A New Ambience

The campus, almost 300 acres, is split in the middle by a river flowing in the north-south direction. He crossed the river more than twice weekly. The west of the river is dominated by a cultural activity center, engineering, and architecture blocks; the east bank is dominated by a masjid, library, administration and law buildings. The masjid, near the library, sits in the middle, about equidistant from everywhere.
The buildings are big with architecture that can inspire and uplift the spirit. Almost all buildings are of square construction with a courtyard in the middle. Walking through them we can see many perspectives. As he enters a door from one side he can see another across the well-maintained courtyard. That door leads to another wide walkway lined with decorated tiles in Islamic motives. Walkways are never plain, they have motives of some kind.
The masjid, academic, and administration buildings are all situated in a valley. The marhallah or hostels dotted the hills. Perhaps to make it easier for students to walk down to classrooms and harder to go back to their rooms. And so they would spend more time in the library or the many eating places scattered in the campus. Almost every building has its own cafe, and the variety of food available is enriching.
As he drive to the 'valley' every morning he relish the view of the low hanging white cloud lining the green mountainside over the horizon. The sight is refreshing...

Step Back to Step Forward...

Optimization. That is what life is all about. The cost function, that defines the objective of the optimization process, is multitude. Some are to be maximized, others are the opposite, depending on the expected impact of the activities on the final objective.
In general the overall objective is to uplift the standard of living and quality of life, according to individual definitions. Some bounded the definition of life within real life here, others projected that boundary to life hereafter. Whatever that is, in real world, individually we are presented with several choices: what to eat, what to wear, what to do, where to go, to be or not to be, etc.
How do we choose? Again, it is dictated by the need to optimize the cost function to attain some objectives. Objectives that are lined up by us as we traversed life with pre-determined time frames of attainment ranging from very short such as for transient objectives to the longer term ones or even perpetual one. In some cases we need to step back in order to move ahead. While traveling on the road, we sometimes need to slow down to change lane so as to have clear path ahead for moving forward; depending on individual concepts and definitions of what forward means. Truly, the Malaysian roads have a lot of lessons in life to offer, just by driving around. But I guess that must be true for other roads too.
Naturally we should be spending more time and efforts to attain the longer term objective compared to those expended for the short term ones, but this is not always obvious.

The Whole is Like Its Individual Parts

Human ability to design, make and handle complex devices and systems increases by the day. The enormity and complexity of the world we live in today is humongous compared to the centuries we left behind.
Our age is best measured based on daily or yearly basis. The age of humanity is more appropriately measured in decades and centuries. As a person grows old, humankind grows old too, every decades, every centuries. In growing older, from a mere child to a teenager to an adult, a person becomes more adept at handling ever more complicated things and has greater mobility. He/she can travel beyond the confine of his/her village, town, state, and country. Much in the same way, humanity becoming more adept at handling complicated situations and humans can explore places hitherto unexplored - underwater, the sky, outer space.
Except for the difference in timescale the growth path of humanity is strikingly similar to that of a person, its individual constituents. Humanity then, is a person in much much more grander scale.
Do we know the eventuality of humanity? Just look at a person - its miniature "double.

Simple Pleasures of Life...

The amount is not much, mere pittance, but that smile struck him. Nakamora looked at the pizza delivery guy as he made his way to the lift lobby. Nakamora closed the door of the apartment, taking the RM 29.25 meal inside. That was just one of the lazy night to either eat out or cook a meal.
Nakamora gave him RM 30.00 and asked him to keep the balance. Nakamora was sure that it was not a sinister smile. RM 1.00 cannot buy much nowadays. It was a genuine display of pleasure for a gesture of not wanting to be bothered by looking for exact change to return. At times simple things in life - saying thank you or keeping the door open for others after you - can make us happy.

The Garden Below

Close to the end of year is the time for cleaning up, including the computer.. purging orphans and unwanted files, storing important information in CDs, etc. It was during such activity that Nakamora stumbled upon a journal entry he wrote on his first dive at Redang Island at about 8 years ago; and he is sharing it here:
The speedboat eased out into the open seas steadily. Gradually the white sandy beach turned to look more like a mere line and the surrounding islands like series of dots at the horizon. Once at the deeper water the second engine kicked in. The boat sped ahead leaving wakes marking its trail. The line and the dots were now lost, completely hidden from view. It’s a trip back to the mainland.
I sat at the starboard side. My sight traveled to an unknown space beyond the stern, and stayed there. Images of the undersea garden flashed rapidly, vividly, and colorfully in my mind.
The ride was bumpy, but not as bad as the inward journey a few days ago. As the speedboat pounded ahead memories of trips on a dive boat to the dive sites were relived. The pounding was familiar, the engine noise was familiar too; but I was now without the tank, the mask, and the fin. I wished I was, but diving has its own discipline. I had two repetitive 18-meter dives the day before. To fly home today I shouldn’t be diving for at least twelve hours so that excess nitrogen level in the body can decrease. Those dives placed me as Group V divers.
At the end of every dive, divers belong to any of the A to Z groups representing excess nitrogen level in the body, which increases with dive depth and duration. Group Z is the highest. Progressively a diver moves from a higher to a lower group by staying longer at the surface as more nitrogen would be released. Excess nitrogen appears in body tissues as micro bubbles, which would expand in response to pressure reduction such as due to increase in altitude.
***
I recalled my very first dive into the deep end, twelve feet, of a swimming pool during training. That was already deep to me. I had to gather enough courage to jump in with my back facing the water and let my body fall rolling back into the water – the splash back entry. The pool was not deep. It takes only a few kicks to resurface, but as a first timer, the anxiety was always there. Having learned how to handle abnormal situations such as out of air, flooded mask, dislodged regulator, and buoyancy control, hovering, excursion, descending, ascending, remaining afloat, and pressure equalization I found that to be in and under water is quite manageable and interesting.
Despite those trainings anxiety still greeted me, and with heightened levels, as the day to my first dive at sea drew closer. It was hard to silence the inner voice that every so often cast a cloud of doubt. Yes, it was okay at the pool, but now it is going to be 60 feet, five times deeper, the pressure would be much greater, what about the temperature, would I be able to do all the things that I did in the pool. Yes, I wouldn’t be alone, as divers ought not to be, but still I am responsible for my own safety.
***
The day came. It was a beautiful morning. Everybody got ready and boarded the dive boat for a short boat ride to the dive site. Once there one after another we splashed into the sea. The moment I was in the water I inflated the buoyancy control device a bit more. I peeked down and I saw the seabed. It was comforting. It was beautiful. It looked like a faraway settlement seen from above. Meanwhile, the small waves lifted me up and down, turning my stomach inside out much like when riding a roller coaster. After checking buoyancy settings, we descended. Under the surface the waves have little effect. While descending I whispered to myself the rules; breathe deeply and continuously, do not hold your breath, do not ascend faster than your smallest bubble, etc. As I reached the seabed the place looked even more beautiful from close range, but the “test” kept me occupied. The dive and the test went well. I know that I earned the certificate and would be a certified Open Water Diver. With that I gained confidence and was able to enjoy the sights a bit more.
.....
I felt a sense of accomplishment. I noticed an ephemeral smile of the instructor - satisfied of making this bunch of student able to scuba dive. The facial expression seemed similar to some that I have seen before, displayed by dedicated people who take pride in their works at the completion of successful missions
***
The beginning of the last dive however was a bit different. It was in the afternoon and visibility wasn’t very good. All I could see below, as I floated waiting for the rest to enter the water before descending, was a seemingly bottomless deep blue water. I felt alarmed, but regained my composure a moment later. I was able to invoke the rule – never let panic overcome you, stop, think, reason out, take necessary action.
***
It was a significant and an eventful occasion. My view of the underwater world was initially shaped by visits to aquariums, snorkeling trips, and National Geographic documentaries. Its all different now. I was there. I understand it better than before and somehow I feel I can relate to it. At 18 meters below the surface it’s a different world, a new world, a new experience, and a different kind of existence. The corals are so vast in coverage, so diverse in shapes and sizes, and the surroundings are so vibrant and lively in colors. Yet, except for the bubbles and the sound of my own breathing through the regulator it is quiet and serene.
...
The fishes swim peacefully and the plants wave gracefully. It is their home, their playgrounds, their world – the world of marine life that I now come to like much more. And I swam too, among and between them, to explore and to appreciate. The feeling accompanying my realization that I was seeing stingray, angelfish, jellyfish, batfish and the rest in and within their own natural habitats is hard to put in words. I was fascinated and exhilarated. I was also indeed humbled by it all, by the sight and feel of the magnificent garden below that the Creator has let us to enjoy, and yet others are intent at destroying them through uncontrolled and unscrupulous activities in the name of development...
***
The trip back was laden with a heavy heart, but other activities must go on as well. Nonetheless, I take comfort in knowing that now I can have return visits.