THE VICTOR AND THE
VANQUISH OF PULAU PERAK
Pulau Perak is a small rocky island which constitutes the
westernmost extremity of Malaysian territory.
The island is a granite rock that rises from the Strait
of Malacca. Pulau Perak is
part of the Kedah State and its size is less than 1 kilometer square which lies
in the coordinates of 5 40’ 50” N
98 56’ 27’ E.
My knowledge on Pulau Perak is limited to the tale of my late grand
father who used to tell me there was a shining silvery island just a few hours
journey from Penang by sea. During his pilgrimage journey to Mecca with
the ship Chosun in the early sixties, he saw a marvelous scene of sea gulls flocking
to the island which made the island appeared to be shining white in the morning
horizon.
It reminisced my memory of Pulau Perak when Tan Sri Sanusi Junid,
the then Menteri Besar suggested that we should put a sign on Pulau Perak that
symbolized the island belongs to the State of Kedah.
The Director of Kedah State
Economic Planning Unit was assigned to
prepare the appropriate sign board and other necessities for the intended epic journey to reaffirm our State’ sovereignty on
Pulau Perak. LADA was very generous in providing us with the Lada’s newest Catamaran
which has an average speed of 35 knots.
While the Kedah Police agreed to provide a Police Patrol Boat escort for
the journey.
At precisely 7.30 am on the stipulated day which was on Monday, 4th.
May 1998, about 30 of us boarded the
LADA’s Catarmaran at Kuala Kedah for our journey to Pulau Perak. From my primitive calculation, as the
distance between Kuala Kedah and Pulau Perak is approximately 120 miles, with an average speed of 30 knots, then it
would take us about 4 hours to reach Pulau Perak. The whole entourage consisted of 30 relevant
State and Federal Officers with an ample supplies of food and drinks. The expedition was headed by Y.B. Dato’ Haji
Ismail Shafie, the State Secretary who hailed from the District of Baling. The other dignitary was Tan Sri Halil Haji
Mutalib, the Chief Executive Officer of LADA.
Another famous celebrity on board was Dato’ Mohd. Omar Mohamed, the
Director of Land and Mines. Knowing
Dato’ Mohd. Omar Mohamed since 1970, , I
naturally enquired from him whether he could endure the long voyage. Dato’ Mohd. Omar Mohamed replied in the
affirmative that it was his holy duty to
be on the island of Pulau Perak since the he was the custodian of all lands in the whole State of Kedah. Apart from that, he has also armed himself to
the teeth with various precautionary medicines such as anti sea sickness pills,
his favourite Panadol pills and also the biggest bottle of Axe Brand Oil. I
agreed with him whole heartedly on his assumption but at the same time I prayed for the blessing of
Allah for the success of his voyage.
The sea was calm interspersed by rolling waves which hit against the
star-board of the Catamaran. . The rolling waves swayed the Catamaran to the
tune of Michael Buble’s Sway. After one hour of our voyage, the well
informed voice of Dato’ Mohd. Omar suddenly disappeared into thin air. His prowess on the road with his jogging
endurance together with his full arsenals of medicine proved futile against the
gentle rolling waves of the mighty sea. Then I realized that he has succumbed to sea
sickness and he was just lying down timidly
on the boat’s seat.
When we arrived at the vicinity of Pulau Perak after four hours of
voyage, I woke him up whether he wanted to have a look at the island or rather if
he wanted to lay his stake on the island.
Dato’ Mohd. Omar replied politely that he was really down and persuaded
us to let him recuperate in peace with his agony of sea sickness. Everybody on the boat sympathized with the
fate of Dato’ Mohd. Omar who has endured the long epic voyage but sadly he
could not share the feeling of ecstasy of having been to Pulau Perak with the rest of
the entourage.
Grateful to the blessing of Allah, the main mission of the journey
was accomplished when the duo of Dato’ Haji Ismail Hamid (Distict Officer of
Langkawi) and Mohammed Che Nai (Director of Kedah Sport Council) has managed to
scale up the island and immortalized the sign board that stated that “Pulau
Perak is a territory of Kedah until infinity”.
Congratulations to the victors who
has accomplished our main mission to reaffirm our State’s sovereignty on the island of Pulau Perak. We sympathized with the vanquish but we all
raised our hat to Dato’ Mohd. Omar for having the perseverance to complete the journey back in one piece and
was able to continue his daily jogging routine the next day.
Looking back at the episode, I assumed that the environments of your
origin is the main factor that determine your sea worthiness. Dato’ Mohd. Omar who was bogged down with sea
sickness hailed from the District of Sik
which has small streams’ (charok) environment. Whereas
Dato’ Ismail Shafie and Mohamad Che Nai hailed from the District of
Baling which has estuaries’ (kuala) environment which has a wider perspective
on water bodies. On the other hand, I
hailed from the District of Kubang Pasu which has islands’ (pulau) environment. To prove my point on the sea worthiness
determining factor among the four of us,
please refer to the list below:.
Sik District Baling District Kubang Pasu District
Charok Kit Kuala
Ketil Pulau
Nyior
Charok Damar Kuala Pegang Pulau
Ketam
Charok Sireh Kuala Menora Pulau Timbul
Charok Padang Kuala Kuang Pulau
Pisang
Charok Kemuning Kuala Sedim Pulau Maharaja
Charok Tala Kuala
Merah
Charok Tok Uban Kuala
Temekah
Charok Pelanduk Kuala
Cahaya
Charok Tualang Kuala
Darak
Charok Tenang Kuala Samak
Charok Senduk Kuala
Bakong
Charok Pisang Kuala
Nau
FROM GOGGLES PULAU PERAK: Coordinates: 5 40’ 50” N 98
56’ 27” E
Pulau Perak from a
distance of 5 miles
