could forget about being licensed the day after. I went back alone.
Once at the wedding again, I noticed that the pause was for the couple to change their traditional clothes to a Western style suit and dress. I could only imagine that this was for fashion and showing off that they can afford to do so. But at least they seemed a bit more refreshed than before. Another change was in the tunes and the lyrics of the song - well same same but different to be more accurate. So the ceremony proceeded as before but I didn't stay long this time as the next day meant diving Sipadan again. In the morning I was told by some other hostel guests that they had heard the tunes and sounds of festivities until 5am or so. I had slept to heavy to notice.
Sipadan
I spotted a turtle, a white tip reef shark and loads of barracudas in one single breath of air
For diving Sipadan you will need permits as 120
divers (!) are allowed on a daily basis. When you arrive you have to first get off the boat and report to the military personell on the island, handling the permits. As soon as you've been cleared you can go to the boat which will take you to one of the spectacular sites just a few metres of the beach. Barracuda Point became one of my favorites as I spotted a turtle, a white tip reef shark and loads of barracudas in one single breath of air. There are other dive sites and each of them are just as fantastic in their own way. The island itself is as beautiful as any of your paradise island images. For preservation and fear of attacks from disputing neighbours it is now a military zone restricting visitor to only move on the immediate beach in front of the HQ. One of the days, I dared to ignore the military restrictions and was lucky enough to not encounter anyone stopping me from discovering half of the island's waterfront to the East and North. On my 'legal' stroll, on the South and Western parts of the beach, I saw a lot of turquoise shadows of
giant turtles in the shallow waters. At times, these shadows would break the surface and show their ancient and magnificent head. Two of them were much more visible engaging in the act of either fighting calmly or making love fiercely. They had my attention for a good 20 minutes and I hoped to see them again underwater as I headed back for our second and last dive of that day. I may have seen them!
One of the most memorable moments of my diving was finding a sleeping turtle tucked in the coral wall. I found it magical to just float, breathe and watch this huge creature in its natural habitat. Suddenly, (let's say)
she woke up and turned her face to me. I was just a meter away and waited for the next move. She, looking at me, made an effort and took off from her coral rest place and passed only centimeters from my mask on her way for vital oxygen. As she swam over me I followed with my weightless body in a 180 degree movement which allowed me to see her disappear in a head down position. I was the mermaid, she the turtle. SIMPLY
MAGIC! I hope (and will actively work) so that future generations will enjoy moments like this too...
Another unforgettable moment was seeing the several hundreds of Barracuda school passing by in front of me. Without sudden movements I slowly worked my way in the middle of them feeling totally surrounded by the fantastic beauty of our nature. The next time I did that was with a camera and the picture is posted here.
Kapalai
They had sunk wooden constructions in the water that made it all look like a flooded village from the past.
On our last dive we took the boat to the water village of
Kapalai Island. The islands is really nothing more than a sand bar after 200 years of erosion but there is a huge investment made in building a 'luxury' water village on stilts in connection to the island and its coral area. I don't have any knowledge about the effects of such bungalows on the natural life but I saw that underwater there have been a project of building artificial village for corals and fished. They had sunk wooden constructions in the water which actually made me at first think that we are visiting a flooded fisherman village from the past. Apparantely, that is a way of attracting marine
life and corals artificially. There was also a wreck and the dive would probably been very good had not the rain season affected the visibility. Let's just hope that the main focus of such resorts is preserving the natural habitants of their surrounding - not least since their million-money-investments depend on it.
After that dive it was time for us to leave Mabul for Semporna before heading to our next destination - Sandakan and Uncle Tan's. While slowly moving away from the island I remembered the sunset of the evening before when I got picked up by some of the sea village kids on their boat. We went away a bit from the island and had a meeting with some other boats. One of the boats was filled with some fisherman who were cooking their fresh catch directly on the boat.
I also remembered the first sunset, when I was overly energetic and took a long swim until dark. I never swam far from the settlements and our hostel and as we were now leaving Mabul I realised they have no other sewage system than directly feeding the water. That could explain the sudden outburst of pimples on my
On break...
Changing clothes... forehead that would be on every picture from then on.
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kassra
Kassra Taghavi
Nice...
...politicblog, Barrack Taghavi! Looking forward to see your next statements and perspectives about our trip. Bye. The apprentice