Thinking back of my past and present

,,,,,,,and I just loves the sea, the blue sky and the green jungle too.

Just sitting alone by myself and ,,,,,, blogging/bragging opps !!! ,,,,and just doing kind of nothing ,,,,,hahaha,,,,,, What a lazy life style ?.

Guess, I need this relaxing break before getting into my act again-lah.

I wanted to fly like a bird,,,,,,I was a Helicopter Pilot and I commanded 7 x different types of aircrafts to-date.

I wanted to sail across the ocean......I 'master' the ULUMULU, Miri/Labuan/Miri last year.

I wanted to swim like a fish,,,,,I am a Scuba Diver.

I wanted to travel across the World like Marco Polo,,,,,I flew an helicopter all the way from Kerteh, Malaysia to Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom in 1985.

I wanted to be a Cowboy and Red Indian Chief,,,,,,I was in America, at USC and majored in human factor & aviation safety management.

I wanted to ride the iron horse,,,,,I started off with a Norton 500 and ended with an Honda Magna 750.

I wanted to see Kangaroo,,,,,,I was in down under Australia when my 2nd daughter, Nina was in Melbourne for her double Masters.

I wanted a son,,,,,,I got Azrai. ,,,,,,and eldest daughter Elin just called from Australia a few minutes ago,,,,,she with her new job all over the World again,,,,,,like father like daughter ?.

I wanted to serve the King and Country,,,,,,I was in the RMAF for a good 11 x years, with much of active combat support flying and instructing new pilots.

I wanted to contribute and participate in the IT World,,,,,,I co-developed and implemented the GLMS phase 1 & 11 software together with IBS India & Shell Global.

I wanted to know the British that colonized my country,,,,,,I drove/flew across the U.K. and done a short tour with the RAF, plus an qualified RAF Flying Instructor.

I wanted to be a professional civilian aircrew,,,,,,,I got my ATPL and flew offshore with Bristow Helicopters and later with MHS Helicopters.

I wanted to be like JR Erwin as in Dallas,,,,,,,I joined Shell jadi 'orang minyak'-Oilman for 22 years !.

I wanted to help others,,,,,,I was the Chairman of the MSSC for 2 terms during the 1997-8 economic downturn period and assisted thousands of effected staffs and individuals.

I wanted to inter-grade the people of the World,,,,,,,I built the Capt's Longhouse on Kapas Island for it.

I wanted lots of SMILES & LOVING FACES,,,,,,I am finding them every where and lots at Kapas Island! ,,,,,,,Meooooowwww. ,,,,,,I nowadays collect strays & others too !!!!!!. hehehe

I wanted to be like the Hollywood Pirate !!!!!!!,,,,,,,,I guess am now one yaaaa?,,,,,,,,,YOO HO HOO,,,,but don't worry am the happy jolly pirate type and only out to rob your hearts.

I wanted my "Freedom" again,,,,,,,,guess I now can do whatever, wherever and ,,,,,,forever as long its lawful lah.


Capt.

Life style at Capt's Longhouse

Relax,,,,take it easy !

Live life and,,,,,,be happy.

Just take a walk along the beach, feel the breeze, smell the freshness and hear the waves.

In fact, am trying to download some pictures but unfortunately the connection is too poor,,,,,,sorry mates, will try again later. But will keep on up-dating with pics.

Today is my 24th days in retirement,,,,,,,,,been doing nothing and just being lazy. Geeee,,,,,its so boring and I just can't wait to get back to doing something healthy plus challenging. Indeed there are lots of things to do but am just pampering myself for a change. All my life doing things, so why not just do nothing ?.

No one to answer to,,,,,,,no more 'yes sir '/ 'no sir' three bags fool.

Now life is a BIG holiday for me and all of you on the island,,,,,,,until your boat come back for you ,,,,,,hahaha.

Just want the island to myself,,,,,,,,,yoo ho hoo and ,,,,,,,,,,FREEDOM again at last.

o.k.,,,,till next time,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,bye for now.

Captain @ KapasPirateKing

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. caput, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus), a chief or leader, in various connexions, but particularly a grade officer in the army or navy.
At sea the name of captain is given to all who command ships whether they belong to the military navy of their country or not, or whether they hold the substantive rank or not. Thus a lieutenant when in command of a vessel is addressed as captain.
In France a naval lieutenant is addressed as mon capitaine, because he has that comparative rank in the army. The master of a merchant ship is known as her captain. But the name is also used in the strict sense of foreman, or head man, to describe many of the minor or "petty" officers of a British or American man-of-war - the captain of a top, of the forecastle, or of a gun. The title. "post captain" in the British navy means simply full captain, and is the equivalent of the French capitaine de vaisseau. It had its origin in the fact that captains appointed to a ship of twenty guns and upwards were included in, or "posted" on, the permanent list of captains from among whom the admirals were chosen. The captain of the fleet is an officer who acts as chief of the staff to an admiral commanding a large force. The position is equivalent to flag rank, but is held by a captain. Staff captain is the highest grade of the officers entrusted with the navigation of a ship or fleet.
The military rank of captain (Fr. capitaine, Ger. Hauptmann, or in the cavalry, Rittmeister), which was formerly the title of an officer of high rank corresponding to the modern general officer or colonel, has with the gradual subdivision and articulation of armies, come to be applied to the commanders of companies or squadrons, and in general to officers of the grade equivalent to this command (see Officers).

The Malay Peninsula

MALAY PENINSULA (called by the Malays Tanah Malayu, i.e. the Malay Land), a lozenge-shaped strip of land projecting into the China Sea, and forming the most southerly portion of the continent of Asia. Geographically, the peninsula begins at the isthmus of Kra, io° N., at which point it is only between 60 and 70 m. in width, and the distance from sea to sea is further diminished by a large irregular salt-water inlet. Politically and anthropologically, however, this upper portion must be regarded as a continuation of the kingdom of Siam rather than as a section of Malaya. From the isthmus of Kra the peninsula extends south with a general inclination towards the east, the most southerly point being Tanjong Bulus in 1° 162' N. A line drawn diagonally down the centre from the isthmus of Kra to Cape Romania (Ramunya) gives the extreme length at about 750 miles. The breadth at the widest point, from Tanjong Pen-unjut in Trengganu to Tanjong Hantu in the Dindings territory, is about 200 m. The area is estimated at about 70,000 sq. m. The peninsula is bounded on the N. by Siam, on the S. by the island and strait of Singapore, on the E. by the China Sea, and on the W. by the Strait of Malacca.

Just 27 days to Retirement.

To whom it may concern,

Am still entitled to 8 days leaves but will not be taking any until my final day on 31st Dec'08. Also have some ECC entitlement off days earned to-date.
Helen, Would appreciate if you can advise HR that I will be selling off my annual and ECC leaves days back to the Company.

Oooohhhh Yes,,,,,,,see picture of sailing boat built in Pulau Duyong, Terengganu. Guess who is the dark fellow at the helm ?. My 'yoo ho hoo' days are back again-lah.

Note; Thanks everyone for the interesting work/play experience with you guys !. Just drop in to Pulau Kapas one of these days to say hello to this oldman on the island. I will finally retire as a fisherman and watch the sun rise & sun set everyday for the rest of my life. Catching fish to earn my living as well as opening my home as a guest house or home stay for travellers would be my final destination. Being a beach bum come pirate has always been my dream life style !.

Hope to be closer to the BIG Boss, once am back alone in the middle of nowhere onboard the island or my fishing boat. Life had been most interesting on the main land and in particular in Sarawak !. The people here are just great and I will indeed miss all of you, especially those in skirts and hot pants. Just kidding-lah.

Anyhow, I will still be coming back to Sarawak very often since my wife and son will remain here until my son finishes his schooling here in Miri. Both my daughters had their secondary schooling in Miri and that their basic education/exposure have done them good. Somehow, the schooling plus culture in Sarawak had made them a better Malaysian since the issue of race or religion shall not be a factor in their life.

OK guys,,,,,,,bye !.,,,,,,,,,Kita Boleh.

Capt. KapasPirateKing

Back to Kapas Island after the 2008 Market Crash.

just back to paradise,,,,,,,,,kapas island.

hi guys,,,,

hoped that you guys had followed my earlier advise to sell just before the market crash !!!,,,in fact, I managed to recover from loosing too much myself. .....Darm,,,,was just a bit late but not too late in disposing my stocks & shares. However still lost about 28% of my total investment to-date.
Should have retired much earlier-lah, i.e. way back in 2006 but unfortunately kept myself busy playing around with the market since I was so called gainfully employed and in constant contact with Investors and Investment opportunities,,,,geeeee if only I had retired as planned and cut-off any link with the out-side World then.
Anyhow, am now preparing for some interesting yet hard survival life style back on Kapas Island and will be there during the existing monsoon season which will last until end Feb' every year.
Had stayed on the island many years ago during the monsoon season with my workers while building the Capt's Longhouse. Ferried across not less than 70 tons of timber and building materials ,,,,,,,yaaa but my body was much younger then too. Now, I have to again bring across many many tons of building materials,,,,and may hire a barge this time round with a forklift rather than using manual strength as done before.
Whatever, I will be looking forward to this new project of mine i.e. to built a mini Malaysia village onboard the island. Guess the 'slowly slowly catch the monkey',,,,,strategy should work but guess the monkey would somehow turned up as a gorilla as per many times from past experience !.
Keep track of my blog if you guys are really interested to know more about the old pirate at Kapas Island since I hope to keep it up-dated & current there.

Hi again,,,,

I have a bone to pick with Shell Malaysia because the Company had clawed back from the Company's Retirement Benefit Fund (RBF) all the amount that the Company contributed plus interest into my EPF fund. As such, here itself I lost another approx. RM750K which we are now fighting against the Company in the Federal Court.
Talking about Pirates,,,,now I know where this pirate mentality comes from. Am working with one-lah.
Fixed Deposit itself might not be safe if the Bank is not stable !. Bonds worst still. Stocks and Shares not recommended at all at this time of day.
Guess, am thinking of investing in a fishing boat,,,,,some kind of liveonboard plus fish for food lifestyle i.e.,,,,,,,,,after being on the island for too long ?. In fact, island living is almost similar if am not wrong to liveonboard.
Am also stuck with properties,,,,,,not able to sell at the price am asking for. What to do ??? Relax-lah,,,take it easy.

Yes,,,,,its the Pirate lifestyle that awaits me !!!!!!,,,,,,,beware the PirateKing of South China Sea will be back alive and kicking.

Yo Ho Hoo.

Islands off Trengganu from one Mr Trengganuman

ISLANDS IN THE SUN
Now to the subject of islands in the South China Sea off Trengganu kita. ,,,,,,,,, Ok, lets start from Kuala Terengganu. The capital is always a good place to start anything. There is a pulau right in town. It is called Pulau Kambing even though only one part of it has a large body of water which is the Terengganu river. Probably a long time ago, it was an island and inhabited by goats. (Indeed there is a new island off pulau duyong, being built up after deeping of the trengganu river recently, where-by many goats are living happily) Pulau Kambing now is the "industrial" part of the town with factories and godowns. The first ice factory is near here.

Further up we have the sweetest island in Trengganu, Pulau Manis. We also have the lightest island in the state, Pulau Sekati. The metric system hasn't affected its name. Nobody wants to call the island Pulau Sekilo.

Then we have Pulau Rusa. In the coffee shops of Kedai Payang they are still debating whether to translate this "island" as Deer Island or Lonely Casuarina Island.

In the river opposite Kuala Terengganu we have small islands like Pulau Wang Mbong and Pula Wang Mang named after its owner or the early inhabitant.

Pulau Duyong, the big island nearby, the famous boat-building place was probably named after the mythical mermaid which Terengganu people call ikang duyong. Awi Yellow house is located here.

Now we go past the river mouth and if you look right, you can see Pulau Kapas (where the infamous Kapas Pirate King stays nowadays after his Sarawak sting) and a smaller sibling, Pulau Gemia. There is no cotton grown on Pulau Kapas. The only cotton you can find would be the cotton buds left behind by untidy visitors. Legends has it that long ago, when the people of Marang looked across the sea, they saw the island (which was unnamed then) covered in soft fluffy white foam. They thought it looked like "kapas" (cotton wool) and they decided to call the island Pulau Kapas. As for the smaller island, there was a gemia ( a thumb-size sour fruit) tree on it so naturally it was known as Pulau Gemia. Afterthe resort was built, the island is sometimes called Gem Isle in advertisments. Sometimes its also known as Sultan's Island, apparently the Royal family has a share and owner of this gem of an island.

Further right, in front of Dungun, there is a bigger island called Pulau Tenggol. I am not sure what "tenggol" means. I am afraid to ask. The island has nice diving spots although the currents can get pretty dangerous sometimes. Perhaps there are many ikan tenggol there too ?.

If you look to the left, you can see many more islands. There is Bidong Laut which used to be a center for Vietnamese refugees. Bidong Darat is a big hill on the mainland, facing it. Old people in Merang used to tell me that the island and the hill are part of the stuff carried on the yoke (kandaran) of Sang Kelembai, a giant. Sang Kelembai dropped the load for inexplicable reasons. One became the island, the other became the hill. Right.

In front of Pulau Bidong is a small island called Pulau Karah. Turtles that Terengganu people call Penyu Karah used to land on this island for maternity reasons. Behind Pulau Bidong are two islands whose waters are infested by sharks of various temperaments. So, they call the island after these creatures. The bigger one is Pulau Yu Besar (Big Shark) and the smaller one Pulau Yu Kecik. Indeed, there are lots of hammerhead sharks there if you are interested about getting to know more about sharks.

To the right of Pulau Bidong ( looking from the mainland) you can see Pulau Redang. For those newsreaders, Redang is pronounced as ray-dung and never rur-dung. They always make me radang with the wrong pronounciation.If you want to pronounce it the native way, say ghe dang. Redang is named after a tree, so I have been told.

Then there is Lang Tengah. There is no Lang Tepi so I have to find out the origin of the name. Maybe it was named after a a midlle-born lang (eagle).

Further up, nearer to Setiu, there is a lump of rock in the sea called Pulau Gelok (The Jar Island.) On a hazy day, it looks like a jar.

Then nearer to Perhentian Island, there is an island still untouched by greedy developers. I used to fish here. Cik Awang, my guide told me the island is called Susu Dara which may or may not mean a virgin's breast. But I hope and pray the island will remain dara (virginal) for a long time. Then nearer to the mainland, just across Bukit Keluang in Besut is Pulau Rhu which used to be our place to stop for prayers during our fishing trips. Pulau Rhu has a lot of snakes and the beach has a lot of dead corals.

The last (but not least) Terengganu island would be Perhentian. Perhentian means a stop, a station. Fishermen used the island as a refuge from bad storms. One of the smaller islands in the Perhentian group is called Pulau Pinang. Do not expect nasi kandar here though.