Charms of the Johor islands

On a conservation programme to collect marine debris, Zulkifly Ab Latif marvels at the beauty of the landscape

“YoU’re not gearing up?” asks Fahmi, one of the members of co-op diver Johor, a state-based diving association. i look down to the water below the rickety wooden jetty we’re standing. it is creamy green in hue. out in the open ocean, the rolling clouds have changed colour to slate grey.

“no, i don’t think i can get any photos with this poor visibility so i’ll pass this dive,” i answer. Fahmi shrugs and proceeds to don his scuba diving gear. A shirtless man in his sixties, wearing nothing but a sarong, walks over to me and looks down at the water below.

“it looks like coconut milk down there. can they see anything?” he asks.

i cannot help but laugh hearing this. the man is Pak Bakar, the owner of Pak Bakar Chalet, and he’s a little amused seeing us divers gathered at his small resort in Pulau tinggi, Johor, wanting to scuba dive under his jetty despite the unfavourable conditions.

Pak Bakar’s amusement is understandable of course, since if this were to be a typical fun dive, it would probably have been postponed due to poor visibility. But the members of Co-op diver Johor are not here on beautiful Pulau tinggi for fun dives; they’re here on a mission with the Johor department of environment and department of Marine Parks, Johor to collect e-waste and other marine debris that are damaging the marine environment.