Tales from the Sea: How Deep is Your Love

Rustam came from a small kampung in the East Coast of Malaysia and his success in getting the scholarship to further his studies in UK was a majestic achievement for the family. He was the calm and most pious among us and kept way from our normal night activities of clubbing and pubs hopping. Normally he will be the one reminding us about prayer and became the Imam. For the first few years in Liverpool and onboard ship he became a vegetarian to avoid the non halal food. I could not help wondering how he is going to cope with the seafaring life where most of the time he will be the only Muslim onboard. I guess his strong faith and inner strength will be the key assets to pull him through.

On his first trip to Far East, Rustam ship called at Cagayan De Oro, Mindanao. The ship was scheduled to stay three days in port loading canned pineapples. The people here were very poor but friendly and happy to see foreigners. After finishing his cargo watch Rustam was given a shore leave along with two other cadets to explore the Cagayan De Oro City. Shore leave has always been the highlight for any port call, its gave the crew the opportunity for sight seeing, shopping and unwinding their stress in whatever way they seemed fit. As Rustam and friends were exploring the city they met with a group of high school girls near the city park. As usual when youngsters met they smiled and giggles at each other and before long became friends. The girls became their tourist guide showing them the city and historic places. Rustam was particularly close with one of the girls named Maria, a beautiful and sweet girl. They parted before sunset and promised to meet again tomorrow afternoon after school. The few days in port gave Rustam and Maria the opportunity to know each other better. Maria was all tears when the ship finally left the port for Singapore while Rustam promised that he will never forget her.

Rustam wrote to Maria from every port and they became very close and attached with each other despite the distance and ocean that separated them apart. At times we shared his happiness when he received parcel from Maria with pages of perfumed letter and tapes of her voice for his ears only. She must be his first love and had become a very important part of his life. In fact after high school Maria wanted to start working to help her family instead of furthering her studies in college. She came from a poor family and could not afford the college fee but Rustam insisted that she pursue her studies and he will support her financially. Without fail every month he sent allotments to Maria to support her studies. This went on for about three years and Maria finally graduated. Their bond and love became stronger then ever and they agreed to get married after getting their family consent. Maria family had no problem to consent their marriage but Rustam family just could not accept it. As the eldest son of the family they expected him to marry a fellow Malay and Muslim. They just could not understand the bond that existed between Rustam and Maria. Being an obedient son Rustam did not want to go against his family and for that he suffered terribly.

He changed drastically from his previous self. He started drinking and enjoyed himself with nightlife that he formally avoided. He became a heavy drinker and this really broke our hearts to see one of our friends melted this way. The worst happened when he decided to marry an English girl named Jane. They got married in UK without informing his family. His marriage with Jane could not bring him back to the path of goodness because she was also a heavy drinker and happy go lucky type. His family was full of sorrow and sadness when they finally knew what has happened to him. They even regretted for not allowing him to marry Maria, but it was all too late. Rustam has two children out his marriage with Jane – Rustam Jr and Rose. He finally decided to work ashore in Malaysia and began to correct his mistakes and lifestyle. He tried very hard to change Jane to be a good wife and Muslim, but then she just could not blend herself with the new environment. His family after realizing their earlier mistakes made all effort to help Jane. However their marriage lasted only for a few years because Jane just could not changed her lifestyle to suit the Malaysian environment. Their differences became further apart and finally Rustam divorced Jane.

He started to pick up the pieces again. He began to give his full devotion to his children and work. By and by his life became more stable with the help from his parents and friends. They helped him to bring up his two children in a proper Muslim way and supported him to come back to his true self. It took a few years for him to finally settle down and married a Malay girl of his choice. They now have three beautiful children.

Like a ship on a voyage, Rustam life took a beating from a heavy storms, but thank God he survived and reached the save port.

Voyage 3 - First Trip

For the seven of us the midnight flight to London was our first experience on a plane but everybody was rather well behaved and excited on our first trip abroad. The service and food on the flight was better then what you get flying MAS today. We landed at Heathrow Airport early in the morning and it was still dark when they took us to our bed and breakfast hotel. It was cold but the heather and excitement of finally in London kept us warm.

Before noon we were taken to the Malaysia Hall to meet Pak Wan the student council. After the registration at MSD we were given a pep talk by Pak Wan for us to keep our focus on our studies and not to be swept away on the new culture and lifestyle that we are going to face in Liverpool. Being fresh and obedient we listened without much questions. We were in London for a few days before taking a train to Liverpool. My quick observations, there were two types of Malaysians in London. One was the very friendly and concerned, especially to us the new comers and they were willing to spend time talking and advising us on the life in UK. The second type was arrogant and unfriendly Malaysians, they will not even response to your greetings or talk to you, maybe they felt that their eyes were already turning blue and hair creeping blond.

We were more then happy to leave London for Liverpool, our final destination. At the Lime St. Station, Liverpool we were received by Cadet Officer Manoharan. He was very angry with me for mistaking him as a porter when I asked him to carry my luggage. Sorry Sir your uniform made you look like a porter.

Anyway we were taken to Aulis the training centre and hostel for Ocean Fleets Ltd the famous and one of the largest shipping companies in UK those days. The facilities and hostel was quite good and the warden friendly. The first few weeks in Liverpool was quite challenging because the local could not understand our English while we were lost on their scouse slang. The only positive part was that all the girls and Mak Cik Salleh there called us “Love” …. How are you Love ….. Charrr Love ….. some of us began to feel that the girls were falling in love with us.

We did go to the Malaysia & Singapore Club at Jermyn St, Liverpool 8 to get the taste of Malay food. The Pak Cik sailors there were very friendly and happy to receive us …. the budding mariners. We kind of remind them of their adventurous and care free sailing days. In fact they started sharing with us their sailing experiences and gave various good tips to survive the sailing life.

After undergoing two months induction course on seamanship and maritime safety we were ready to be sent on board as Midshipman. Three of us were sent MV Flintshire, a Glen Line general cargo ship trading the Far East route. The ship will take us back to Penang, Port Klang, Singapore, Manila, Cebu, Hong Kong, Taiwan and back to Rotterdam and London. Fancy that sailing back to Malaysia just after two months of flying out to London. By now we were clearer on what going to happen to our life for the next ten years. It will takes us about ten years of sandwich courses between college and sea time for us to become a marine professional - Master Mariner or in my words Master of the Sea. In fact two thirds of our time will be spent on board roaming the seas on all types of ships, like Vasco Da Gama, Magellan and Henry the Black @ Panglima Awang in the early days. At College we will be taught on the theory of seamanship, navigation, ship stability, cargo work, shipping business law, meteorology, astronomy, naval architecture, marine engineering etc. While at sea we are expected to put the theory to works. In fact we are going to do a parallel program where at the end we will receive both our academic and professional qualifications. In the end we must be competent to sail the ship to any parts of the world …… takes her pass the storm and depressions to reach the port safe and sound. I know ten years going to be a long voyage but then it’s the route that I have chosen …. So open sea here I come.

The crew of MV Flintshire was all British with the exception of three of us Malaysians. But they were all friendly and professionals, in fact I could say that all seafarers are global people without much prejudice on culture or race. We settled in the half deck behind the ship funnel separated from the crew and officers …. It’s going to be the home for the six of us midshipman for the next four months. Our ship sailed down from English channel to the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, Indian Ocean and finally to the Straits of Malacca before calling Penang and Port Klang.

As a Midshipman, we have double life on board, one as ship crew and the other as budding deck officer. As a crew we have to do all the dirty and heavy jobs like chipping, painting, greasing, washing down the deck, rigging and securing derricks, lashing and securing cargoes and all other jobs that the crew chose not to do. This is what they say learning from right at the bottom ….. some of my friends start to wonder why the hell we were doing all this after scoring good grades in MCE and given multiple choices to study abroad. Have we chosen the wrong course or getting soft??? The other life as budding deck officer wasn’t that bad at all. We put up smart uniform learn how to use all the navigation equipments on the bridge, shoot the sun and stars using sextant to get our ship positions in open seas, practical aspects of ship handling and emergency maneuvers/drills and many other duties including to be an officer and a gentleman.

Before we took off to sea all the six of us helped the crews to secure cargoes on deck and in the holds. Secured the twenty four derricks that we have on board and took the soundings of all tanks and cofferdams on board. It was important to ensure that the ship was fully battened down to face possible bad weather at sea. Any heavy movements of cargo or equipments in bad weather will change the ship stability and may result in the capsizing of the ship. Sailing was not much of a problem to me because of my experience on fishing and passenger boats in Mersing, the difference was that I am now on board a bigger ship and oceans.

The weather was good to us even as we crossed the famous Bay of Biscay but as we entered the Indian Oceans heavy depressions hundreds miles away gave us the taste of wind force 4 to 5 resulting in heavy rolling and pitching to our ship. Our Ship Master Capt. Black Mac was an old sea dog, very serious, competent and highly disciplined. I hardly see him smile and he always talked in a Commanding note. Every Sunday morning he will inspect our half deck wearing his white gloves ….. he just runs his fingers on our deck head and beds ….. if his gloves turn brown or dirty we will all be reprimanded. At times he even lifted out mattresses to see if there is any rubbish down there ….. all this are very unfamiliar to me but surprisingly we all take it in stride and as a challenge to become a good officer.

As we approached Sabang to enter the Straits of Malacca, I could see the glitter and smiles on all the crew faces ….. everybody was joking and laughing as if we were going to a party. The thought of reaching our first port in the Far East after one week at sea was such a wonderful feelings.

VOYAGE 2 - Balik Kampung

Although there nothing much left in Mersing after the demised of my mother but as usual my balik kampung trip has been scheduled for this Raya. In fact we have been doing this family gathering for the past few years quite successfully. This year 10 out of 12 family members came back for the Raya gathering and visiting of our parents graves. Despite its being a simple get together but it has contributed effectively in fostering the brotherhood among us and for our children to get to know each other better. The family house reminds us of our childhoods and growing up together, thus gave a perfect setting for enhancing brotherhood solidarity. Although the old house has been replaced by a modest two story bungalow but the land reminds us of the struggle and hardship that our mother has to go through to win the land through years of court case. Personally I think none of us will be able to withstand the challenge in getting our family home through court case, we would have gave up rather easily from the owner who has gone back on his words on selling the house to us. Of course my mother will not take that nonsense and took her case even up to the Menteri Besar of Johor ……. considering that she was uneducated and won her case …. she was my greatest hero till today. After my father died in 1974 she single handedly became the breadwinner, schooling and feeding us up to university levels. All this sacrifice has made my Mersing trip always a special pilgrimage and fond remembrance of her sacrifice.

Actually my children have always looked forward for the Mersing trip. They need a good kampung and of course Mersing fit the bill well with its good beach, offshore islands and tourism town status. Their favorite Café is by the Mersing jetty where they sell good western foods ala KLs. Of course there was seafood restaurant by the Mersing beach that sells good cheap seafood dishes. The six of us have a field day ordering all that we wanted and the bill came to only RM 73 …. it’s about the cost per head to buaka puasa in KL hotel.

The trip was made more memorable this year when a group of my former primary school classmates came dropping by. I haven’t seen some of them since 1974 !!!! But when we start talking the childhood days seems to be just a short distance away. The old bonding is still very strong and we are just catching up on lost time, filling in the missing episodes of our life journey. Some of my old friends have been very successful despite their lack of paper qualifications. Sharom who used to spend lots of time at coffee shop talking over nothing is now the Permanent Chairman of UMNO Bahagian Mersing and successful businessman. Man Rabun is now the Chairman of Mersing Bumiputera Contractors Association ( MBCA). Waizman a simple dreamy Island boy from Pulau Aur is now a successful contractor and treasurer of the MBCA. Apandi is now the district education officer. Bidin is still working with JKR, while Karim Dol has retired and opens up his own motor workshop. The great thing is that as much as I am proud of their achievements and friendship they look up to me as one of their most successful friends.. We talked until 2 am before calling it a day ….. and of course the next morning another group of friends came by to catch up with old times. My plan to leave Mersing at 10.00 am was delayed to 1.00 pm due the heavy catching up sessions. Definitely my balik kampung trip this year was made more memorable with the old mates catching up sessions.

Of course in Mersing I also met the two marine officers from Marine Department entrusted to carry out the investigation on the Seagull Express ferry that caught fire offshore Pulau Tioman killing 7 passengers. They were under tremendous pressure to come up with a good investigation report and evading official and politicians who solicits news on the progress of the investigation. I guess prevention is always a more effective means of avoiding a tragedy and if you think safety is expensive then try an accident. The case reminds me of my experience in 1984 as Harbour Master of Perak. The ferry boats that cross Telok Intan to Seberang Perak have never complied fully with safety requirements and overloaded at most the times. When I sent my enforcement officer to check on their non compliance, the officers were threatened by the boat operators and chased away. I responded by sending my armed enforcement officers and pulled both of their boats to Jabatan Laut base. Of course two hours after that all hell broke loose because more then 500 passengers were stranded on each side of the river. I got nasty calls from almost everybody, the public, politicians and other government agencies including my boss from the HQs. They claimed that I was causing hardship to the public and I said I loved the people so much that I would not allow them to sail on un seaworthy and overloaded boats that can capsize in the river any time. After a heavy meeting at the District Officer office the boat operators agreed to complied fully to our requirements and we allowed the operations to resume under supervision. At the same time we charged the boat operators in court for their earlier non compliance. I did regular similar enforcement exercise at Lumut and throughout Perak. Looking back I am happy that during my tenure as Harbour Master of Perak there was no single ferry/ boat incident. I guessed after a while the ferry/boat operators realized that I would not compromised on safety and the best alternative for them is to comply to the safety requirements.


We could not leave Mersing without buying some keropok and ikan masin. I bought my keropok and ikan masin at Hj Puteh stalls at Tanjung with good discount. After all the owner was my school mate. The bonus this time includes RM 160 worth of frozen seafood ( 3 kg of Udang Laut, 3 kg of Sotong & Kerapu ) the good price was compliments from my brother network, since most of this good seafood were either sold to Singaporean or restaurant owner in Mersing. I found out that the frozen seafood was fresher and cheaper then those I used to buy at Labuan and Kota Kinabalu.

As usual while I am away the burglar alarms sounded a few times, but my good neighbors Hj Samsuddin and others were always there to ensure that everything was safe. The special guard we employed to look after our neighborhood throughout the Raya break was effective in ensuring the safety and security of our areas. All and all it was great and nostalgic balik kampung trip for us.

MERDEKA 50 - VOYAGE 1

Although I was born before Merdeka but on 1957 I was too young to comprehend or even to capture the epic of Independence. In fact I hardly have any attachments or memories of the first Merdeka celebrations or Batu Pahat where I was born.

I remember Kluang quite well because I was there until primary 4. School was fun and nothing to worry, unlike most of my kids today. I hardly remember learning but then remembered well the time I spent catching fish and birds in the secondary jungle and rubber estates near my neighborhood. Yes we played warfare games with neighboring housing estates – raiding their areas with our “senapang kayu “. Technology ? Yes we did make our own wooden motorcycle that glide down from the hilly roads ….. that was fun and like motorcycle GP at that times. I was so playful that when my family decided to move to Mersing, my teacher gave me 50 sen and advised me to behave myself at my new school - not to bring bad names to my Kluang school.

I remember the early good times in Kluang where my father was quite wealthy with Ford Falcon in our garage and changing cars every now and then. We can have anything that we want and even chauffeured driven to school. My father even brought home the Sultan of Johor car for us to take a ride during his peak business collaboration with the Sultan. But then life is a cycle somehow along the line his business came to the lower ebb and I remember hard times too. We survived but the hard way and both my father and mother have to work hard and live in simplicity.

Naturally in bad time the best place to head is your Kampung …. that why we moved to Mersing. In Mersing we got more attached to my mother family and in fact they were very supportive to my family during the trying times. My mother really work hard to keep the family economy going but then my father was kind of lost despite giving his best to help mother in her restaurant business. Here I was a changed person from the playful and careless person to a more responsible person helping out my mother with her business. I was more serious with education and tend to study harder and became more successful then my elder brothers and sisters. Perhaps hardship is a good stimulant for us to perform better. Coming from a big family of 12, I used to complain to my mother on the performance and poor attitude of some of my siblings. Her words always stick to my mind “ Dalam setandan kelapa bukan semua nya elok ada juga yang tidak menjadi “ I guess reflecting her words I must be thankful that I was chosen to be among the good ones not otherwise. From her words again my duty is to help the other family members who are less fortunate then me.

My child hood in Mersing was less playful and fun, except for the island hopping that I did during the weekends with the tourist boat operators. In fact Pulau Tioman, Pu Besar, Hujung, Tinggi, Rawa and the rest of islands offshore Mersing became my playgrounds.
Since I am not much of a sport man I joined the school theatre group and enjoyed the leading roles I played in school drama. We even represented the district to state level drama competition. I was told off by my teacher to focus on my study and stop the drama antics during my MCE year. Looking back I guessed he cared about me and wanted me to do well in the examinations.

I was lucky my hard work paid off when I passed my MCE with good in 1974 and was offered PSD scholarships to UK. It was quite difficult for me to take up the offer because my father passed away on the same year and I was quite reluctant to leave my mother who had to shoulder the big responsibility to feed and educate six other children under me. Of course being a great mother she could not accept my decision to forgo the scholarship. I finally accepted the offer after my uncle and aunties in Mersing told me that they will help my mother on financial or any issues while I am away. I became part of the Malaysian who benefited from the Government policy to send as many as possible Malay rural students abroad.

When I flew to London in 1974 with six other friends to take up shipping course in Liverpool, I created my first millstones by becoming the first boy from Sekolah Menengah Sri Mersing to further studies abroad after MCE. It was a good bench mark for the school because in the following years few more followed my foot steps. It was a big change from Mersing river to Merseyside Liverpool. The home of the Beatles and Liverpool FC.

…….to be continued.