Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
SCUBA Diving is Saving Cambodia's Reefs by Antonio Graceffo
The fishermen turn away from the blast. After the hand-grenade has exploded, they can simply pick the dead fish off of the top of the water. Hand-grenade fishing is much easier than fishing with nets. But, it is one of the most destructive activities ever envisioned. Not only to the edible fish float to the top, but the blast also kills scores of inedible and endangered fish, as well as completely wrecking the coral reef, which would take decades to regenerate.
Fred, a big, friendly American, who owns the scuba diving tour company, Eco Sea, in Sihanoukvile, was teaching me about the problems threatening the undersea environment, while suiting me up for an environmentally friendly diving expedition.
"Don't worry the boat is equipped with a chemical toilet." said Fred, "Just don’t swim underneath while someone is in the bathroom." He warned.
Wow! Modern diving was more dangerous than I had remembered.
"Nothing is released in the water." Explained Fred, stilling my fears. "But we don’t want you to bang your head on the underside of the boat."
One of the first things I noticed about Eco Sea was that they adhered to all of the same PADI safety standards as I would expect in a first world country. This was no fly-by-night operation. The equipment had all been checked out and tagged as serviceable.
"Can I see your Open Water card?" asked Fred.
I handed him my card, and his eyes got enlarged.
"Nine-teen eighty-three! That was a long time ago." He exclaimed.
"Yes it was." I answered, not really wanting to be reminded of my age.
"You have a lot of experience." He said, testing me.
They probably get a lot of dive cards purchased on the Kaoh San Road in Bangkok, Thailand, right next to the street stalls where you can by a PHD from Harvard for twenty dollars.
"Is this a fake?"
"Someone went to Yale."
"Actually, my card isn't fake. But I only dive about once or twice a year." I explained. "But I still remember which end of the tank the bullets come out."
"We'll keep an eye on you." Said Fred, checking his insurance policy.
"Thanks." I said, taking out my notebook. "Would you mind telling me what other services you have?"
"Well, we have emergency medical training, and carry a massive medical kit."
"Can you do liposuction?" I asked, exposing my belly flab.
"I meant, we could treat anything up to and including trauma."
"My mother didn’t love me, that was very traumatic."
Fred was silent, but his face said, "I don’t blame her."
"We give you lunch and breakfast on the boat." He continued. "And, we offer night dives, certification courses, advanced open water…Really, we can accommodate almost any request."
"How about a kosher vegan meal?"
"Almost any reasonable request." Fred clarified. He threatened to force a pen in my ear, but he backed off when I promised not to write about it.
"For Kosher or Vegan meals you need to call ahead." Said Fred, accommodating me.
I made note in my book … "Call ahead"
"Did I just lose points?" He laughed good naturedly.
"Yes, but it doesn’t have to be permanent."
"What do you mean?"
"Can I have a baseball hat?" I asked, pointing at a very cool black hat, marked ‘'urvivor Cambodia.'
“But there were only thirty of these ever made." he protested.
"Up to you." I said, as an implied threat. "Maybe you are so rich you don’t need any new customers."
Years of working as a union organizer for the Teamsters had taught me a lesson or two. But, Fred knew how to play hardball.
"Ok if you are going to be a baby about it.” He said, handing me the hat.
"And a T-shirt." I added, pushing my luck.
Fred handed me the swag and made some comment about wanting to get back to the interview before he was left wearing a barrel with some shoulder straps.
Due to concerted efforts by the government and NGOs alike, guns are becoming much less common in Cambodia. But hand-grenades seem to pop up more frequently than they did back home. They are common enough that a bar I frequent in Phnom Penh has a sign with a picture of a grenade, with a big red ex through it. "No Grenades Allowed."
I heard from some environmentalists that hand-grenade fishing was pretty common in Cambodia. "Have you come in contact with that?" I asked.
"Yes," answered Fred. "They also do cyanide fishing." He went on to tell me how destructive grenade fishing was to the environment. "Coral needs a very delicate balance to survive." Apparently, Fred felt that blasts of C-4 and shrapnel weren’t exactly the best way to preserve the natural world.
"But in the places where we dive, they stopped fishing. And in the few years that I have been running dive tours, we have actually seen the fish populations increase."
Scuba diving is an environmentally friendly activity. For one thing, divers don’t touch, damage, or otherwise alter the natural world. Second, it is divers who produce all of those great underwater photos, which make us aware of our natural world. None of us was able to care about endangered species like manatees and sea otters until we see photos of the cute little animals, teetering on the brink of extinction. Divers are like the ambassadors of the terrestrial world. They go out, explore the undersea world, gather information, and upon their return, teach us all through the medium of Discovery and National Geographic television. This prompts viewers to donate money or push for legislation, which protects the environment.
"And it is a chain reaction, with direct, positive economic impact to the very fishermen who were displaced by the divers.” Fred explained. “The fish populations in the dive sites increase, reaching a point of saturation. So, the fish move to other areas, where the fishing is still going on, thus increasing the catch.”
Fred knew a lot about the environment, and cared deeply about the preservation of the Earth’s oceans. Eco Dive was a member of Go Eco, an organization, which evaluates and certifies businesses as eco friendly.
Fred was in contact with other people, concerned about the environment. Apparently they would communicate their ideas to one another, and decide how best to proceed.
"A friend of mine is experimenting with a porous ceramic form, which can be dropped into the ocean to promote the growth of new coral reefs." Fred told me.
Unfortunately in developing countries, environmental issues are not the only negative forces impeding the development of eco tourism. Fred also told me great stories about pirates in the waters between the disputed Cambodian islands and Vietnam.
Corruption was also a problem as the tourist police, who I saw sleeping in hammocks on their boat, demanded a bribe of beer.
"It's a tax, not bribe." Corrected Fred.
"Does it go in the general operating fund of the government?" I asked, giving it my own litmus test to determine if it was a tax or a bribe.
"The beer?"
"Maybe they could deposit it in the bank. You’ve heard of liquid assets."
"No, they drink it."
Oh yeah, that’s a bribe. I thought.
Out on the boat, Fred’s business partner, Dive Master Kyoko, ran through two separate safety briefings. Kyoko later told me that she had come from Japan to help promote Japanese tourism in Sihanoukville.
About half of the group were not certified, and had come out to do snorkeling. My guide from Phnom Penh tours, Thavrin, had never been scuba diving or even snorkeling before. But, he could swim, which made him part of an elite minority in Cambodia. Adventure sports are still a new concept in a country where much of the population still lives well below the poverty line. So, I was extremely proud of him when he announced, at the last minute, that he would go out on the boat with us.
I helped him put on the unfamiliar equipment, and just as I thought he would be fine, he spit out his snorkel and tore off his mask.
"The mask is pinching my nose, and I can’t breath," he complained.
"Breath through your mouth," I suggested.
Not fully convinced, he gave the mouth breathing thing a trial run. "I guess that will work," he said. "But won't I get water in my mouth?"
"You’ll need to put the snorkel back in," I instructed.
He was puffing on his snorkel like Cheech Marian and wheezing like Darth Vater when he jumped into the water, and nearly panicked. Thinking fast, Kyoko threw him a buoyancy device. At first, Thavrin clung to it for dear life. But, eventually, he relaxed enough to let go of it. By the end of the day, he was an expert snorkeler.
After we dropped off the snorklers, we headed over to the dive site. On the way, Kyoko warned us that the water was choppy, and that we needed to suit up as fast as possible, or we would get sick. I of course took my time.
Suddenly, I became extremely unwell. Finally, I vomited. The scary thing about vomiting is that you are going to have to put the regulator in your mouth in order to breath. Or maybe the scary thing is that some else is going to have to use that regulator after you. Anyway, all I wanted out of life was to jump in the water, but I couldn’t, till I had finished emptying the contents of my stomach. The nuns back at Catholic school had insisted that we wait a half hour after eating before swimming. How long after vomiting did you have to wait before going scuba diving?
My answer was, immediately. I jumped into the water. My dive partner, Rolf, an eighth year university student from Germany who hadn’t chosen a major yet, jumped in soon after me.
"Did you have to eat rice for breakfast?" He shouted as he surfaced.
"Sorry."
"If you run out of air I am not buddy breathing with you," he warned.
With friends like Rolf…
A man can build a thousand bridges, but hurl one time, and he will be known through history as a hurler.
I released the air from my buoyancy compensator and slowly drifted under the sea, like an old man, easing into bath water. Only a few feet below the surface, we were already oblivious to the violent and choppy waves above.
The boat was leaping two meters in the air. But we were floating, in that amazing and comfortable neutral buoyancy, which makes the undersea world look so unreal.
If you become sea sick your instinct might tell you to cancel your dive. But, that would mean waiting on the boat for forty-five minutes, getting sicker and sicker it is much better to just go ahead and dive.
Under the sea, I saw things I had previously only seen in dive magazines. Barrel sponges, sea cucumbers, sea anemone, large fleshy growths which covered the rocks and turned them into giant brains, and tubular growths, which fed on tiny life forms extracted from the water. There were large barrel sponges, covered with a type of parasitic worm, which swayed in the gentle current, like hair blown in the breeze.
I swam past a large, man-eating Venus flytrap, which slammed shut its vice-like jaw with when an unwary diver swam too close.
Ok, I made that last one up. But I really did see one of those giant monster clams you see in movies. I waited for it to open its lid, to check for debris. It didn’t seem to be the one that ate Tokyo, although, it was clearly related.
The sea anemone, as Fred later explained, was a very interesting life form. It existed in a special symbiotic relationship with the fish that lay their eggs on the anemone to keep them safe. And, in return, the fish eat the parasites, which harm the anemone. Fred explained that the presence of these animals was a sign of a healthy reef.
After we returned from our two dives, Fred and I had a burger, while he told me about his vision for a better, cleaner ocean.
One of the GO ECO criteria was that a business had to be involved in community activities. On this note, Fred organized the first ever beach cleanings in Sihanoukville. Twice annually, he also organizes a reef cleaning. Fred also worked with the department of fishery, helping them to draw maps of the coastline, as well as the reefs themselves. According to Fred, protecting the ocean’s eco system is particularly important in Cambodia, where 60% of the dietary protein comes from fish.
If we all stopped using petrol as of this minute, it would probably have a positive impact on the environment. But, then, how would you get to work? By the same token, you can’t tell the fishermen to stop fishing, because this is how they earn their living. Fred’s idea was to take the fishermen, and train them as dive masters. In fact, one of the two dive-masters on Fred's boat is the first Cambodian dive master ever. And, he used to be a fisherman.
"This way, they can learn about and help to preserve the ocean. At the same time you are giving them a way to make an even better living by being a dive master."
The dive master working for Fred earns a multiple of what he earned before, and can work shorter hours, without risking his life, returning home for dinner each night.
Again, Fred pointed out that fewer fishermen would mean a decrease in competition, and an increase in the size of the fish population. The remaining fishermen could then fish more efficiently and earn more money.
An increase in diving and a reclaiming of the reefs will also increase tourism, bringing a much-needed economic boost to the depressed local economy. "The tourist dollars are definitely helping," Said Fred. "A few years ago, when you came to Sihanoukville, everything was covered in a heavy cloud of dust, because the streets weren’t even paved. Now there are restaurants internet shops, lots of businesses and most of them employ Khmers." Fred believed that there were better schools, and that the life of the average person in Sihanoukvile had improved dramatically. "Tourism could help to save Sihanoukille, and all of Cambodia. But now, they need to get more tourists to visit."
"Do you want me to cut out the part of the story where I threw up?" I asked.
"That might not be a bad idea," said Fred.
The world is running out of firsts. Almost everything has been done. And parts of the world which were once remote are now accessible to day tourists, with Hawaii shorts and cameras. Cambodia is still wild and untapped. And you could be the first person in your scuba club to dive Cambodia.
(http://www.asiantribune.com)
Fred, a big, friendly American, who owns the scuba diving tour company, Eco Sea, in Sihanoukvile, was teaching me about the problems threatening the undersea environment, while suiting me up for an environmentally friendly diving expedition.
"Don't worry the boat is equipped with a chemical toilet." said Fred, "Just don’t swim underneath while someone is in the bathroom." He warned.
Wow! Modern diving was more dangerous than I had remembered.
"Nothing is released in the water." Explained Fred, stilling my fears. "But we don’t want you to bang your head on the underside of the boat."
One of the first things I noticed about Eco Sea was that they adhered to all of the same PADI safety standards as I would expect in a first world country. This was no fly-by-night operation. The equipment had all been checked out and tagged as serviceable.
"Can I see your Open Water card?" asked Fred.
I handed him my card, and his eyes got enlarged.
"Nine-teen eighty-three! That was a long time ago." He exclaimed.
"Yes it was." I answered, not really wanting to be reminded of my age.
"You have a lot of experience." He said, testing me.
They probably get a lot of dive cards purchased on the Kaoh San Road in Bangkok, Thailand, right next to the street stalls where you can by a PHD from Harvard for twenty dollars.
"Is this a fake?"
"Someone went to Yale."
"Actually, my card isn't fake. But I only dive about once or twice a year." I explained. "But I still remember which end of the tank the bullets come out."
"We'll keep an eye on you." Said Fred, checking his insurance policy.
"Thanks." I said, taking out my notebook. "Would you mind telling me what other services you have?"
"Well, we have emergency medical training, and carry a massive medical kit."
"Can you do liposuction?" I asked, exposing my belly flab.
"I meant, we could treat anything up to and including trauma."
"My mother didn’t love me, that was very traumatic."
Fred was silent, but his face said, "I don’t blame her."
"We give you lunch and breakfast on the boat." He continued. "And, we offer night dives, certification courses, advanced open water…Really, we can accommodate almost any request."
"How about a kosher vegan meal?"
"Almost any reasonable request." Fred clarified. He threatened to force a pen in my ear, but he backed off when I promised not to write about it.
"For Kosher or Vegan meals you need to call ahead." Said Fred, accommodating me.
I made note in my book … "Call ahead"
"Did I just lose points?" He laughed good naturedly.
"Yes, but it doesn’t have to be permanent."
"What do you mean?"
"Can I have a baseball hat?" I asked, pointing at a very cool black hat, marked ‘'urvivor Cambodia.'
“But there were only thirty of these ever made." he protested.
"Up to you." I said, as an implied threat. "Maybe you are so rich you don’t need any new customers."
Years of working as a union organizer for the Teamsters had taught me a lesson or two. But, Fred knew how to play hardball.
"Ok if you are going to be a baby about it.” He said, handing me the hat.
"And a T-shirt." I added, pushing my luck.
Fred handed me the swag and made some comment about wanting to get back to the interview before he was left wearing a barrel with some shoulder straps.
Due to concerted efforts by the government and NGOs alike, guns are becoming much less common in Cambodia. But hand-grenades seem to pop up more frequently than they did back home. They are common enough that a bar I frequent in Phnom Penh has a sign with a picture of a grenade, with a big red ex through it. "No Grenades Allowed."
I heard from some environmentalists that hand-grenade fishing was pretty common in Cambodia. "Have you come in contact with that?" I asked.
"Yes," answered Fred. "They also do cyanide fishing." He went on to tell me how destructive grenade fishing was to the environment. "Coral needs a very delicate balance to survive." Apparently, Fred felt that blasts of C-4 and shrapnel weren’t exactly the best way to preserve the natural world.
"But in the places where we dive, they stopped fishing. And in the few years that I have been running dive tours, we have actually seen the fish populations increase."
Scuba diving is an environmentally friendly activity. For one thing, divers don’t touch, damage, or otherwise alter the natural world. Second, it is divers who produce all of those great underwater photos, which make us aware of our natural world. None of us was able to care about endangered species like manatees and sea otters until we see photos of the cute little animals, teetering on the brink of extinction. Divers are like the ambassadors of the terrestrial world. They go out, explore the undersea world, gather information, and upon their return, teach us all through the medium of Discovery and National Geographic television. This prompts viewers to donate money or push for legislation, which protects the environment.
"And it is a chain reaction, with direct, positive economic impact to the very fishermen who were displaced by the divers.” Fred explained. “The fish populations in the dive sites increase, reaching a point of saturation. So, the fish move to other areas, where the fishing is still going on, thus increasing the catch.”
Fred knew a lot about the environment, and cared deeply about the preservation of the Earth’s oceans. Eco Dive was a member of Go Eco, an organization, which evaluates and certifies businesses as eco friendly.
Fred was in contact with other people, concerned about the environment. Apparently they would communicate their ideas to one another, and decide how best to proceed.
"A friend of mine is experimenting with a porous ceramic form, which can be dropped into the ocean to promote the growth of new coral reefs." Fred told me.
Unfortunately in developing countries, environmental issues are not the only negative forces impeding the development of eco tourism. Fred also told me great stories about pirates in the waters between the disputed Cambodian islands and Vietnam.
Corruption was also a problem as the tourist police, who I saw sleeping in hammocks on their boat, demanded a bribe of beer.
"It's a tax, not bribe." Corrected Fred.
"Does it go in the general operating fund of the government?" I asked, giving it my own litmus test to determine if it was a tax or a bribe.
"The beer?"
"Maybe they could deposit it in the bank. You’ve heard of liquid assets."
"No, they drink it."
Oh yeah, that’s a bribe. I thought.
Out on the boat, Fred’s business partner, Dive Master Kyoko, ran through two separate safety briefings. Kyoko later told me that she had come from Japan to help promote Japanese tourism in Sihanoukville.
About half of the group were not certified, and had come out to do snorkeling. My guide from Phnom Penh tours, Thavrin, had never been scuba diving or even snorkeling before. But, he could swim, which made him part of an elite minority in Cambodia. Adventure sports are still a new concept in a country where much of the population still lives well below the poverty line. So, I was extremely proud of him when he announced, at the last minute, that he would go out on the boat with us.
I helped him put on the unfamiliar equipment, and just as I thought he would be fine, he spit out his snorkel and tore off his mask.
"The mask is pinching my nose, and I can’t breath," he complained.
"Breath through your mouth," I suggested.
Not fully convinced, he gave the mouth breathing thing a trial run. "I guess that will work," he said. "But won't I get water in my mouth?"
"You’ll need to put the snorkel back in," I instructed.
He was puffing on his snorkel like Cheech Marian and wheezing like Darth Vater when he jumped into the water, and nearly panicked. Thinking fast, Kyoko threw him a buoyancy device. At first, Thavrin clung to it for dear life. But, eventually, he relaxed enough to let go of it. By the end of the day, he was an expert snorkeler.
After we dropped off the snorklers, we headed over to the dive site. On the way, Kyoko warned us that the water was choppy, and that we needed to suit up as fast as possible, or we would get sick. I of course took my time.
Suddenly, I became extremely unwell. Finally, I vomited. The scary thing about vomiting is that you are going to have to put the regulator in your mouth in order to breath. Or maybe the scary thing is that some else is going to have to use that regulator after you. Anyway, all I wanted out of life was to jump in the water, but I couldn’t, till I had finished emptying the contents of my stomach. The nuns back at Catholic school had insisted that we wait a half hour after eating before swimming. How long after vomiting did you have to wait before going scuba diving?
My answer was, immediately. I jumped into the water. My dive partner, Rolf, an eighth year university student from Germany who hadn’t chosen a major yet, jumped in soon after me.
"Did you have to eat rice for breakfast?" He shouted as he surfaced.
"Sorry."
"If you run out of air I am not buddy breathing with you," he warned.
With friends like Rolf…
A man can build a thousand bridges, but hurl one time, and he will be known through history as a hurler.
I released the air from my buoyancy compensator and slowly drifted under the sea, like an old man, easing into bath water. Only a few feet below the surface, we were already oblivious to the violent and choppy waves above.
The boat was leaping two meters in the air. But we were floating, in that amazing and comfortable neutral buoyancy, which makes the undersea world look so unreal.
If you become sea sick your instinct might tell you to cancel your dive. But, that would mean waiting on the boat for forty-five minutes, getting sicker and sicker it is much better to just go ahead and dive.
Under the sea, I saw things I had previously only seen in dive magazines. Barrel sponges, sea cucumbers, sea anemone, large fleshy growths which covered the rocks and turned them into giant brains, and tubular growths, which fed on tiny life forms extracted from the water. There were large barrel sponges, covered with a type of parasitic worm, which swayed in the gentle current, like hair blown in the breeze.
I swam past a large, man-eating Venus flytrap, which slammed shut its vice-like jaw with when an unwary diver swam too close.
Ok, I made that last one up. But I really did see one of those giant monster clams you see in movies. I waited for it to open its lid, to check for debris. It didn’t seem to be the one that ate Tokyo, although, it was clearly related.
The sea anemone, as Fred later explained, was a very interesting life form. It existed in a special symbiotic relationship with the fish that lay their eggs on the anemone to keep them safe. And, in return, the fish eat the parasites, which harm the anemone. Fred explained that the presence of these animals was a sign of a healthy reef.
After we returned from our two dives, Fred and I had a burger, while he told me about his vision for a better, cleaner ocean.
One of the GO ECO criteria was that a business had to be involved in community activities. On this note, Fred organized the first ever beach cleanings in Sihanoukville. Twice annually, he also organizes a reef cleaning. Fred also worked with the department of fishery, helping them to draw maps of the coastline, as well as the reefs themselves. According to Fred, protecting the ocean’s eco system is particularly important in Cambodia, where 60% of the dietary protein comes from fish.
If we all stopped using petrol as of this minute, it would probably have a positive impact on the environment. But, then, how would you get to work? By the same token, you can’t tell the fishermen to stop fishing, because this is how they earn their living. Fred’s idea was to take the fishermen, and train them as dive masters. In fact, one of the two dive-masters on Fred's boat is the first Cambodian dive master ever. And, he used to be a fisherman.
"This way, they can learn about and help to preserve the ocean. At the same time you are giving them a way to make an even better living by being a dive master."
The dive master working for Fred earns a multiple of what he earned before, and can work shorter hours, without risking his life, returning home for dinner each night.
Again, Fred pointed out that fewer fishermen would mean a decrease in competition, and an increase in the size of the fish population. The remaining fishermen could then fish more efficiently and earn more money.
An increase in diving and a reclaiming of the reefs will also increase tourism, bringing a much-needed economic boost to the depressed local economy. "The tourist dollars are definitely helping," Said Fred. "A few years ago, when you came to Sihanoukville, everything was covered in a heavy cloud of dust, because the streets weren’t even paved. Now there are restaurants internet shops, lots of businesses and most of them employ Khmers." Fred believed that there were better schools, and that the life of the average person in Sihanoukvile had improved dramatically. "Tourism could help to save Sihanoukille, and all of Cambodia. But now, they need to get more tourists to visit."
"Do you want me to cut out the part of the story where I threw up?" I asked.
"That might not be a bad idea," said Fred.
The world is running out of firsts. Almost everything has been done. And parts of the world which were once remote are now accessible to day tourists, with Hawaii shorts and cameras. Cambodia is still wild and untapped. And you could be the first person in your scuba club to dive Cambodia.
(http://www.asiantribune.com)
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Foot and mouth painter overcomes challenges to drive, go scuba diving
"I like scuba diving. The underwater world is so quiet and is full of so many colors. The ocean in fact is the source of inspiration for me in my paintings." This might sound like an ordinary statement from an ordinary painter. However, it would be quite a bit more surprising coming from a man who has lost both of his arms.
Foot and mouth painter Chen Shih-feng is infatuated with scuba diving. In addition, he is the first person on Taiwan to drive a motorcycle without the use of his arms. Moreover, he is one of three people on Taiwan without arms who have licenses to drive an automobile on their own. Chen regularly goes scuba diving and fishing on the open seas. When he is invited to give speeches at various places around the island, he gets to the venues on his own. He even goes traveling overseas by himself. Surprisingly enough, his level of mobility virtually surpasses that of a person who has arms. How has he done it?
"My first scuba diving teachers refused to go under water with me," Chen said. Since one has to have an oxygen hose that is connected to an oxygen tank in one's mouth when going under water, the only way of communicating with others is through sign language. Chen was out of luck in this regard since he did not have arms that would enable him to sign. Ultimately, he was able to persuade two coaches to go under water with him. "What we ultimately did was to translate sign language using one's hands into sign language using one's feet!"
Chen is presently 36 years old. When he was 14 years old, he had an accident in which electrical shocks caused him to lose both arms. Chen, who from the time he was young had talent in the area of fine arts and sought to be a painter, decided to change paths just a bit and become a painter holding the brush in his mouth. At that time, there was not the concept of a "foot and mouth painter" among society. Initially, he faced all sorts of difficulties that people not involved with him would not even be able to imagine. He would put the canvas on a table and then pick up a brush with his mouth and paint this way. "I would commonly drip my saliva all over the place," Chen said.
He gradually learned how to use his feat to squeeze paint from the various tubes. Even so, the agility of one's feet was nowhere near to that of hands. "Sometimes there would end up being paint all over the place, both on my feet and the floor." After he would finish using a brush, he would bend his neck under a faucet to wash out the brush. Then he would shake his head in order to get the water out of the brush. The end result is that his face would become totally wet with a mixture of water and paint. Friends often asked him whether his aim was to paint on the canvas or to get paint all over his body.
The process of cleaning the brushes did become troublesome at times because he would use kerosene to wash the oil paint out of the brushes. He would bend his waist and lower his head to wash the brushes and his face would come near the solution. If he was not careful, the kerosene would get all over his face and there were times when he even got some in his mouth. "Sometimes I would get so dizzy that I wanted to throw up," Chen said. After several years, however, he said that he gradually got used to it.
Chen designed a special motorcycle on his own that would enable him to drive without the use of his arms. At first, the boss of the motorcycle shop would not even entertain the idea of refitting a motorcycle to his specifications. "How could you drive a motorcycle without any arms?" Chen said he was asked constantly. According to Chen's design, the front and back brakes, clutch, gearshift and fuel lever were all moved to the lower part of the motorcycle so that he could control the devices with his feet. He then used a device to extend his arms and support what was left of his limbs. "Looking at the set-up from afar, no one could really tell that I was handicapped," he said.
Chen presently owns a 2,500 cc recreational vehicle. After getting the vehicle refitted to meet his needs, the steering wheel has been moved lower so that it can be controlled with his feet. Another man who had lost his arms and who had heard Chen speak about his experience in adapting the vehicle to his needs sought out Chen to ask him how he did it. Chen was delighted to provide his knowledge to the man free of charge. "One month later, Mr. Ku drove a car over to visit me and thank me in person for the assistance," Chen said. Including a classmate of his, there are only three people on Taiwan without arms who are able to drive cars on by themselves.
In 1988, Chen became a member of an international federation of foot and mouth painters. He specializes in nature scenes and still life, and especially likes to use carp as a subject. His artistic ability is quite advanced. He has accomplished what he has through lots of hard work and determination, and his life experience has even been documented in a reference book. Starting Thursday, Chen's paintings will be on exhibit with those of other physically and mentally handicapped artists at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Chen urged others in his position to show a passion for life and never give up.
(http://english.www.gov.tw/TaiwanHeadlines/index.jsp?categid=11&recordid=89014)
Foot and mouth painter Chen Shih-feng is infatuated with scuba diving. In addition, he is the first person on Taiwan to drive a motorcycle without the use of his arms. Moreover, he is one of three people on Taiwan without arms who have licenses to drive an automobile on their own. Chen regularly goes scuba diving and fishing on the open seas. When he is invited to give speeches at various places around the island, he gets to the venues on his own. He even goes traveling overseas by himself. Surprisingly enough, his level of mobility virtually surpasses that of a person who has arms. How has he done it?
"My first scuba diving teachers refused to go under water with me," Chen said. Since one has to have an oxygen hose that is connected to an oxygen tank in one's mouth when going under water, the only way of communicating with others is through sign language. Chen was out of luck in this regard since he did not have arms that would enable him to sign. Ultimately, he was able to persuade two coaches to go under water with him. "What we ultimately did was to translate sign language using one's hands into sign language using one's feet!"
Chen is presently 36 years old. When he was 14 years old, he had an accident in which electrical shocks caused him to lose both arms. Chen, who from the time he was young had talent in the area of fine arts and sought to be a painter, decided to change paths just a bit and become a painter holding the brush in his mouth. At that time, there was not the concept of a "foot and mouth painter" among society. Initially, he faced all sorts of difficulties that people not involved with him would not even be able to imagine. He would put the canvas on a table and then pick up a brush with his mouth and paint this way. "I would commonly drip my saliva all over the place," Chen said.
He gradually learned how to use his feat to squeeze paint from the various tubes. Even so, the agility of one's feet was nowhere near to that of hands. "Sometimes there would end up being paint all over the place, both on my feet and the floor." After he would finish using a brush, he would bend his neck under a faucet to wash out the brush. Then he would shake his head in order to get the water out of the brush. The end result is that his face would become totally wet with a mixture of water and paint. Friends often asked him whether his aim was to paint on the canvas or to get paint all over his body.
The process of cleaning the brushes did become troublesome at times because he would use kerosene to wash the oil paint out of the brushes. He would bend his waist and lower his head to wash the brushes and his face would come near the solution. If he was not careful, the kerosene would get all over his face and there were times when he even got some in his mouth. "Sometimes I would get so dizzy that I wanted to throw up," Chen said. After several years, however, he said that he gradually got used to it.
Chen designed a special motorcycle on his own that would enable him to drive without the use of his arms. At first, the boss of the motorcycle shop would not even entertain the idea of refitting a motorcycle to his specifications. "How could you drive a motorcycle without any arms?" Chen said he was asked constantly. According to Chen's design, the front and back brakes, clutch, gearshift and fuel lever were all moved to the lower part of the motorcycle so that he could control the devices with his feet. He then used a device to extend his arms and support what was left of his limbs. "Looking at the set-up from afar, no one could really tell that I was handicapped," he said.
Chen presently owns a 2,500 cc recreational vehicle. After getting the vehicle refitted to meet his needs, the steering wheel has been moved lower so that it can be controlled with his feet. Another man who had lost his arms and who had heard Chen speak about his experience in adapting the vehicle to his needs sought out Chen to ask him how he did it. Chen was delighted to provide his knowledge to the man free of charge. "One month later, Mr. Ku drove a car over to visit me and thank me in person for the assistance," Chen said. Including a classmate of his, there are only three people on Taiwan without arms who are able to drive cars on by themselves.
In 1988, Chen became a member of an international federation of foot and mouth painters. He specializes in nature scenes and still life, and especially likes to use carp as a subject. His artistic ability is quite advanced. He has accomplished what he has through lots of hard work and determination, and his life experience has even been documented in a reference book. Starting Thursday, Chen's paintings will be on exhibit with those of other physically and mentally handicapped artists at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Chen urged others in his position to show a passion for life and never give up.
(http://english.www.gov.tw/TaiwanHeadlines/index.jsp?categid=11&recordid=89014)
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Snorkeling, sharks, fears and trust
We were snorkeling near San Diego in August. You'd think that the sunny summer waters off Southern California would be warm. Uh, no.
To guard against the cold, our instructor gave us wet suits and told us to squeeze into them. Caitlin, Scott and I quickly slithered into ours, but Terri has claustrophobia and didn't particularly relish the idea of squeezing into a thick, black, very tight, rubbery, full-body suit that zipped all the way up to her neck.
She hates confined spaces with no way out. Glaring at me, she squeezed into hers and looked for reassurance. I smiled and pointed out that the zipper (escape route) was in the back where she couldn't reach it. There was no way out. I smiled again. She did not.
In cold water, the first time you go under you reflexively gasp and try to breathe. Your brain forgets about breathing through your snorkel and you try to breathe through your nose, which is in a mask, which has no oxygen, and you gag and swallow three gallons of salt water. You don't see many fish while you're throwing up.
Our guide showed us how to blow the water out of our snorkels so we wouldn't swallow it. So we dunked, and we gasped, and tried to remember to breathe through the snorkel. Three people threw up.
We started swimming in the ocean and swam close to a cave, five seals, three leopard sharks and several different stages of panic. The ocean waves were rolling over us and tossing us side to side. So far we hadn't come close to going under to see what was below.
Our guide told us about the things he was seeing under the water. There were orange Garibaldi, spotted sea bass, an eel, and several more leopard sharks. He swore we wouldn't regret going under. He knew what he was talking about. He said he had been doing this for a very long time. He showed us a small shark bite to prove it.
We didn't understand at first and every time something new and disturbing happened we got a little worried. But the more we learned, the more comfortable we were snorkeling, and the more we enjoyed the experience. Gradually, we got used to the waves. We got used to blowing water out of the snorkel. We even started putting our heads under to make sure the leopard sharks didn't appear hungry.
Eventually we believed what our guide was telling us. Now we had faith -- sort of like that first person who looked at a cow and said, "I think I'll squeeze those dangly things there and drink whatever comes out."
Worrying about the investment markets is sort of like worrying about snorkeling. A lot of very good, very smart people miss great opportunities because of the fear of things they don't understand or can't see.
There are things you may not understand, like fluctuations in the market. But if you have faith, and maybe even get someone to guide you, good things can happen and you won't miss out on the long-term opportunities of owning good quality investments. And then you can go snorkeling.
Joe Cunningham Jr. is a certified financial planner and member of the Ark-La-Tex Chapter of the Financial Planning Association, whose members contribute to this column on a weekly basis.
(http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051123/NEWS05/511230313/1064 - November 23, 2005)
To guard against the cold, our instructor gave us wet suits and told us to squeeze into them. Caitlin, Scott and I quickly slithered into ours, but Terri has claustrophobia and didn't particularly relish the idea of squeezing into a thick, black, very tight, rubbery, full-body suit that zipped all the way up to her neck.
She hates confined spaces with no way out. Glaring at me, she squeezed into hers and looked for reassurance. I smiled and pointed out that the zipper (escape route) was in the back where she couldn't reach it. There was no way out. I smiled again. She did not.
In cold water, the first time you go under you reflexively gasp and try to breathe. Your brain forgets about breathing through your snorkel and you try to breathe through your nose, which is in a mask, which has no oxygen, and you gag and swallow three gallons of salt water. You don't see many fish while you're throwing up.
Our guide showed us how to blow the water out of our snorkels so we wouldn't swallow it. So we dunked, and we gasped, and tried to remember to breathe through the snorkel. Three people threw up.
We started swimming in the ocean and swam close to a cave, five seals, three leopard sharks and several different stages of panic. The ocean waves were rolling over us and tossing us side to side. So far we hadn't come close to going under to see what was below.
Our guide told us about the things he was seeing under the water. There were orange Garibaldi, spotted sea bass, an eel, and several more leopard sharks. He swore we wouldn't regret going under. He knew what he was talking about. He said he had been doing this for a very long time. He showed us a small shark bite to prove it.
We didn't understand at first and every time something new and disturbing happened we got a little worried. But the more we learned, the more comfortable we were snorkeling, and the more we enjoyed the experience. Gradually, we got used to the waves. We got used to blowing water out of the snorkel. We even started putting our heads under to make sure the leopard sharks didn't appear hungry.
Eventually we believed what our guide was telling us. Now we had faith -- sort of like that first person who looked at a cow and said, "I think I'll squeeze those dangly things there and drink whatever comes out."
Worrying about the investment markets is sort of like worrying about snorkeling. A lot of very good, very smart people miss great opportunities because of the fear of things they don't understand or can't see.
There are things you may not understand, like fluctuations in the market. But if you have faith, and maybe even get someone to guide you, good things can happen and you won't miss out on the long-term opportunities of owning good quality investments. And then you can go snorkeling.
Joe Cunningham Jr. is a certified financial planner and member of the Ark-La-Tex Chapter of the Financial Planning Association, whose members contribute to this column on a weekly basis.
(http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051123/NEWS05/511230313/1064 - November 23, 2005)
Monday, October 31, 2005
Shop owner pairs pumpkins with scuba diving By Cory Myers
October 31, 2005
Emerging from the chilly October waters of Wall Lake, scuba diver-turned-clown Todd Sorensen empties water from his jack-o’-lantern during Landshark Scuba and Snorkle’s first-ever Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest earlier this month.
Nine divers turned out for the contest, carving seven pumpkins with designs ranging from a dolphin to the normal scare fare.
Sorensen’s “Pam, the Nauseated Pumpkin” (imagine pumpkin guts and seeds flowing out from the mouth), won the contest.
“This is a novelty,” said Colonel Echols, owner of Landshark Scuba and Snorkle. “A lot of people think there is no scuba diving in South Dakota, but there is a whole underwater world out here.”
Despite some problems with visibility and keeping the buoyant pumpkins from shooting up and out of the water, Echols plans to make this an annual event.
“It’s just fun,” Echols said. “Any diver looks for any excuse to go diving.”
(http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051031/NEWS/51031001/1001&template=printart)
Emerging from the chilly October waters of Wall Lake, scuba diver-turned-clown Todd Sorensen empties water from his jack-o’-lantern during Landshark Scuba and Snorkle’s first-ever Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest earlier this month.
Nine divers turned out for the contest, carving seven pumpkins with designs ranging from a dolphin to the normal scare fare.
Sorensen’s “Pam, the Nauseated Pumpkin” (imagine pumpkin guts and seeds flowing out from the mouth), won the contest.
“This is a novelty,” said Colonel Echols, owner of Landshark Scuba and Snorkle. “A lot of people think there is no scuba diving in South Dakota, but there is a whole underwater world out here.”
Despite some problems with visibility and keeping the buoyant pumpkins from shooting up and out of the water, Echols plans to make this an annual event.
“It’s just fun,” Echols said. “Any diver looks for any excuse to go diving.”
(http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051031/NEWS/51031001/1001&template=printart)
Friday, October 07, 2005
The trilingual inscription of Admiral Zheng He
In 1911, a carved stone was discovered covering a culvert near Cripps Road in Galle. The finder, provincial engineer Mr H.F. Tomalin, had it removed to safety. Scholarly excitement was immediate, but the inscriptions were only deciphered with some difficulty.
The tablet was erected in 1411, to commemorate the second visit to Sri Lanka by the Chinese admiral Zheng He(1), who commanded seven great voyages through the South China Seas and the Indian ocean between 1405 and 1433.
On the first voyage, Zheng He reached Sri Lanka in 1406. The local ruler was unfriendly and the expedition hastily departed. The fleet sailed on to Calicut, the furthest port for the first expedition, where they were most impressed by the acumen and straight dealing of the traders.
The second expedition went as far as Siam. The third sailed from China in 1409, and carried with it the trilingual tablet which Zheng He planned to erect in Sri Lanka. The date equates to 15 February 1409, indicating that it was inscribed in Nanjing before the fleet set out. The Chinese portion gives praise to Buddha and records lavish offerings in his honour:
'His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming dynasty has despatched the eunuchs Zheng He, Wang Jinghong and others to set forth his utterances before Lord Buddha, the World-Honoured One:
Deeply do we revere you, merciful and honoured one, whose bright perfection is wide-embracing, and whose way of virtue passes all understanding, whose law pervades all human relations, and the years of whose great era are as numerous as the sands of the river; you whose controlling influence ennobles and converts, whose kindness quickens, and whose strength discerns, whose mysterious efficacy is beyond compare! The mountainous isle of Sri Lanka lies in the south of the ocean, and its Buddhist temples are sanctuaries of your gospel, where your miraculous responsive power imbues and enlightens.
Of late we have despatched missions to announce our mandates to foreign nations, and during their journey over the ocean they have been favoured with the blessing of your benificent protection. They escaped disaster or misfortune, and journeyed in safety to and fro.
In everlasting recognition of your supreme virtue, we therefore bestow offerings in recompense, and do now reverently present before Buddha, the Honoured One, oblations of gold and silver, gold embroidered jewelled banners of variegated silk, incense burners and flower vases, silks of many colours in lining and exterior, lamps, candles, and other gifts, in order to manifest the high honour of the Lord Buddha. May his light shine upon the donors.
List of alms bestowed as offerings at the shrine of the Buddhist temple in the mountain of Ceylon:
1,000 pieces of gold; 5,000 pieces of silver; 50 rolls of embroidered silk in many colours; 50 rolls of silk taffeta, in many colours; 4 pairs of jewelled banners, gold embroidered and of variegated silk, 2 pairs of the same picked in red, one pair of the same in yellow, one pair in black; 5 antique brass incense burners; 5 pairs of antique brass flower vases picked in gold on lacquer, with gold stands; 5 yellow brass lamps picked in gold on lacquer with gold stands; 5 incense vessels in vermilion red, gold picked on lacquer, with gold stands; 6 pairs of golden lotus flowers; 2,500 catties of scented oil; 10 pairs of wax candles; 10 sticks of fragrant incense.
[Date]. A reverent oblation.'(2)
The Tamil portion of the tablet offered similar praise to the god Tenavarai-Nayanar, perhaps a local form of Shiva, and the Arabic inscription gave praise to Allah. To each god the Chinese offered similar lavish tributes.
Such tactful even-handedness suggests that the Chinese were dealing with a cosmoplitan trading community. However, the aura of orderly diplomacy dissipated rapidly. The island comprised three warring states, and it was the chief Alakeswara who met Zheng He. Refusing to allow erection of the tablet, which he presumably considered a declaration of sovereignty, he beat the Chinese in a brief skirmish and drove them back to their ships. They sailed on to India, but returned to avenge the insult. What happened next is controversial, and the accounts are confused, but the Chinese abducted 'the king' (Alakeswara in the Chinese account, the legitimate king of Kotte according to the Sinhalese account). The captives were taken to the Ming capital at Nanjing, but released by the emperor and returned to Sri Lanka. There are stories of the Chinese taking the Sacred Tooth of the Buddha. Author Louise Levathes, trying to make sense of the conflicting accounts, guesses that the captive was the King of Kotte, who took the relic with him to China in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the usurper Alakeswara, but in any event the Tooth too was soon back in Sri Lanka. The Yongle emperor claimed sovereignty over Sri Lanka and demanded regular tribute, and the Sinhalese went along with this for over forty years before refuting the obligation in 1459.
As well as the various religious influences in the country, the Chinese had noted its tremendous wealth of gemstones and pearls. They remarked on the curious impression in the country's highest mountain, a giant 'footprint' which Buddhists associate with the Buddha, Moslems with Adam, and Hindus with the god Shiva.
The interior of this mountain produces red rubies, blue sapphires, yellow Oriental topaz, and other gems; they have each and every precious stone. Whenever heavy rain occurs, the water rushes out of the earth and flows down amidst the sand, and the people search in the sand for the stones. There is a saying that the precious stones are the crystallised tears of Buddha.(3)
The trilingual inscription is in the National Museum in Colombo; a copy may be found in the Maritime Museum in Galle.
(http://cf.hum.uva.nl/galle/galle/trilingual.html)
Monday, October 03, 2005
At the edge of no man’s land Story by Gamini Akmeemana
HD had his work cut out in the studio on Friday morning and would have no time to go visiting places with us. He now uses a digital camera to do passport photos and the like. His is the only computer along the entire main street of Padaviya town.
Instead of HD, Admun Piyadasa, the post master of the adjacent Parakramapura, agreed to accompany us. I was glad to see him again as I’d known him almost from my first visit to Padaviya. He had changed very little outwardly since I last saw him.I was disappointed to learn that most of the people I wanted to meet were either away for the duration or were gone for good; Baptist the fisherman is a character whose conversation I have always enjoyed very much. Though he hails from a fishing village near Halawatha, where his family still lives, he prefers to earn a living by freshwater fishing in the Padaviya tank. But he was away from Padaviya that weekend on some business.
The grama sevaka, HD’s neighbour, had also moved away. So had the Gunasenas from the nearby village of Kolongolla. I remember spending an unforgettable night with them in an open field near a tank in Kolongolla. This was at the height of the LTTE threat and all villagers left their homes to safer ground at night.
But ‘safety’ was an euphemism. We were in an open, windswept field where people were cooking dinner and talking late into the night before sleeping inside tiny thatch ‘tents.’ If any Tigers had been able to penetrate the defence perimetre, most of the people sleeping here would have been massacred. The wind blew like a gale and I remember how the casual conversation comforted me against a sleep-robbing admixture of cooking smells, tension and fear of the probable.
The Gunasenas gave up their tiny ‘tent’ for me and slept outside on floor mats. It’s one of the best sleeps I’ve ever had.
Now they were gone from Kolongolla, and HD had no idea where they were. Then there was Wijepala the homeguard, who lived in the forefront of the Tiger threat in the village of Parana Medawachchiya. He worked unofficially as a homeguard, but his real life was as a paddy farmer. He lived with his wife and two small children in a small wattle-and-daub house in Parana Medawachchiya.
I particularly wanted to meet him and find out how he and his family have fared in three years of peace. But HD was not certain if Wijepala still lived in Parana Medawachchiya and, as it turned out, I just didn’t have the time to go looking for him.
First things first. There’s a competent mechanic along Parakramapura Road, and he diagnosed the problem – the platignum housing had become loose and was causing an electrical problem. That’s why the engine was cutting out whenever the engine slowed.
With this problem attended to, we began our tour of the area. My bike’s weakened rear suspension wasn’t simply up to the task on the bad roads and Admun rode pillion on Wanni’s motorcycle. The roads have not improved any during three years of peace. Nor has the living standard of the area’s people.
The paradox here is that Padaviya is not a region of abject poverty.
Many people are very poor, but they are farmers and at least those whose fields are fed by the giant Padaviya tank or several smaller reservoirs in the region can find their basic sustenance. A strong breeze was bringing grey clouds from the West, signaling approaching rains and the end of a long drought.
The problem is rather that there is no incentive for commercial development. Investment doesn’t have to come 100% from outside. Even in Padaviya and Parakramapura, there are people with enough wealth to start new business ventures. But they won’t, because peace is uncertain and any resumption of war will result in their investments going bad.
“All the wealthy merchants in the area are outsiders,” postmaster Admun told me at Parakramapura. “They run groceries and other prosperous businesses here but the money they earn doesn’t stay here; it goes out.”
The only improvement I could think of from the 1990s was the absence of armed homeguards riding bicycles on the roads, at that time an ubiquitous sight. But unarmed soldiers were increasingly visible, on motorcycles, tractors or simply walking about .
(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2005/10/01/life/3.asp)
Instead of HD, Admun Piyadasa, the post master of the adjacent Parakramapura, agreed to accompany us. I was glad to see him again as I’d known him almost from my first visit to Padaviya. He had changed very little outwardly since I last saw him.I was disappointed to learn that most of the people I wanted to meet were either away for the duration or were gone for good; Baptist the fisherman is a character whose conversation I have always enjoyed very much. Though he hails from a fishing village near Halawatha, where his family still lives, he prefers to earn a living by freshwater fishing in the Padaviya tank. But he was away from Padaviya that weekend on some business.
The grama sevaka, HD’s neighbour, had also moved away. So had the Gunasenas from the nearby village of Kolongolla. I remember spending an unforgettable night with them in an open field near a tank in Kolongolla. This was at the height of the LTTE threat and all villagers left their homes to safer ground at night.
But ‘safety’ was an euphemism. We were in an open, windswept field where people were cooking dinner and talking late into the night before sleeping inside tiny thatch ‘tents.’ If any Tigers had been able to penetrate the defence perimetre, most of the people sleeping here would have been massacred. The wind blew like a gale and I remember how the casual conversation comforted me against a sleep-robbing admixture of cooking smells, tension and fear of the probable.
The Gunasenas gave up their tiny ‘tent’ for me and slept outside on floor mats. It’s one of the best sleeps I’ve ever had.
Now they were gone from Kolongolla, and HD had no idea where they were. Then there was Wijepala the homeguard, who lived in the forefront of the Tiger threat in the village of Parana Medawachchiya. He worked unofficially as a homeguard, but his real life was as a paddy farmer. He lived with his wife and two small children in a small wattle-and-daub house in Parana Medawachchiya.
I particularly wanted to meet him and find out how he and his family have fared in three years of peace. But HD was not certain if Wijepala still lived in Parana Medawachchiya and, as it turned out, I just didn’t have the time to go looking for him.
First things first. There’s a competent mechanic along Parakramapura Road, and he diagnosed the problem – the platignum housing had become loose and was causing an electrical problem. That’s why the engine was cutting out whenever the engine slowed.
With this problem attended to, we began our tour of the area. My bike’s weakened rear suspension wasn’t simply up to the task on the bad roads and Admun rode pillion on Wanni’s motorcycle. The roads have not improved any during three years of peace. Nor has the living standard of the area’s people.
The paradox here is that Padaviya is not a region of abject poverty.
Many people are very poor, but they are farmers and at least those whose fields are fed by the giant Padaviya tank or several smaller reservoirs in the region can find their basic sustenance. A strong breeze was bringing grey clouds from the West, signaling approaching rains and the end of a long drought.
The problem is rather that there is no incentive for commercial development. Investment doesn’t have to come 100% from outside. Even in Padaviya and Parakramapura, there are people with enough wealth to start new business ventures. But they won’t, because peace is uncertain and any resumption of war will result in their investments going bad.
“All the wealthy merchants in the area are outsiders,” postmaster Admun told me at Parakramapura. “They run groceries and other prosperous businesses here but the money they earn doesn’t stay here; it goes out.”
The only improvement I could think of from the 1990s was the absence of armed homeguards riding bicycles on the roads, at that time an ubiquitous sight. But unarmed soldiers were increasingly visible, on motorcycles, tractors or simply walking about .
(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2005/10/01/life/3.asp)
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Lanka’s rich maritime heritage by Ravi Ladduwahetty
The United Nations Educational and Scientific Cultural Organisation (UNSECO) has designated Galle as the venue for the proposed field school for Maritime Archaeology for the entire Asia Pacific region. UNESCO has granted
UNSECO has designated Galle as a maritime centre for the Asia and the Pacific following a research paper by two eminent Sri Lankan maritime archaeologists,Lt. Commander Somasiri Devendra and Dr. Mohan Abeyratne. Galle is to be the centre for a field school spanning the region. The project will kick off in November this year.
A total package of US $ 4.5 million which the UNESCO has provided the Government of China has been channeled to Sri Lanka with the amounts being increased to US $ 1.1 million for the years 2006 and 2007.
This project will be the epicentre for the training of marine archeologists with Dr. Bill Jeffery of Australia’s Townsville University and James Cooke also being on the panel of instructors and lecturers, Central Cultural Fund’s Director of Scientific Research Dr. Mohan Abeyratne told Mirror Life in an interview. Here, historical aspects of Sri Lanka’s maritime heritage is listed below:
The last of our traditional sailing ships
The last Sinhala sailing ships were dubbed as the Yathra Dhonis or Maha Oruwa of Dodanduwa. This is an ancient type of ship in use from the fifth century AD to the 1930s,and carried cargo all over the Indian Ocean. In about 1930, two friends joined forces to build and launch a Yathra that was fated to be the last of her breed. Kariyavasam Patuvata Vithanage Don Siyadoris de Silva, land owner, and Punchi Sinno Marakkalaehe, mariner, hoped that their ship, the Amugoda Oruva, would do brisk business with South India and the Maldives.
To mark her maiden voyage to Male, verses and folklore were composed but alas, she foundered on a reef in Male and was lost. The crew was also missing and presumed dead. However, years later, some of the crew came home, with pieces of the ship as proof. In 1993 the MAU discovered a 4 ft. long, perfect model of a Yathra at Kumarakanda Temple in Dodanduwa. We visited the temple with the Australians who were our trainers, examined it, made measurements. Would such a ship really sail? And how well?
So the measurements were tested on a computer programme, "Macsurf', which confirmed that she was a good sailing vessel. The computer also produced technical drawings (all published in our first report of 1993) which will help us build another Maha Oruwa, some day in the future. Today the model is in the Colombo Museum.
The wreck of a Jaffna ship
Sri Lankan mariners existed in the north of the island too. The Jaffna ships, called Thonis, were large cargo ships, traditional inside in appearance they were copies of European and Indian ships.
They had eyes on either side of the bow, a shrine to god Shiva inside, and a row of false gun-ports were painted along the sides.
Her bones are sometimes visible under certain conditions and the MAU could not find her on a quick visit. The people from the wadiya close by had taken bits and pieces and sold some. Our team was able to see what was left and list what had been removed. Small iron cannon, a statue of a god, Chinese pottery and brass cooking vessels had been sold. We were able to see the small Maldivian type coconuts smashed at the start of the journey, quantities of cowrie shells (probably cargo), typical Asian cooking implements, cannon balls, pieces of wood, beautiful ivory and iron tools, a collection of weights, and most important, a much-repaired Astrolabe, a medieval European navigational tool. Where are these now, and when can we excavate the ship? Only the MAU can do this, if funds are available.
The Great Basses Silver Wreck
In the early 1960s, Sri Lankan sports divers Arthur C. Clarke, Mike Wilson and Rodney Jonklaas found many shipwrecks. One was carrying a cargo of sacks of silver coins minted in India. She broke up and sank in the Great Basses, or Maha Ravana Kotuwa.
A film Ranmuthuduwa was made using this wreck. But all the tons of silver have been taken out of the island. The great majority were stolen and advertised for sale . They are made into jewellery and are said to be secretly sold in Sri Lanka, even today. MAU investigated the site and mapped it to assess its archaeological value. MAU recovered several hundred coins. which are the only ones officially in this country. We found guns, beads, Chinese pottery, cannon balls and large anchors. MAU must be used to study and protect it. At present it is being exploited by several treasure hunters with metal detectors etc.
Ancient Oru-Paru in inland waters
In 1993, when the first group was under training, a part of an oruwa was found in a small stream in Lathpandura. This was one of the two dug-out chine strakes, called iri kaduwa. It was examined, photographed and papers published but is still there in the stream because part of it is under a bund. Later, other such pieces were found all over the rivers on the western province. The largest was found in the Attanagalu Oya and the wood was dated to the 9th century AD. This iri kaduwa was, fortunately, rescued and is undergoing conservation at the Colombo Museum with specialist advice on conservation provided by the MAU. In the Kuru Ganga an old logboat was discovered and is in the Ratnapura Museum. In the Colombo Museum there is another large oru kanda which has been scientifically dated to be older than the 2nd Century BC.
Anchors from Arab ships - pre-colonial users of Galle port
Ships were sailing around Sri Lanka for many centuries. Galle was one of the many ports in the southern coast - others were Weligama, Matara, Ambalantota, Hambantota, etc. Galle was an important port but became more important after the Portuguese came to India.
It was used by the Arab traders and the Portuguese discovered it only by accident. The MAU discovered the ancient anchorage used by these sailors, and the stone anchors used by them. There were several but the largest one was estimated to be about a ton in weight. It was the first Arab-type anchor found intact with its wooden arms. The wooden parts were sent to Australia for preservation and are ready to be brought back. They were dated to 1390 AD and the stone was examined and found to be likely to be from Oman, where these anchors were made as an industry. The stone anchors are in the MA U Laboratory in Galle.
Lakshman Jayakody, then Minister of Cultural Affairs, requested that the Galle Bay be surveyed for shipwrecks before a new port was built here. The work was undertaken by a Sri Lankan-Australian team and a side scan sonar and magnetometer survey was completed - 26 archaeologically important sites were located, including wooden shipwrecks andiron shipwrecks. Many important items were also found. When the time came for the new port to be planned, maritime archaeologists were consulted and the new port was planned so. that the dvanced training - the Avondster and the Laboratory
The decision was made to establish the MA U after this on a permanent basis. For this a conservation laboratory and a diving station, boats and equipment were necessary. The Netherlands offered to help with advanced training and equipment. The site for training and exploration was the VOC ship Avondster which sank in Galle in 1659. For three years experts from the Netherlands, Australia and Sri Lanka have been working on this site which is of very great interest as it has items from England, Holland, and all over Asia. It tells us much about the history of Galle, of shipping and trade in Sri Lanka, and the way in which ships were built and how people lived on board those ships.
Sri Lanka's international training - the UNESCO field school project
Sri Lanka has led the way in Asia in collaborating with foreign experts while keeping policy and control in our own hands. Visiting maritime archaeologists work with our team, and provide training and equipment. Sri Lanka follows the UNESCO Rules even though we have not yet signed the Convention. Draft Legislation on the subject is ready for presentation to Cabinet. The approach has been held up as an example how a developing nation can enter this field without losing national control.
In recognition of our efforts, UNESCO has proposed to fund a field school in Galle, where Sri Lankan and foreign experts will conduct basis training to trainees from other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Eventually, the POlAR will conduct a post-graduate course in maritime archaeology. It is now our turn to help other developing nations in the interests of Asian maritime heritage studies.
(Pictures courtesy Central Cultural Fund)
Canoeing third popular sport in Olympics-Janos by Bernie Wijesekera
On a quiet Sunday morning there was a cool and lovely atmosphere at the Colombo Rowing Club where we took time to meet Gyongyosi Janos the Canoe and Master-coach from Hungary, who is in Sri Lanka on a mission of developing the sport of Canoeing.
Strongly built Janos, has been in the rud sport and later as coach and technical consultant and had been involved with the sport for over 30 years. He is here on an assignment through the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNDP), while stationed at New Delhi. He came to Sri Lanka on Sept. 11 and will return on Sept. 30 after training the local coaches on the talent techniques in canoeing (Rowing).
Janos said, “Canoeing is the third most popular sport in the Olympic calendar barring athletics and swimming. These three sports offer the largest number of medals to the participants”.
Speaking about his trip to Sri Lanka and it taking a serious canoeing Janoes said “This country has many lakes around the country. Sri Lanka could be a force to reckon with through total commitment. Your trainers must show interest for the sport. Today about 20 coaches attended the training programme. They could make an impact after the next SAF Games held here (2006). The requirements are -- to achieve success. 1) Technique, 2) Proper Training, 3) Physical Strength, 4) Nutrients. Incidentally Sri Lanka is not short of men in the coastal districts (South) and in the North, who have the strength to pull fishing nets to make the grade”.
Mr. Prithiviraj Perera Chief Administration Programme Specialist/Culture UNESCO House, New Delhi and Yohan Thurainayagam (St. Joseph's Rowing Club) were associated with Janos at this briefing. The first seminar was held at the CRC Colombo on Sept. 18 and 19. The second at Belihuloya from 20-23. The third will be at the St. Joseph's College Rowing Club from Sept. 25-27.
The final training session will be at the Ranweli Beach Hotel, Kochchikade, in the morning from 6.30 a.m. to 9 a.m. The afternoon session will be from 4.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. He leaves on Sept. 30 to New Delhi. (headquarters).,
Plans are afoot to put up a Board House on the East Bay of the Beira Lake shortly to add more facilities - for canoeing. Prithiviraj Perera said, “our objective is to promote the aqua sport at grassroots level and get more people involved islandwide.
St. Joseph's College Darley Road, is one of the leading schools promoting and developing rowing at school level. They are in the forefront in rowing. The Josephian Rowing Club will have to decided to put up a Boat House withins its precincts. They will give other schools around Colombo to make use of this facility as part of their promotional drive said, Yohan an official of the club”.
Those who wish to follow the training and coaching programme of Janos during his stay here, could contact Yohan on - 0777-315949.
(http://www.sundaytimes.lk/050925/sports/10.html)
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Treasure diving by Damitha Hemachandra
Deep sea diving in search of the ocean’s wonders and treasures, is comparatively new in Sri Lanka despite the picturesque Indian Ocean surrounding the country.
The only sea diving that was ever heard of in ancient times was diving for pearls where the pearl divers braved great depths without any modern equipment to ease breathing and reduce pressure.
Brohier, in his book ‘Seeing Ceylon’, explains how the pearl divers working at the pearl reefs in Seelawathurai, dived in from boats without any safety equipment with just stones used as weights. ‘The pearl divers would then emerge after nearly one and a half minutes with some oysters in their hands and after throwing them to the pile of oysters in the boat again dive for more oysters,’ he
explained. Gone are the oyster divers and the celebrated oyster reefs of Ceylon but diving is now here to stay.
At a later stage in 1864/5, Viennese landscape and genre painter, Eugene de Ransonnet, visited the island and used a diving-bell to sketch the coral banks off the port of Galle. His sketches are published in ‘Sketches of Ceylon’ by R.K.De Silva.
At the same time the British too used divers to check the status of the hulls of the ships anchored in Colombo and Trincomalee. But it was not until the late 1930s, when face masks, snorkels and flippers arrived on the island, that the wonderfully rich and varied underwater life around it could be viewed with comparative ease, if only from the surface. During World War 2, divers were used defensively to carry out underwater patrols of the bases in case of Japanese infiltration but it would be while before locals start diving for fun.
In Post Independent Sri Lanka, diving was taken up by the Reef Combers Club of Ceylon, which consisted of locals and foreigners who were engaged in fully equipped diving as a hobby and spear fishermen, who were expert divers as well as spearmen and the self taught locals, who dived for corals, lobsters and underwater treasures.
With the dawn of the 1960s and the chance meeting of pioneer divers Arthur C. Clarke, Mike Wilson with renowned spearfisher Rodney Jonklaas, at the Colombo harbour, started the golden age of diving in Sri Lanka.
Many a diving place were discovered by the trio during their pursuit to film shark in the oceans around Sri Lanka attracting divers from around the world to the island. The oceans attracted the visitors from London who were on a short trip to Sri Lanka to film the sharks and they decided to make Sri Lanka their permanent home.
Parallel to their underwater exploration, Wilson and Clarke endeavoured, without much success, to establish a diving business known as Clarke-Wilson Associates. Their tasks at the time included the cleaning of water inlet and sewage outlet grills of ships in the Colombo harbour, and morbid ones, such as the retrieval of corpses. The most demanding and perilous job they performed was at Castlereagh Dam, where they had to work in the claustrophobic confines of a 40 cm wide shutter case with oxygen piped from the surface.
Meanwhile the discovery of stunning spots around the country and spreading of aqua lungs and scuba diving techniques among the locals opened a new page in diving in Sri Lanka. Many locals too started exploring great depths in scuba and skin diving and started achieving great depths. Two pioneer local divers, Benny Fernando and Reeves Neydorff, remember the good old times when they travelled the Indian Ocean from Negombo to Trincomalee in search of lobsters.
“We used to start near Colombo harbour and travel around the southern coast skin diving near the sand reefs all along in search of lobsters,” said Mr. Fernando, fondly known as Uncle Benny .Although diving for lobsters was their trade, he remembers how enthralled he was with the coral and the fish life surrounding it. “Sometimes we used to see various schools of fish but our main concern was to dive greatest depths in competition with others,” he said adding that he was able to skin dive 50 feet at any given moment.
Remembering the times when diving was all about fun and looting, Uncle Benny says how they scavenged any sellable item from the wrecks around the country during their journeys around the island. “We were too young to realise the important ecology around the shipwrecks and their archaeological value but only were in search of silver and brass,” he says relating a story how a friend of his sold a collection of Dutch VOC coins he found at Great Basses for silver.
According to Uncle Benny, Great Basses is one of the greatest dives around the country. “Situated nearly 12 miles away in the middle of the sea, Great Basses is a comparatively untouched diving spot with a rock base and schools of fishes creating an out of earth picture,” he said.
Today the hunter turned conservationist, Uncle Benny, is operating his boat house and is handing over his diving skills to the next generation. He speaks proudly of the next generation of divers -Malinda Abeyratne, who is pursuing the dying art of skin diving with enthusiasm. Not long ago he had skin dived nearly 93 feet at Swami Rock in Trincomalee where he had seen the stone pillars of Koneshwaram temple in the sea.
He silently acknowledges the praises and challenges by the pioneers but disagrees that he is the best. Yet with youngsters like Malinda on line, diving in Sri Lanka seems to hold a profound future.
(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2005/09/22/life/01.asp)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)