MONEY SPECIALIST

In US, there was a man who won US$315 million in the Powerball lottery. But since he opted to take the prize as a cash payout instead of receiving the payments over 30 years he took home about US$115 million after tax (Source: USAMega).

Does this mean we should rush to Big Sweep seller, 4D outlets or even casino to strike gold? Someone has to win, but the truth is that it is not likely to be you or me. In the game of chance there will always be few winners and multitude of losers. It is a fact that the odds are always stacked against the gamblers.

Take for example, the popular 4 digit game. In this game, the chance of winning the top prize is 1 out of 10,000. Not very encouraging is it?

Gambling knows no class barrier. The compulsive gambler could easily be a hawker, housewife or professional, all chasing a dream to become instant millionaires or getting the thrills from gambling.

Not all gamblers are compulsive gamblers though. Some do it occasionally, or only place bets which they can afford. These people are more realistic about their chances of winning and do not let gambling take over their lives.

What hooks a gambler to a casino is a winning streak but unfortunately this streak does not last. It is followed by the inevitable losing phase. The gambler will then increase his bets hoping to recoup his losses but ends up losing even more and getting into debt.

Then, there are gamblers who often swap tales about times that they almost made their pot of gold. Even I have my own story to share.

Just last weekend when we were bringing Bing Yow sightseeing around Penang, there was a moth clinging to the number plate at the back of my car. We didn’t pay much attention to it after taking some photos; thinking it would fly off sooner or later. While nagivating around Penang, somehow we reached the Penang Butterfly Farm. Interestingly, the moth was still there at the back of my car. So we decided to catch and release it into the butterfly farm. Thinking it was a good omen, we decided to buy 4D of my car number.

Pandora Sphinx moth on my car registration plate

The funny thing was that my car number has already opened the night before and nobody realized it while buying the number at 4D outlet. We only got to know about it when checking that night’s result on the internet. Sigh… money gone down the drain

My dad used to have a set of mask and snorkel with a pair of fins (I have no idea where they are now). One day, I wanted to have a go with it while holidaying at Port Dickson. My mum said, “Wait till you are older. The mask is still too big for your face!” Feeling disappointed, I told myself that I would get my own gear some day and start my underwater adventure. Until recently, little did I know that certification is required before being allowed to go diving.

Opportunity came knocking on my door when Valerie stopped by for a visit in Penang. Apparently her father is a diving instructor. At that time, Lie Wei and her sister were interested to take the diving course as well. After some arrangements, we set out on a journey to Tenggol Island, Terengganu during the Labour Day and Wesak Day combo holidays. The diving package costs RM1500 and it really did burn a hole in my pocket. I tried to find a reason to levy the heavy investment on my new hobby. So I told myself that the income tax refund would be able to lessen the guilt of spending so much money!

Did you know that SCUBA is short for “some came up barely alive”? Ok, so I was just kidding but it aptly described the situation I was in when I first came out from the water without much air in the tank! Seriously, the acronym stands for “Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus”, and it is a norm to refer SCUBA as scuba equipment. Now let’s move on to my diving experience.

Mike was our diving instructor. Since he could not remember which name belong to whom, he nicknamed Lie Wei as L1 and her sister as L2. Before we were allowed go for the open water dive, we learned about the scuba equipment and the way to use them properly on land and in the water. While practicing at shallow water, Mike would say comforting lines so that we could get used to breathe underwater and the surroundings. He would say, “If you can breath underwater, you won’t drown.” His next favourite line is “If you can float, you won’t sink.” With these golden rules in mind, you can practically do anything underwater as you would on land except to smoke a cigarette!

Me getting ready for underwater adventure

Breathing, a second nature to me on land, has been constantly on my mind while underwater. That’s because the air I breathe is limited by the tank strapped behind my back. So I would monitor the gauge every now and then. Another problem I faced underwater was to achieve neutral buoyancy. It’s a state where my body would not move up or down if I stay still underwater. By the third dive, I felt more at ease, which was a good thing. I could now fully concentrate and feast my eyes on the wonderful garden of corals and schools of colourful fishes.

While diving, Mike would point out harmless corals and encouraged us to touch them as well. He would also show us fire corals to be avoided at all cost (unless you enjoy the stinging feel). In one of the dives, Mike picked up a sea cucumber and started stroking its body. Few seconds later, the sea cucumber would expel sticky white substance. I overheard L2 giggling (if that could be done underwater) at the process of defensive vomiting by the poor sea cucumber. I could be wrong though, with the excess nitrogen accumulated in my head by diving deep underwater for too long.

The photos below are courtesy of L1. She was the one with underwater camera but I edited the photos to make them look nicer. Enjoy the photos below~

A photo of myself as a diver

Breathtaking underwater scenery

A turtle minding its own business

Clown fish hiding among sea anemones

Chritsmas tree worms

Colourful sea slug

Morray eel (commonly mistaken as electric eel)

Gigantic bumphead parrotfish

So what do I think of Tenggol? It’s definitely one of the better dive sites in Malaysia, more so according to a diving book. I enjoyed the scenery of deep water and shipwreck here. To those who are afraid of deep water, but interested to take up diving course, would be better off taking the course at Redang. There are sand flies on the beach. For your information, they suck blood to live. My legs were bitten by them while I was walking on the beach. Their bites were still itchy even after few days. So this island is definitely not suitable for normal island vacation.

Tenggol Beach

Anyway, during the few days on the island, I rediscovered a lot about science… and myself. I would reminiscent about the science subjects I took in secondary school while listening to Mike explaining about diving stuffs. It definitely made me felt like I was in school again. Thinking back, learning is a life-long process. Even after I started working, there’s still much knowledge to learn. In short, knowledge is power!