Conquering Mt Kinabalu – A Tale of Triumph and Tragedy

Mount Kinabalu conquered!

The 5.9 magnitude earthquake which struck the Ranau district in Sabah, Malaysia on June 5, 2015, claimed the lives of 18 people on Mount Kinabalu, with most of the deaths being students and teachers from a primary school in Singapore. My friend Feroz was amongst the climbers left stranded at the Summit in the aftermath of the disaster. This is his personal account of how he survived the ordeal and lived to tell the tale.

Conquering Mount Kinabalu amidst such highly challenging circumstances is no small feat. I am hugely relieved that my friend and others are safe but my heart goes out to those who didn’t make it and the tragic loss suffered by their grieving families.

Thank you Feroz, for sharing your story and may we all learn something from it.

“It all started back in March 2015 when I volunteered to join Talisman/Repsol Mount Kinabalu expedition consisting of 9 individuals to raise funds for 5 local charities in Sabah. For the next 3 months, a lot of effort was put in by hiking several hills/mountains including Gunung Dato and Frasers Hill as part of our training. Further to that, we've also managed to raise a substantial amount for the charities, which Talisman/Repsol will match 1:1.

All geared up for the climb

June 4, 2015 was our big day, the beginning of our Mount Kinabalu climb. We started our journey from Timpohon Gate at 9.00 am and reached Laban Rata at 2.00 pm. After an early dinner, all of us were in bed by 9.00 pm.

It was early morning at 2.30 am when we started our climb to the Summit. By 6.20 am, all 9 of us had successfully made it to the peak! We were so overjoyed that we had achieved our goal. After taking a great team photo, we started to come down from the peak at 7.00 am.

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Our joy was cut short when we felt a huge vibration, heard a loud noise and witnessed the rocks falling down from most of the peaks at the Summit. All of us were shocked and wanted to quicken our descent only to realize that the trail had been severely damaged. We were notified that the trail was no longer accessible and safe to be used but a rescue team will come to our aid. 

Stranded at the Summit 4,000m above sea level for 9 hours

Self-constructed tent at the Summit for shelter

At the time, there were more than 130 people stranded at the Summit (7.5km) and we had to wait for further news from the coordination team in base camp. We were later informed that there will be troops coming to open up a new trail for us, bringing food, drinks, blankets, the rescue chopper was arriving shortly, etc... but to no avail. 

Our hope to be evacuated became slim as sunset was approaching. We had 2 options: either to stay overnight at 5 degrees at 4,000m above sea level without proper clothing, sufficient food nor water, or to take the risk and find our own way down.

The group decided to do the descent as another earthquake was expected to happen at 9.00 pm. If we were still at the Summit by then, it was likely that we would not survive. The mountain guides did an extremely good job by opening up a new trail for all of us which was rather dangerous but a risk that we were willing to take so that we can return to a safer location.

Waiting to continue our descent whilst the mountain guides prepared the new trails

New trail created by the mountain guides

We started our descent at 4.30 pm and witnessed the aftermath of the earthquake ourselves. The saddest thing was when we came across several dead bodies trapped under rocks and some body parts which were detached and scattered on the ground. We just had to be strong and continued our journey in the dark for about 9 hours and we finally reached the Kinabalu base camp at 2.00 am. Our team of 9 plus our trainers, Zaim and EK from Active Bugs, had shown great teamwork from day 1, lifting everyone's spirits during the difficult times despite the trauma that we had to go through.

Walking past the big boulder

The smoke after the earthquake

What's left of the "Donkey's Ear"

A special commendation and appreciation should be given to the mountain guides for their great dedication in looking after us whilst we were at the Summit and ensuring our safe return to the base camp. Without them, I don't think we would still be around today.

On another note, we were truly disappointed with the way our authorities handled this rescue mission. The earthquake struck at 7.15 am but Majlis Keselamatan Negara only had their meeting at 3.00 pm. Enough said on this but I truly hope our leaders will do a post-mortem of the rescue mission and make them accountable. We have lost our faith in them after personally going through this ordeal.

Overall, it has been a truly roller-coaster experience for me personally and our team. We had great fun together during training and upon reaching the Summit; getting stranded at 4,000m above sea level on our own; constructing a tent and starting a bonfire to keep us warm. It was traumatic and mentally and physically draining to witness the end of “Donkey’s Ear Peak”, finding dead bodies/limbs, etc. but most importantly we made it to safety. Our prayers go to those who didn't make it and those who got injured along the way. This experience has had a great impact on my life and will remain in my memory forever.

We are truly grateful to Allah (Syukur Alhamdulillah) for protecting us from the worst and for our safe return."

Lotsa Luv

Forgive Me

I was browsing through the January 2015 issue of Reader’s Digest, my favorite magazine in the world when I came across an article titled ‘Why We Forgive’. It was an extract from ‘The Book of Forgiving’ written by Desmond Tutu, the South African social rights activist. Tutu wrote about his traumatic childhood growing up with an abusive father and how forgiveness is truly difficult but necessary to enable the healing process.

The last few sentences of that article really struck a chord with me: 

“We don’t forgive to help the other person. 

We don’t forgive for others. 

We forgive for ourselves”.

For many years, I have carried the heavy burden of guilt for what happened to my best friend, Dee. Here is my story.

Dee and I met during orientation week at university. We were standing in a long queue and she was right in front of me when she turned, smiled the sweetest smile and said, “This is embarrassing, but I really need to go to the washroom. Can you save my place in the queue?”

I smiled back and said “Sure, the queue’s not moving that fast, anyway”. She said thanks and went off quickly. When she came back 10 minutes later, we started talking and over the next 2 years, became the best of friends.

Our friendship began to change when Dee started dating a guy in her class. She began spending most of her time with him and it got to a point where she neglected her studies and her grades suffered. When I asked Dee about it, she simply laughed it off, told me not to worry and said everything was under control.

One day I got a call from Dee’s mum. I have met Dee’s family before when I had gone back with Dee to her hometown to celebrate Hari Raya. Dee’s mum was worried why Dee had not been returning home for quite some time. When Dee’s mum asked me what was going on with her daughter, I had no choice but to tell her everything. How Dee was skipping classes and missing assignment deadlines because she was going out too frequently. I told Dee’s mum that I had tried talking to Dee about it but it had gotten nowhere so her mum said that she would discuss with Dee’s dad on what had to be done.

Later that evening, Dee stormed into my room. She was crying and shouting and saying that I had no right to interfere in her life. I told Dee her mum was sick with worry and deserved to know what’s going on. Dee accused me of being jealous; she said she hated me and never wanted to see me again. Then she left.

That was the last time I saw Dee. I thought that after our argument, she had gone back to her room. Unfortunately I was wrong. Dee had actually driven off in her car and according to the police, she was driving at very high speed when the car crashed into a tree. She died on the spot.

All this happened many years ago but the memory of it all is still fresh in my mind and the pain has not fully gone away. I never stopped blaming myself for what happened to Dee.

If I could talk to Dee for one last time, this is what I would say to her:

“Dee, I’m so sorry we got into that horrible fight. I wish I could go back to the time when we shared so much joy and laughter.

I’m sad that I will never see your sweet smile again, just like the one you gave me when we first met.

I hope that you have forgiven me for not being the friend you deserved so that I too, can forgive myself for what happened to you.”

The article in Reader's Digest has made me realized that life is too short to be living in sadness and regret. I must forgive myself in order for the much-needed healing process to begin. I know that Dee would have wanted that for me.

Rest in peace, my friend. I miss you.

Lotsa Luv

#RAKWeek2015 - Let's Flood Social Media With Kindness

According to Wikipedia, a random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or people wishing either to assist or to cheer up an individual person or a group of people. It all started in a Sausalito, California restaurant in 1982 when Anne Herbert scrawled these words on a place mat: "practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty".

Do you know that Feb 9-15 is International Random Acts of Kindness Week (RAK Week)? Read on.

What RAK Week Is All About

It is simply a 7-day celebration of kindness. Since we are always celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, etc., why not celebrate kindness for a change and rejoice in all the positivity it brings?

For one week, everyone unites to flood social media with kindness by sharing kind words and comments, inspiring stories of selfless acts, motivational quotes and anything else that demonstrates kindness. The goal is to reach 100,000 acts of kindness by the end of the week.

How You Can Participate

1. DO one (or more!) act of kindness. From the time you wake up in the morning until you go to bed at night, there are TONS of opportunities for you to be kind, so seize the chance! 
It can be an act of kindness to a family member, a friend, a colleague, a business associate, someone you’ve just met, a complete stranger, or even the person you see each day in the mirror - yourself! To get you started, check out the Kindness List below.

2. #POST your act of kindness using #RAKWeek2015 on social media. It doesn’t matter if your kind deed is big or small; do your part to help flood social media with kindness. Together, let’s achieve a record of 100,000 acts of kindness by Feb 15.

3. SHARE the kindness message on your social media and encourage others to perform kindness acts of their own. Every little helps!

The Kindness List

One small, thoughtful gesture can brighten up someone else’s day. Pick an idea here or be creative and come up with your own.

1. Top up someone's prepaid phone card.
2. Give a pair of movie tickets to a stranger.
3. Bring a special treat for the tea lady at work.
4. Send flowers to a friend you haven't seen for a long time.
5. Pay the toll for the driver behind you.
6. Buy an inspirational book for a friend.
7. Write an e-mail of appreciation to an old boss or colleague who helped you at some point in your career.
8. Make two packed lunches and give one away.
9. Start a conversation with someone you meet in the lift.
10. Buy a coffee for the person waiting in line behind you at the coffee shop.
11. Say hello to the person helping you at the supermarket check-out line.
12. Let someone in the queue at the post office go in front of you.
13. When you go out for lunch, ask the people around you if you can pick up anything they need.
14. Bring cut fruits to share with your co-workers.
15. Buy a meal for a security guard.
16. Keep an extra umbrella in the office and offer it to someone on their way home if it's raining.
17. Treat yourself to a spa session after completing a project.
18. Write a nice comment on someone's blog.*winks*

The list is endless. All it takes is some time, a little bit of effort, a small amount of money (or none at all) and huge doses of kindness.

If you have been tuning in to LiteFM, Hitz.fm, MIX fm or any other local radio stations recently, chances are you would have heard about Project #hopecouragestrength.

#hopecouragestrength is about doing random acts of kindness and spreading it in the community. It is based on the idea that no act of kindness, no matter how small ever goes unnoticed, so spread the love!

The radio crew have been promoting random acts of kindness in various ways. They have been helping to pay for people's groceries, handing out Touch & Go cards at LRT stations, paying the toll for motorists, giving free lunches to college students, visiting the children's ward at the hospital and many more.

They've done their part, so let’s do ours.

Join #RAKWeek2015 – let’s flood social media with kindness!

Lotsa Luv