Leave A Light On For Me

The day that was. I switched off the lights for the last time. Sam was perplexed & said, “you switching off lights tonight huh?” I nodded & replied, “uh huh.” Deep down, it’s not just the act of turning off the lights which I never do because I retire earlier than my dive manager, Sam, who had the unfortunate task of taking care of the dive business AND the owner. And it never was right to begin with, that we had to share a room though we had huge single beds for ourselves. Friends who know me know Sam will be SAFE. Peacocks On The Rocks When I came here to start the business of running the dive operation, I had a heavy heart to relocate. I asked God many times, what I was doing & what He wanted me to do by replanting me within 3 days of moving apartments to the 9th floor? Specific calls pointed me to go so without much fanfare of leaving my cellgroup & performing arts group, I went. With the many break-ins we had in our condominium, I thought about my exit. I knew I had to get passed the guard at 1st floor & get out to my car at the ground floor with the thousand & one things I had to make my stay at the island as homely as possible. I called Andy, who ended up having a great workout in full office attire, tie inclusive, even before gym time in the evening. What would I do without Andy? I had to do this each time I returned to get more stuff. For security sake, I feared letting anyone see that I was going out of town because I would be leaving my apartment empty & vulnerable to burglars. I felt like a smuggler in my own home! I know that whenever I arrive at the port of call, I would be greeted by Supono or Molyati, sometimes both. They would help me unload the things from my car to the boat while making fun of whatever I was carrying. Mol lifted my wok & asked, “Apa ini, kak? Ini untuk Astro kah??? Heheheheh!” (What is this, sis? Is this the satellite dish for Astro???) Or I would arrive too early only to be greeted by Supono sweeping the compound & eventually finding me sleeping in my car. The moment I pick up a call that disturbed my forty winks, Supono would yell at me through the closed window, “Moi! Tidurlah!” (Moi is a term used to call Chinese girls. “Go back to sleep lah!”) causing me to drop back into slumber position in obedience. Travelling is not a chore. I am a venturor, with accidental adventures along the journey. Somehow I feel that God has put certain interests in every one of us to let it work to His glory. On my first few visits to what would be my place of operations, I had some weird encounters. A couple who was to run the dive operations turned out that the girl did not like the situation & was about to spit venom at me until the guy apologised profusely as he had been my good friend. I think she must have thought that I was after her guy. That fateful trip, I was stressed because we were not told of the late departure at 3pm when we arrived at noon & shortly after we departed, Omar, the boatman, had revved the engine of the boat a little too much & caused it to stall for 1 ½ hours in the rough sea. By the time I got to the island, I was green & my muscles were tensed. I was glad to see Alfrida(Frida) again. She arrived from Medan together with Amar & Khairani & was chauffeured to the island together with me on my previous visit. I requested for a massage service secretly as I did not want to use the supposedly-blind masseur operating at the island. When Frida sneaked into my room, she worked on my back. She began to pour her heart out as well. In the first two weeks of her arrival here, she got news that her 3 year old son had a sudden death. Her sole reason for living is gone. She was marginalised by some of the local staff. In short, she was bullied. I felt for her. Her boyfriend is a Christian from Meulaboh, in Acheh who survived the tsunami in December. She became a Christian as a result of the death of her son. Subsequent trips & after my relocation, Frida had been a great friend. I had the rights to using the cooking facilities at the kitchen & she had been transferred to work in the kitchen from housekeeping department. The first thing I bought before I reached the island was a semi auto washing machine. I am not a MANUAL person if you know what I mean. Bernard, the sous chef, accepted Christ & began to join us in our little prayer & worship sessions. Having Bernard & Frida at the kitchen was a blessing because on the days where we were really busy diving, they would keep some food for us. For the first two weeks, Sam & I didn’t know where to get chicken because they were not available at the supermarket in town. Strange, isn’t it? I would pick up groceries on my way back from KL or Kuantan to last us about a week. We developed a living pattern whereby I would scramble into bed & get all comfy while Sam would get the lights & return to conquer the universe on his computer games. I would then scramble out of bed at six something in the morning to meet God at my bench of petition & watch the peacocks congregate. Then Sam would lead the leisure divers or I would lead the discovery divers & leave it to him to rinse & soak the equipment after the dive while I rush to prepare lunch for the both of us. Some days, we had more than 2 dives. That’s when things become a little chaotic. Sam had a Big Gulp canister that held ice & kept drinks cold for 24 hours. I had one space bottle that made my Ribena taste metallic! Wasn’t much of a comparison but beggars can’t be chosers. Females do covet you know, but I had to be discreet in DRINKING from his canister or he will find out why his drink had been diminishing by the hour. *Heheheh…!* Big Gulp Canister Monday is always a washing day. We had a plunge tap in the bathroom & had to shove the ‘unbefitting’ hose to it while the other hand plunges the tap for as long as it takes to fill the tub placed just outside the bathroom. From the wash tub, the clothes had to be transferred to the spin/rinse tub & then again to the wash tub for softener & finally spin dry. A real chore it was. Someone has got to do it. We realised there was nowhere in the room that could hang clothes so Sam suggested that he used his diving spool to create a clothes line. Suffice to say, the picture will paint a thousand words. Sam in his working conditions! On nights where the construction workers worked till late to rush for the completion of the refurbishment of the jetty, I would sometimes wander over to watch them & talk to them. The simple handling of a hammer can bring so much fun for these foreign workers who hail from different parts of Indonesia & Vietnam. The hammerhead flew off the handle & dropped into the sea to the amazement of the handler, Molyati uttered, “Aduh! Kepala aku jatuh! Di mana kepala aku jatuh???” (Ow! My head fell off! Where did my head go???) I had fits after that as the rest of them made fun of his ‘head.’ When a great friend of mine came for a visit, I spent a considerable amount of time with him on the beach & open seating area. When he left, these workers would sing to me, oblivious that this friend of mine, was proficient in the language too, “Oh, aku kesepian…..!(Oh, how lonely I am…..) Aku kerinduan…..! (How I miss you so…) Cinta ku sudah pergi……(My love has gone…..)” Then I retorted, “Nanti aku pergi, kamu semua yang kesepian & kerinduan…!” (Wait till I leave, then you would be the lonely & forlorn one….!) & chuckles permeated the air. I would go to bed with the thought that these foreigners whom I see everyday, would form the part of a family that is missing in every one of us in a land faraway from their homes. The weekend fireworks are what we all look forward to & the cheering of the crowd would be very much dependent upon whatever celebration that is going on. They would switch all the lights off to stun the guests & when the fireworks start, everyone would be so enthralled. Our little weekend thrill of expecting the police to stopover too. Fireworks More Fireworks Splendid Show Of course fireworks are illegal. Which pleasurable substance is not? As I progressed, I began to discover things that I should not know about. Things about substance-abuse. Mismanagement. Criminal breach of trust. Negligence. Indifference. Denial of basic human rights. Things that I had been sent for. Taufik, one of the construction workers from Indonesia had a forklift land on him in a freak accident which broke his leg. He was all alone up in the jungle handling the machine. He shouldn’t have been. It was getting dark.His mobile phone was all he got to summon help. Before he was sent back to his hometown after having steel rods inserted into his leg, I paid him a visit in a motel on the mainland. A little encouragement is all that is needed sometimes. Taufik with his robotic rods in his broken leg. Oppression is something that the powerful does to force the weak into submission. To not have a safety procedure in place where construction is being carried out is NEGLIGENCE. Not visiting a staff in despair is INHUMANE. Cutting wages & increasing hours of work is EXPLOITATION. Being fed with stale rice & stale leftovers is TORTURE. I kept asking God how He wanted me to deal with this situation. I cannot let something like this slide pass my conscience when the people here are suffering. The powerful that run the place were pushing substance & those who did not follow suit would be oppressed. I kept my paperwork in order. Christians are to stand in the gap of RIGHTEOUSNESS at all cost. Jesus did that for us. I said to God that the business is dedicated to HIM & that my concern here was for the people whom He had sent me for. I was not the least bit worried at the non-assistance rendered to us by the resort nor was I concerned about the future of my company which I know God will provide. I was concerned about the welfare of the people here. It came to the final countdown. I was to leave this place for fear of retribution. That night, one by one, the workers called me on the phone to express sadness & support. They cried. I cried even harder. Mol said, “Kami sayangkan Kak & mahu Kak tahu kami akan sentiasa merindukan Kak. Kami tidak akan lupa bagaimana Kak menolong kami & kemunculan Kak memberi kebahagian kepada kami. Mol rasa seperti Mol sudah hilang satu kawan yang baik. Selama ini belum pernah ada orang yang buat baik kepada kami seperti Kak. Terima kasih, Kak. Kak berhati-hati ya?” (We love you & want you to know that we will always miss you. We will not forget your assistance & your existence that has made us all glad. I feel like as if I’ve lost a good friend. All this time, no one has shown us any humanity apart from what you have done. Thank you, sis. Be careful ya?). Shortly after, Moahari called. “Kak, saya nak pergi berjumpa dengan Kak tapi kalau mereka nampak, saya akan kena nanti. Saya sudah tahu apa yang sudah berlaku & saya berdoa supaya Kak dapat cari rezeki di mana-mana saja. Saya juga mahu mengucapkan selamat tinggal sekarang sebab esok mungkin tidak ada peluang. Kami akan berada di jeti untuk menghantar Kak. Biarlah Kak tahu dalam hati kami, kami akan sentiasa merindukan Kak & walaupun tidak boleh mengucap dengan mulut, tahu dalam hati kami, kami sangat sedih terhadap pergian Kak. Kami harap boleh berjumpa lagi.” (Sis, I would like to meet you but if they see me with you, I will get my dues. I know what has happened & I pray that you will be able to survive wherever you go. I want to wish you farewell now because I might not be able to tomorrow. We will be at the jetty to see you off but do know that in our hearts, we will always miss you & though we cannot verbally say it, please know that we are very sad with your departure. We hope to meet you again.) There were numerous SMS. By then, even Sam could not control me. This must be my most heartwrenching mission that God has sent me for. Frida helped me pack. Next morning, we hugged & cried some more. I hugged Sam who was to leave the following day. I got onto the boat & as the boat started to sail away, Mol, Moahari & the rest of the 12 workers stood up one by one. They smiled. They nodded in understanding & waved. I put on my sunglasses & waved back as they stood there watching. The peacocks must be glad that this feather-chaser is finally going…..with all their feathers dropped in evasion. Then God said to me that I will be back. And I will. When the evil ones go. My dear friends, leave a light on for me.

Weed Flower

Curl Of Nature

Indigenous Man, Indigenous Friends

Wonder... I came across this man twice, both times while I was driving along the coastal road of Pekan in Pahang. The first time, I drove too fast & missed the opportunity to photograph him. The second time, I decided to make a U-turn & stalk him & his canine friends for a shot. He didn’t have teeth. His companions were oblivious to that. They happily tugged at each other, constantly looking back at this man, walking slowly to his destination. He was scrawny, scruffy & perhaps, hasn’t taken a bath in months. He didn’t look too well fed. I wonder if he has had a meal at all. I usually carry individual packets of biscuits in my car. Sometimes even cakes & cookies. This time, my car was not well stocked as I had made way to transport stuff to the island. I wish I had some food to offer this man. The question that came to mind was, did this man have a place he could rest at night? We all would like to think so but how many of us would actually come forward to offer assistance to homeless people? Why are they homeless in the first place? Anyone missing a parent? He could well be yours. Do you know if your parents are feeling neglected??? I thought about one of my church’s ministry called Urban Food Sharing where all the cellgroups take turns on Saturday afternoons to cook lots of food & serve the urban poor & homeless in the backstreets of Pudu. The little Lorong (street) has become synonymous with people who live in makeshift shelter in cardboard boxes, using newspapers as blankets & plastic bags as rain shield. The homeless aptly calls it Yehso Kai, the Cantonese translation for ‘the street that Jesus lives.’ Our doctors would provide treatment & check ups for them while those present will serve them food & drinks while they open up to anyone who would listen to them. Many are homeless because they have run away from the old folks/nursing home that their children have put them in. To them, it is more dignified to live in cardboard boxes on rooftops than to suffer the humiliation of being thought of as an invalid. They would not contact their children because they feel so rejected. Many have turned to drugs. Some has agreed to go through rehabilitation. Some has not. My dad has not been eating & had been wasting away because he’s frustrated with life. With us probably but he’s never shown it to me. When my sister whom we have not seen for 6 years flew back from the States to see him, I made arrangements for Sam to hold the fort on the island. I needed to see my ‘big (used to be tyrant) sister’ whom I miss very much & was hoping that we would be able to talk him into eating. Just the night before leaving, Sam received news that his father did not regain consciousness after a heart bypass. My heart sank. With the mounting operational difficulties & tussle with the resort, having both our fathers in dire straits made us see that the trial is not over. We cried & cried out to the Lord that night. Equipment breakdown we can fix but life going out of a person, we can’t fix. I made frantic calls to friends in the same trade to come take over the fort so that Sam can return to see his father too. Several pleas later, Peter agreed to come & help us out for the weekend. So we headed home. Now two weeks later, my dad is starting to eat & Sam’s dad just came out of coma albeit a stroke in the midst of the operation that left him half paralysed. Our cries to God had been heard & answered.

An Owl Visited Me!

Gotcha! Heeheehee!