Thursday, March 16, 2006
I think I'll always remember pulau tioman as the place which cultivated my love for marine life. It's the place where I first held a snake, where I first snorkeled, where I first saw what I thought I'll only see on discovery channel. It was the first time that I realised I could actually bear cats which are stationary but in close proximity. This was a trip of discovery, not only about marine life, flora and fauna, but also about myself. It has been a really enriching trip and I already look forward to stepping on the shores of tioman again. Tioman brought me really close to the environment, opened my eyes up to many things I would never ever see in my entire life if I had not gone for this trip. I learned to be observant about my surroundings. I believe that this situational awareness would help me scale greater heights in my future journeys.
On the last day, when we had our final trek to the turtle sanctuary, Cheryl mentioned that the Malaysian government had plans to bomb the headland near the jurassic park-like forest to build a runway for jumbo jets so as to develop Tioman into a super tourist attraction like Langkawi. That was the part where the turtle sanctuary was, the place where the water and sand were the cleanest and most beautiful, and the place where my wonderful swing was. It was really dismaying to hear that the government had already sent people down to tioman to survey the area and make further plans for the runway. I think something they forgot to consider was that without the beautiful coral reefs which provide homes for many many sea organisms, it would be detrimental to the tourism of the tioman. The island should be left alone as it is and definitely should not be commercialised. The natural beauty of the place was the main attraction of the entire place. Nothing, not even a superb runway can take the place of the coral reefs which I have come to love. Nature does not belong to us, humans. We are just a species among millions living on the earth. Every single organism has its own right to live and we should not take things into our own hands and lord our power over all other species to deprive them of their right to survive in this world. Yes, we definitely do have better clockworks in our brains, therefore we should know better than to exploit the environment for our own selfish needs and gains. We should treat everything that nature offers us respectfully, acknowledging the fact that we do not own the planet.
I want to go for the same trip next year and I really really hope that the diversity of the marine life near the island would stay intact as I dont wish to see concrete replacing the colours of the sea.
I miss hearing the sound of the sea as I fall asleep, I miss the sitting by the beach observing squirrels running on tree branches at 6am in the morning, I miss the morning walks, I miss patrick's nagging at me to eat dinner, I miss sitting at the tip of the boat, I miss dipping in the rock pool and getting freezing cold, I miss nemo, I miss the beautiful corals beneath the water surface, I miss cheryl and gert, I miss mrs fahy, I miss the furry cute sea cucumbers, I miss my barnacle group mates, I miss getting dirty and wet in the mangrove, I even miss seeing the cats running around the island, I miss eating ramly burger and ice kachang everyday and most of all, I miss the one of the colours of the sea that we named barney. Its our colour. I dont think I will forget that colour for very very long.
I love Tioman. I really do.
my stand.
x8:33 PM
Thursday, March 16, 2006
I think I'll always remember pulau tioman as the place which cultivated my love for marine life. It's the place where I first held a snake, where I first snorkeled, where I first saw what I thought I'll only see on discovery channel. It was the first time that I realised I could actually bear cats which are stationary but in close proximity. This was a trip of discovery, not only about marine life, flora and fauna, but also about myself. It has been a really enriching trip and I already look forward to stepping on the shores of tioman again. Tioman brought me really close to the environment, opened my eyes up to many things I would never ever see in my entire life if I had not gone for this trip. I learned to be observant about my surroundings. I believe that this situational awareness would help me scale greater heights in my future journeys.
On the last day, when we had our final trek to the turtle sanctuary, Cheryl mentioned that the Malaysian government had plans to bomb the headland near the jurassic park-like forest to build a runway for jumbo jets so as to develop Tioman into a super tourist attraction like Langkawi. That was the part where the turtle sanctuary was, the place where the water and sand were the cleanest and most beautiful, and the place where my wonderful swing was. It was really dismaying to hear that the government had already sent people down to tioman to survey the area and make further plans for the runway. I think something they forgot to consider was that without the beautiful coral reefs which provide homes for many many sea organisms, it would be detrimental to the tourism of the tioman. The island should be left alone as it is and definitely should not be commercialised. The natural beauty of the place was the main attraction of the entire place. Nothing, not even a superb runway can take the place of the coral reefs which I have come to love. Nature does not belong to us, humans. We are just a species among millions living on the earth. Every single organism has its own right to live and we should not take things into our own hands and lord our power over all other species to deprive them of their right to survive in this world. Yes, we definitely do have better clockworks in our brains, therefore we should know better than to exploit the environment for our own selfish needs and gains. We should treat everything that nature offers us respectfully, acknowledging the fact that we do not own the planet.
I want to go for the same trip next year and I really really hope that the diversity of the marine life near the island would stay intact as I dont wish to see concrete replacing the colours of the sea.
I miss hearing the sound of the sea as I fall asleep, I miss the sitting by the beach observing squirrels running on tree branches at 6am in the morning, I miss the morning walks, I miss patrick's nagging at me to eat dinner, I miss sitting at the tip of the boat, I miss dipping in the rock pool and getting freezing cold, I miss nemo, I miss the beautiful corals beneath the water surface, I miss cheryl and gert, I miss mrs fahy, I miss the furry cute sea cucumbers, I miss my barnacle group mates, I miss getting dirty and wet in the mangrove, I even miss seeing the cats running around the island, I miss eating ramly burger and ice kachang everyday and most of all, I miss the one of the colours of the sea that we named barney. Its our colour. I dont think I will forget that colour for very very long.
I love Tioman. I really do.
my stand.
x8:33 PM
