MH 370 AND THE INDIAN OCEAN

In the eerie silence of the Indian Ocean, a new chapter has emerged in the disturbing saga of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, the plane that disappeared without a trace , left the world searching for answers.

The story of MH370 has become the stuff of modern legend. On March 8, 2017 (11 years ago) the Boeing 777 carrying passengers and crew disappeared from radar screens, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and shattered lives.

"Good night Malalaysian 370" the last message from the cockpit of MH370, the plane that disappeared... remains one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history. Despite years of extensive search efforts, tha aircraft's fate remains unknown and unsolved, adding to the lore of the unexplained phenomena that inhabit the vast and mysterious depths of the Indian Ocean... the 3rd largest ofthe world's five oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2. The Ocean has large marginal, or regional seas, such as the Andaman Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Laccadive Sea.

Malaysia is bounded from the west by Malacca Straits and the Andaman Sea, both connected to the Indian Ocean, and from the east by South China Sea being largest marginal sea in the Pacific Basin...

A scary fact about the Indian Ocean is that it is home to one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history - remember the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami....

My experience of sailing the Indian Ocean in 1985 with KD Mutiara is a memory that is hard to forget..... imaging sailing on a calm sea when suddenly, a massive wave three times the size of the surrounding waves appears without warning... these are what we called rogue waves, and they can reach heights of up to 100 feet. Even the most advanced ships and experienced sailors can fall victim to these unpredictable monsters of the ocean.

Do you know that this ocean hides over three million shipwrecks resting at the bottom of the ocean, from ancient vessels to modern submarines...many of it remain undiscovered... Imaging exploring these underwater graveyards, uncovering the eerie history of our seas...

I still remember, throughout the voyage across this Indian Ocean in 1985 , I always prayed to God that our ship would not be one of the ships that disappeared without a trace in these terrifying oceans... Thank you God....

It is my most memorable ship experience is crossing the Bay of Bengal in Indian Ocean. I've been through some of the rough seas on this planet, and generous share of storms, and ocassionally both at the same time. But this Bay of Bengal, the worst rough seas i ever experienced, everyone gets seasick. I've sailed the ocean half of my life, so i've my fair share of rough seas...smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. A rough day at sea is better than any day in the office.

Life is like the ocean. It can be calm or still, and rough and rigid. But in the end, it is always beautiful.

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, KL 11/3/2025: 12.54 a.m

PERAK : IPOH - A DRINK BY ANY OTHER NAME

SOURCE: THE EDGE

Issue: 30 July 2018

By Petrina Fernandez

Breakfast at any Kopitiam here is often accompanied by a side of kopi-o, a Malaysian black coffee produced by roasting coffee beans with sugar, margarine and wheat. They do things differently up in the north, however, with a unique roasting process that crowned Ipoh among Lonely Planes's Top 3-Best Coffee Towns in Asia earlier this year. 

• Tourists sometimes think that white coffee is so named for white coffee beans native to Malaysia. Of course, no such beans exist. The term doesn't mean the coffee is white in colour, rather the beans are roasted with just margarine and no sugar, resulting in a lighter roast. 
• The caramelised and bitter flavours of the roast are harmonised with sweetened condensed milk for an intense, nuanced wake-up call. 
• Ipoh is among the world's pioneers of white coffee.
• White coffee is also known as pak-ko-pi in Cantonese. 
• Perak was a thriving tin-mining state during the British colonial era in the 19th and early 20th centuries and Ipoh was the base for many tin-mining companies. Hainanese immigrants who worked in the mines were unaccustomed to the deeply bitter flavour of Western coffee and modified its roasting, brewing and stirring techniques according to traditional Nanyang practices to better suit their palate. 
• The mixing of Arabic, Robusta and Liberica coffee beans yields the aromatic almost buttery blend that is the trademark of white coffee. 
• White Coffee gets its name from its common use of milk. 
• First produced in Ipoh's Old Town and famously enjoyed at Sin Yoon Loong Coffee Shop and Nam Heong White Coffee, the recipe has been passed down ghrough the generations since. 
• White coffee enjoys widespread popularity through the country and is also stocked on supermarket shelves as an instant beverage. 
• Kedai Kopi Ah Chow in Ipohserves the caramel-coloured coffee spiked with a dose of liquor splashed into hot or iced orders.
• Old Town Bhd created the Old Town White Coffee chain of cafes, which put a contemporary spin on the traditional kopitiam, also manufacturing and selling its own coffee throughout Malaysia and around the region. Late last year, Old Town Bhd was taken over by Dutch Company Jacobs Douwe Egberts Holding Asia for a consideration of RM1.47 billion.
• Lone Planet place Ipoh alongside Chiang Mai in Thailand and Tokyo in Japan on its list of Top 3 Best Coffee Towns in Asia this year. 

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Hj Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, K.L

19/1/2025: 5.07 p.m

 

SELANGOR - MORIB BEACH MEMORIAL : A MONUMENT TO INDIAN-MALAY RELATIONS DURING WORLD WAR II.

SOURCE: BRITISH MALAYA

The war memorial situated on Morib Beach, Selangor, on the west coast of Malaysia, 60 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur, commemorates the contribution made by Indian troops to the liberation of Malaya from Japanese occupation during World War Two.

On 9 September 2014, on a visit to the site, the High Commissioner of India said the monument was a testimony to the shared military history and events between India and Malaysia, and commemorates the valour and sacrifices of the Indian and Malay soldiers who fought side by side to defend Malaya, many of whom lost their lives.

The erection of the monument, instigated by the late Jacob Mathews, a local teacher, specifically refers to the contribution made by the 46th Indian Beach Group during Operation Zipper. It is maintained by the Malaysian Armed Forces Indian Veterans Welfare Association (MAFIVWA), and the local council, and is witness to a wreath-laying ceremony every year on 9 September, the date of the landings on Morib Beach by Allied forces.

Operation Zipper was the name of the allied plan for the liberation of Malaya by the South-east Asia Command (SEAC) led by Lord Mountbatten, from the Japanese Army and involved amphibious landings at Selangor and Negeri Sembilan to establish beachheads at Morib and Port Dickson.

The plan envisaged landing two divisions on Morib Beach where there were around 1,000 Japanese troops in the vicinity, and once a bridgehead had been established, to proceed on to Kuala Lumpur.

As it transpired, the Japanese Army capitulated in late August 1945 and the invasion at Morib Beach, scheduled for 9 September, was uncontested. However, there were still pockets of resistance spread around Malaya so the landing troops needed to maintain combat readiness.

The invasion at Morib on 9 September 1945 was led by troops of the 23rd and 25th Indian Divisions, part of 34th Corps of the 14th Army. As the inscription on the memorial states, the 46th Indian Beach Group facilitated the landing. Tanks, trucks, jeeps, guns, and supplies together with the troops were loaded aboard landing craft and transported to the beach through the shallow waters. In all, according to the inscription, the amphibious landing comprised 42,651 troops, 3,968 armoured vehicles, and 11,224 tonnes of stores.

There are varying views about the execution of the landing at Morib, some saying it would have been a disaster if it had encountered Japanese resistance; John Gullick, the famous Malaya scholar and writer who served with SEAC criticised the operation stating in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (2012) that the landings at Morib Beach were “the worst shambles I ever experienced during my time in the army.” However, most other writers testify to the successful operation of the landings.

Among the men who landed on Morib Beach on 9 September 1945 was 2nd Lieutenant Zia ul Haq of the 25th Indian Division, who later became the 6th President of Pakistan. On 7 November 1982, together with government officials, he revisited the beach where he landed 37 years previously. Another soldier who landed that day was Ipoh-born Wahab Ghows who later became a judge of the Supreme Court at Singapore.

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18/1/2025: 8.41 p.m

ONCE UPON A TIME IN A SAILOR'S LIFE

Reference: My FB Post dated: 4 October 2020

Travel to me is my livelihood....

Never mind how long precisely with having little or no money at all in my purse, I would be able to see the watery part of the world....

The profession of sailors has been known since time unknown..

My ancestor was once a great seafarer....

The secret behind being successful in the sea is nothing but to keep things as simple as possible....

No matter what, a calm sea never made a skillful sailor.. the art of the sailor is to leave nothing to chance...A skilled sailor did not acquire his skills by sailing only in the seas which are calm...If the sea is always clear and calm then the sailor will not know how to handle a storm when it hits. With every new challenge the sailor encounters, more knowledge and skills are gained…....

We must remember that in order to learn and achieve goals, we must face obstacles.

It is not that it is the ship that ensures a successful voyage. It is always the attribute of the skillful sailor who sails the ship.

As a sailor you will not be defined by how many seas you had sailed and how many ports you had been to.. but you would be defined by how many storms you has overcome.... there are things which we learn when there is a storm....

We cannot control the wind, but we can control the sail....

Remember...the sea has no place for cowards..

Honore de Balzac says, "A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a SAILOR knows the open Sea."

"To reach a port, we must sail-sail, not tie at anchor...Sail, not drift...."

(Franklin D. Roosevelt)

"The strongest stoms make the best sailors"

"A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor"

(Franklin D.Roosevelt)

"The wind and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigator"

(Edmond Gibbon)

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, K.L

16/1/2025: 11.03 p.m

SHIP IS MY HOME, SEA IS MY PLAYGROUND AND WAR IS MY GAME

I joined the Navy when I was 19 years old, apart from wanted to serve my country, I truly wanted to make a difference. I joined the Navy with dreams of seeing exotic places around the world...

Sailor's life is completely an adventurous one, it just like any other job.....Sailor is the one who knows the feelings and emotions of the sea....A rough day at sea is still better than any day in the office..

When I first drafted to the ship in 1981, My petty officer used to say to me that "As a Sailor, Ship is your home, Sea is your playground and war is your game." I always keep that in my mind until I retired in 1996.....

After 16 years serving onboard 9 RMN ships, I had learned that Sea is my country, Ship is my Home, waves are my enemies, war in not my game as I never get involved in the war and duty is My life....

AHOY ! SAILOR

We are sailors, we're rugged, able men of the sea

Braving the oceans to the highest degree

GOOD NIGHT... and sweet dreams.....

THE SHIP I HAD SERVED FROM 1981 - 1992

KD GANAS

1ST SQUADRON FAST ATTACK (MISSILE)

BASE: WOODLANDS, SINGAPORE

3.2.1981 - 27.7.1981

KD RAJA JAROM

32ND SEALIFT SQUADRON

BASE: WOODLANDS, SINGAPORE

18.7.1981 - 28.6.1982

RIVERINE BOAT (LCP, RCP & LCM)

BASE: KD SRI REJANG, SIBU, SARAWAK

28.3.1983 - 24.11.1984

KD PENDEKAR

2ND SQUADRON FAST ATTACT CRAFT (MISSILE)

BASE: MALAYSIAN SHIPYARD ENGINEERING, PASIR GUDANG,JOHOR

25.11.1984 - 5 JANUARY 1985

KD MUTIARA

36TH HYDROGRAPHIC SQUADRON

BASE: LUMUT, PERAK

26.8.1985 - 1 MAY 1986

KD GANYANG

1ST SQUADRON FAST ATTACK CRAFT (MISSILE)

BASE: LUMUT, PERAK

8.9.1986 - 29.3.1987

KD PANAH

14TH SQUADRON PATROL CRAFT

BASE: TG. GELANG, KUANTAN, PAHANG

30.3.1987 - 11.10.1987

KD SRI NEGRI SEMBILAN

12TH SQUADRON PATROL CRAFT

BASE: LUMUT, PERAK

12.10.1987 - 28.3.1988

KD LEKIR

22ND CORVETTE SQUADRON

BASE: LUMUT, PERAK

7.8.1989 - 4.12.1991

RETIRED FROM THE NAVY

15 JANUARY 1996

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, K.L

16/1/2025: 10.23 p.m

NAVY : CROSSING THE EQUATOR

The Equator is significant because it divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemisphere. It is important for navigation. This line sits zero degrees latitute, making it the reference point when travelers, map-makers, or anyone elso needs to determine the latitudinal location of an object on Earth. 

Seafarers life is chock full of myth and tradition, what happen at sea even affects our language. There are many naval traditions dated back hundreds and even thousand of years...Crossing the Equator is one of the naval tradition dates back at least 400 years in western Seafaring... It is a significant events for seafarers, symbolising a rite of passage.

Why would sailors avoid the Equator?

In both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the sailors noticed that there was an area near the Equator where there was little or no wind. Without the wind to move their sail-powered boats, they would sometimes be stuck for days or weeks. They started calling these areas the doldrums,  a low pressure area from 5 degrees North to 5 degrees South of the Equator. Winds are famously calm here, with prevailing breeze disappearing altogether at times, making it extremely difficult to navigate through. It's a place for trade winds to meet other trade winds.

Sailor who had crossed the Equator will be awarded a certificate and they are accepted and be called Shellback.. it is a way for sailors to be tested for their seaworthiness...

While the term given to those sailor who have not crossed the equator before was Pollywogs.

With the pollywog to shellback transition complete, a certificate was often awarded to the new shellback as a rite of passage.

When the ceremonies were first conducted, they were physically challenging and could even be painful or embarrassing to the Sailors. This is a usually light-hearted event that allows the ship's crew to take sometime out from their hectic schedules and have fun with the rest of the crewmates.

Today, the event is voluntary and is conducted more for entertainment purposes and morale boosting than anything else.

I'm not sure whether this tradition is still practiced in the Royal Malaysian Navy... as there are some who do not agree with the practice of this tradition that may conflict with religion...

Wallahualam

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, K.L

16/1/2025: 9.56 p.m

JOIN THE NAVY TO SEE THE WORLD

A Popular phase used by the Navy recruiters, and also often reference in TV shows and movies. Being at sea for a month, far away from family and friends. You will definitely see the world, but remember, 72% of the world is covered by waters.

But is it true if you join the navy you have the opportunity to see the world.....

For some its true... you have the opportunity to visit places you might never had the chance to do without joining the Navy.... while visiting foreign ports, you get to experience different cultures, cuisines and local attractions.

Its also depend on where you are assigned, is you are assigned on a ship at sea, you will visit a number of countries in a short period of time.....

And also some spend their entire career in the Navy and never went to sea on a single navy ship. I have many friends in the Navy who were based on the shore the entire time... and even some was on the ships that never sailed that far... maybe within Asia and not the world so to speak....some do "see the world" but only the sea of Singapore, Australia, Indonesia etc....

For me, when I joined the Navy in the early 80s....the recruiting slogan was "It's not just a job...it's an adventure"....that is what I really LOVE most... an ADVENTURE..... Not that seeing the ocean is a bad thing... it is one of my favorite things actually... through 16 years career in the navy, stationed onboard 9 ships, I did and saw many things that most people never dream of.

Only one thing you need to remember, that 72% of the world is covered by water. You'll see a LOT more of that than anything else!

"AHOY SAILOR...."

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, K.L

16/1/2025: 5.22 p.m