The Adventures of Project Orion II

26th June to 10th July 2010

Setiu, Terengganu, Malaysia

Oh boy... this is gonna be a long post... so be prepared...

Within two weeks and I was back in Kampung Mangkok. This time with eight other members. Preparation for the project had been somewhat chaotic and yet things always worked out eventually. The first problem actually happened the day before the project even started...

After cashing in the cheque advancement for the project, I was to go to the bank to withdraw it all out for the trip. Happily went to Jurong Point, wanting to withdraw the funds out and then change them to Malaysia Ringgits, I arrived at the door of the POSB around 5pm and realised that there was no queue! Great! Time saved. Hmmm.... why can't I open the door? Then I realise there was this piece of white A4-sized printed paper that says, "All POSB branches will be closed on 25th June 2010 at 4.30pm. Sorry for any inconvenience caused." #@$%^&... Of all days, you had to close early on a Friday and a Friday that falls on the day before Project Orion II? What the ...?

No withdrawal = No money for project. I then tried to withdraw from the ATM and could only take out at most two grand... Damn it. I usually don't panic, but I had to cause the flight was like 9am the next morning and there's no time to go to a bank again... Eventually, I figured that I had to transfer the money to other team mates and get them to withdraw out the next morning. It was then I realised that even internet banking has a daily transfer limit of freaking five grand... Double damn it... Luckily I found out that the 'daily' thing restarts at 12 midnight. So I had to wait till 12 midnight to complete all the transfer and even dropped by the nearest ATM to withdraw the remaining. It was such a wonderful day before the project indeed.

The morning of 26th June was not exactly better. We came to realise that the bloody new video camcorder didn't have night mode? Third damn it... Oh and did I mention that I also didn't sleep cause I was trying to rush a gift for the villagers. Fourth damn it and keep counting. Luckily, the check-in, the flight, the cab ride to Pink House and all else that day ran smoothly.

Reaching the village, we were greeted by the WWF staff, the PEWANIS (local women group) and the kids of course! After settling in, we made a quick change and then hopped on the brand new bicycles and proceeded to Kak Tar's (PEWANIS president) house for lunch. As part of the plan, I brought the team around the village for an introductory tour. "Here is where you have your meals. Here is where you will sleep. Here is where you can chill out. Here is where the hatchery is." I started to sound like a guide... guess one never parts from his job too far.

The day ended with me going out on a shopping spree with a few others, while the rest decided to fool around the Pink House. Activities included crawling on the ground, lying in the middle of the main road, taking stupid and funny photos etc. Well, that's the day. When the first night came... the team discovered a whole new talent of some of the guys - a snoring orchestra... Being a light sleeper, I knew I was in for a ride throughout the whole project. A small note: at that point of time, I haven't slept for almost 40 hours... Fifth damn it.

The following days of the project were standard routines. Paint work in morning and afternoon, nest excavations in the late afternoon, patrolling and lessons for kids at night and it repeats. Save for Tuesdays whereby we have activities with the Scouts from the primary school. The first Tuesday was a songs and games afternoon in the school. Everyone had so much fun playing and running around with the kids. It was a chaos but hey, who cares as long as ya enjoying!

The second Tuesday was spent painting a banner with the kids. This time within the grounds of the Pink House. Thank god we were using water-soluble paint or else the kids would have been leaving their palm prints all around and definitely bringing some of the paint home still on their hands... And I totally forgot what was written on the banner!! But I certainly know that it was a conservation message about protecting the sea turtles, terrapins and mangroves. Best of all, the kids came up with it! A great example of what education and awareness can do!

Besides the activities with the school kids, half of the team also went to the school on one of the days to paint a mural. Last year, the team painted two and it was well received by the school that they invited us again this year. Probably this will be a tradition for Project Orion until the school runs out of walls for us to paint on. Haha!

In the middle of the project, we slotted in two days of break, including a day with the PEWANIS for their mangrove replanting and Kerepek Pisang (fried banana chips) making session. The pisang was delicious and it tasted even better when you know you had a hand in it, and yea, our hands were definitely all over it when it was getting ready for packing - snacking away.

I had to admit that the team was very dedicated and efficient as we managed to finish painting all the houses ahead of schedule. In fact more than a full day ahead, so much so that we had to figure out how to keep us occupied. That is when the villagers offered to teach us how to make kite or what they call layang-layang. The PEWANIS even decided to make it a competition for the best kite design. It was a humbling experience as we realised how much work and craft goes into a hand-made kite. Well... being amateurs, most of our kites couldn't fly, but we had fun trying to fly them thou. Note: there was a killer kite among one of them out to hurt whoever tries to fly it (or whoever is the one releasing it). Haha!

The team this year was definitely more lucky than the previous. Within six nights of patrolling, the team collectively sighted a total of 6 green turtles and 3 painted terrapins! The previous team only managed a sighting each. They also recovered 5 and 7 clutches of  turtle and terrapin eggs respectively. The most amazing thing was that one of the team witnessed the egg-laying process! But guess what? It happened on the first patrol and they didn't bring along their camera and the video camcorder... Sixth damn it.

The team somehow had a fetish for nest excavation. It is tough and a tedious process of digging deep down to recover the remains. More often that not, they found egg shells, undeveloped eggs, hatchlings that didn't survive or were even predated by the nasty ground-burrowing ghost crabs. Despite that, from time to time, they did managed to rescue some hatchlings that were stuck underground, probably disorientated. Saviours conveniently named them after themselves...

However, there was something strange - a curse it was believed to be. Never really thought about it till this project. I'm a little worried in fact. Last year, the sightings of the turtles and terrapins were by the guys. None of the girls saw them. There were two girls and seven guys. Since there were only two sightings, it was assumed as luck. This year, there was only one girl and eight guys. Once again I thought it all depends on luck as to whether you see them or not. BUT THEN... the worse case scenario occurred - all the three patrols that the girl went on, not a single sighting... First patrol, we thought tough luck. Second patrol, hmmm... Third and last patrol, that was it! The other nights when the all guys teams patrol, they sighted at least one, and on two occasions - three! 

This curse has been officially acknowledged as the curse of the Singaporean girls. Even the WWF staff started to think about it. Someone suggested to me for the next Project Orion - bring an all girls team and test the curse. This idea was immediately swept aside by the staff, who then jokingly added, "We cannot afford the turtles and terrapins not coming up to nest for two weeks!" I'm just hoping that perhaps someone from Project Orion III will break the curse... C'om female Ventures and Rovers!

The project was definitely another huge success. The interaction with the villagers and school was much more evident and the conservation work done was amazing and much more than the previous project. We can only hope and look forward to even more successful Project Orion in the years to come. Having said that, when the team had to depart to return home, emotions built up and tears were unavoidable. Two weeks had probably changed the lives of some of the team members, how they looked upon life and realised what they had done to impact the lives of the people of Kampung Mangkok.

Last year, all thanks to the girls, my eyes were watery before we left. This year I told myself that it should be easy as I know that I'll be back here probably every year. Kak Tar asked me before we left whether was I sad. I said "Just a little." She then asked whether will I be back again next year. I said "Most probably." She then flashed a smile across her face. That pretty much did it. As I'm writing this paragraph and finishing this blog post, the same emotions as that moment is resurfacing. It was something that I didn't expect then and I tried to hold back, but eventually those that were in the same car as me knew exactly what happened. Even the naughtiest kid, Idkwan, who was sitting beside me in the car saw it and called out to me.

On that note, I have further affirmed that my arduous three years search and pursuit for this Project Orion series was definitely worth it. Probably the best thing that have ever happened to me so far. And damn I'm proud of it. This is the seventh and final damn - and it's a good one.

Credits: Photographs by Luo Gulin