Albert Beach, Father's Wish

My summer holiday began with a 3 day trip to Pulau Sibu, an island off the coast of Mersing on the south-east side of Malaysia. It took about 7 hours for my family and I to reach Tanjung Leman jetty from the so called city never sleeps; Kuala Lumpur. The wind from the South China Sea brushed aside our faces, as if the silence nature welcoming us in our retreat disposition from the topsy-turvy city life. The ferry arrived, the local people named her as Damai. There were only few Malaysians on board with the rest were mainly from Singapore and Korea. The half an hour journey was overshadowed by heavy rain, thick fog surrounded Damai and all of us were just sitting and praying silently for our safety arrival as the nature of waves displayed its untolerable circumstances.

The greeny-side of Pulau Sibu brought relief to all of us. We were welcomed by a group of singers and a guitarist from Phillipines and I could just remember these lines:

Welcome to Pulau Sibu,
Enjoy your time with family and friends

While my mother confirmed with the receptionist regarding our registration, I took the opportunity to wander around the lobby. My attention in observing the lush beach trees around the place was captured by a golden plate on the lobby desk, "AWARDED FOR THE BEST HOSPITALITY BEACH RESORT IN MALAYSIA", added to my excitement in the days ahead during my stay here.

I spend my first night in my room relaxing and reading Joseph Stiglitz's "Globalisation" and World Cup 2006 Guide UK Edition. I enjoyed the solitary night, away from the city only accompanied by the hissing sounds of wild insects and the nature song of the wind passed by the greeny forest around me. I began my day with snorkelling, the presence of the various types of fish with various colours added to my excitement in the underwater world. After long hours of fishy companions, I decided to be alone at Albert Beach in Pulau Sibu in the afternoon. It was 2 o'clock in the evening, my eyes were appreciating the wonders of God; the white sandy Albeart Beach, the crystal-clear sea, and the endless horizon of South China Sea. Again, I said to myself this is the time when the eyes are not responsible anymore when our human mind does the seeing, my lips responsed with the words: The Almighty God is great (Allahuakbar)

At night, we made a surprise birthday cake for my father upon his 54th birthday on 5th June 2006 and also to celebrate my parents' anniversary. The Equinox Band from Philippines sang the birthday song, and later he made a special request from them as he asked for a song to show how deep his love is to our family. This is the song, You Needed Me by Anne Murray and bare my words my father, I still need you as well as long as I am still breathing in this world.

I cried a tear
You wiped it dry
I was confused
You cleared my mind
I sold my soul
You bought it back for me
And held me up and gave me dignity
Somehow you needed me
You gave me strength
To stand alone again
To face the world
Out on my own again
You put me high upon a pedestal
So high that I could almost see eternity
You needed me
You needed me
And I can't believe it's you
I can't believe it's true
I needed you and you were there
And I'll never leave, why should I leaveI'd be a fool
'Cause I've finally found someone who really cares
You held my hand
When it was cold
When I was lost
You took me home
You gave me hope
When I was at the end
And turned my lies
Back into truth again
You even called me friend (http://www.annemurray.com/)

Oh yes my friends, there is Albert Beach in Malaysia and according to a staff who works there it was named after a Malaysian born-German nationality man who first introduced the beautiful silent of the beach to a group of tourists from German long time ago.

However true the history is, I shall bid thank you Albert Beach for witnessing my father's 54th birthday simple celebration. Happy birthday dad - 'He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it'