The Island....part 4

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting....


With the unforeseen delay in the departure date, Panjang made an unscheduled visit from UM, he was "kidnapped" from the bus station and left to our whimps and fancies. All of us went about our daily routine, Pin Kee to "Murky Water", Manipal & Ular to Taman Sin, and Possum to the "Edge of Sand". There was no certain timing for our next attempt, but the excitement was already drumming uncontrollably within our nerves. *for those who grew up in Malacca you should know these places without doing much thinking.

While all were busy with their scheduled loitering, I found myself tied to the four corners of the garden with beautiful sin. Yet again another sleepless night trying to do what rabbits do best , and by time all reserves were drained, one could hear some revving of the engines from Manipal's trusty Corolla and the time was already 5:30AM!! & I was rested between sweet plush pillows, To add to the dilemma, how does one break the shackles of sin. Anyway, with the sound of the Corrola, it was the calling and I gathered all focus to leave with the disapproval from sin itself. It was a pleasant surprise to see Panjang,we have managed to blackmail him into joining the crew. Prior departure, we had equipt ourselves with the necessary provision, "Cangkuls", few loafs of bread, 4 bottles of water, mum's Olympus camera, and of course sex with Dunhill, 2 packs of it.

Upon arrival at Padang Temu, there were no gusty winds or heavy down pour to tame our spirits, Pin Kee backed down & reassured us he would be assigned the honourable duty of being the designated "shore emergency response team", but in any case there was still the 5 of us. Manipal, Ular, Possum, Panjang & Me. Without much thought, we gathered all the necessities, rubbed off our sleepy, beady eyes and began to PUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!!


It was through some luck that the tide was on our side, High tide meant we did not have to thread along too much mud. Soon enough, after some manouevering across the jagged edge with our bare feet, we were afloat!! However, the dreadful consequences of too much development, just made our shores very shallow..... we just kept pushing and pushing and after some distance there was enough water for an "under keel clearance" . Even for those baboons who could not swim, they some how began to figure out the fundamentals of floating. We just kept on laughing & laughing, at times some climbed up the raft and the few good swimmers began to pedal. Yet again the morning greetings from sunrise made us sit in utter amazement. Progress was slow but good, from time to time we realized tiny electric shocks which quietly caught and jolted our soles while threading the sea. We took no heed of it, and continued on our journey.


The irony of our planned route was that after 2 years of sailing under Manipal'e belt, he was an absolutely useless fool in his assessment of tides and timing, surely there should have been some sort of perusal on his side, we have been threading water for a good hour plus, the Island was nearing, but we kept drifting away from our course line, we unknowing drifted closer to Pulau Besar. The Mystical Island which is surrounded by rich legends & myths, the Seven Princess from India, a fisherman 's love story with the Princess of Malacca , Jin Princess Stabbing husband with pins and much more baffling incidents. (which befits the hour long drama on RTM)



The sun's altitude was already up, and soon the party atmosphere was beginning to tire. Subjecting to laziness, we made good use of the "cangkul" and our "feet" to paddle our way on course. But all efforts were futile and tiring. Possum and I began our strategy of pushing the raft while swimming, eventhough he was one crippled swimmer, he hanged on and paddled like crazy. The water leverl had already reached approximately 7 feet, the currents grew slightly bolder, even more effort was needed to tug the raft.
Above: Sleeping Devil, this may have been the jolts under our feet

We managed to loiter about the straits for another hour and soon the sun began to blister our skin. We were clad only with shorts and t-shirt. Then without warning, Possum shifted places with Manipal, the buoyancy of the raft had been largely based on mutual consensus of ballast, the ballast meaning us, the crew... with his sudden decision to change position, and with Ular, Panjang & Me not being informed of the movement, we were caught off guard, the raft took a violent roll, the angle of it just rocked everyone to fall overboard, to the surprise of the non-swimmers, they were soo happy to find themselves actually swimming, everyone began laughing. I was the only surviving crew hanging on for dear life, trying my level best to keep the raft upright & to keep the camera and the ciggies dry, but the buoyancy had run amok.... the raft tilted like the Titanic, laughter grew louder, I was still hanging on the top most part balancing the raft on a 90 degree angle, but sure enough, Neptune wanted a show,and threw one tiny swell which caught me off balance. The raft just slammed itself upside down.... and I had some memorable air time before I hit the water. First thing Ular had to cry out was "AIYO THE DUNHILLs!!".... and I just shoked my head knowing the repercussions of a damaged Camera, I will have to face the wrath Mother !!




All of us were laughing madly, happy to know that we were still in one piece, happy to know the raft was also in one piece, but upside down.... we were just happy!! As I have mentioned, Neptune really wanted a show, so he decided to deploy his army of jellyfish, the verocity of its attacks were beyond vicious, all laugther turned us grown men into screaming bitches , like burning hot whips, they attacked, those innocent, flacid tenticles, just reaped our skin with its venom, this time luck had ran out on us. Our immediate reaction to stay alive allowed us to muster enough reserved strength to upright the raft within seconds, and we frantically climbed onboard to safety and with a wounded crew.... Panjang couldn't stop screaming in pain, for he had gotten the sharp edge of the knife, our minds were lost but yet some were still had the audacity to giggle away. None was spared, but only the two of us had some reaction from the stings, Panjang and me. We rush to nullify Panjang pain, and when we examined under his short, a huge jellyfish was happily rested on his right thigh. He just screamed at the sight not knowing what to do!!! and some of us began laughing again!!With Possum cooling removing the alien creature and examining it with accompanied by a lenghty explanation on it. Somehow we did not realize how sever the problem was. Everyone had surfered some form of attack from the jellyfish, but we managed to shake the pain away & checked if everything "else" was intact particularly our set of balls. The island seemed so near but yet soo far. We were sure to reach it, but another twist was to take place. Panjang began complained of breathing difficulties, this time our giggling and laughter turned cold. The only sound which could be heard was the sea and the breeze. He lay helpless like a fish out of water over Manipal, and the only logic we had was to retard the sting from the jellyfish and the only immediate remedy was the ammonium from our sacks. So without much forethought, Panjang got his remedy, Ular did the pissing, and of course with giggling to follow. *Can't we just stop laughing?



His screaming had simmered into a more painful silence, the fact was Panjang's system was in disarray, and that we were standed, right smack in the middle of the island and shore, we couldn't do anything.(note : no such thing as handphone at that time, even if we had one it would have drowned!!) Time now 9am, 3 hours at sea..... how do we get immediate help? I just sat silently, contemplating to swim back, but everytime my feet grazed the sea, I had a warning through the whips of the jellyfish. We could see help through the form of many fishermen, but they were too far off. What were we to do?? Panjang began to slip into delirium, but with time running out, we began to back paddle, but the current just made our efforts pointless, we were drifting further and further from land, and closer to Pulau Besar.


Next, we summoned our might & yelled for help, while yelling I was still torn between the decision to jump or not to jump!! All the energy of shouting through our lungs was drawing no attention... slowly the crew slipped into the pangs of despair. Despair, but we were being "watched" and one Pakcik on his sampan answered our frantic call for help. Finally a saviour!! But he was amused with our predicament, and offered no help whatsoever, he just circled around us, and his first words "YOU SEMUA BANDUAN KE?!!",*are you all fugitives? (quite apparent statement due to our army styled hairdo) To our shock and disbeleive, he was not here to help, but to mock and remind us the wrath of the sea!! Ular and Possum were quick to explain to him our situation, and we were negotiating ways to get Panjang back for medical attention. The scenario was like the boy who cried wolf, he was not buying any truth that we spoke, and began teasing us by ramming his engine indicating that he was going to leave us to rot!! I stood up, and was ready to jump and highjack his sampan, but with his next question we managed to come to a compromise, "macam mana saya tahu u semua buka banduan, IC tak de ka?" (how would I know if you fellows are not fugitives, no IC?) said with a stern wrinkled up face.(e.g pic on the left) Manipal was the only fool to have brought his wallet which was by now pickled with salt water. He took one glance at the IC and without saying a word threw us a heaving line, and we did instinctly made fast on our dying raft.


What a relief, Panjang was being nursed with piss, and the effects of the sting started to attack my system, but at times like these, we did not need another ailing crew to care of. Pakcik began towing our raft ashore, but after 10 mins we noticed that we had not moved an inch from our initial position. The current was beyond his horse power. Therefore a quick decision was made to off load Panjang, Ular and Possum, while Manipal and I would wait for the Pakcik's return trip.


As we watched them leave, Manipal and I assessed the whole situation from day one of the planning, of course we were already trying to pin point the topling of the raft to Possum's stupidity, I began to lament on the death of the Olympus, he began to laugh and concluded his foolishness of bringing his wallet actually saved us all.... Gradually, the pain was beginning to weakened my withered body. I had no choice, but to administer my OWN ammonium onto myself. After 45 mins the Pakcik returned, while we sat on his sampan we just silently bid our farewell to the raft which kept us afloat. The sun had almost reached its meridian and this time with the venom and heat, it made a perfect spell for hallucination.


The raft was in a distant, and a tinch of sadness engulfed us, and a vow was made to eventually make it to the Island one day. The tide had abated, and the so called beach had turned into the muddy banks. Possum & Pin Kee had already sent Panjang to seek medical attention in the nearby clinics, while Ular waited for us with his laughtered, the rescue mission from the Pakcik had managed to gather some curious onlookers, and you guest it right.... those glue sniffers on bicycles (there is needless point to elaborate here). We thanked the Pakcik many times, and I think I wrote down his Sampan Registration No, with the intention to look for him and thank him.(but never did) He asked for nothing, and quietly went about his way. Manipal managed to manoveur his way through the mud, and as he cleared his pockets, one palm size jellyfish had quietly managed to stay on his backside on the better part of the whole ordeal. Thus laugther was the best medicine...... as for now, we were save.

.......... Do not say I love her for her smile, her look,
her way of speaking gently,
For a trick of thought that falls in well with mine, &
certed brought a sense of ease on such a day.
For these things in themselves,
Beloved may be changed, or change for thee...... from sonnet XIV, E.B Browing.