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Bush Craft: My Own Way in Defining the Meaning of Survival
Bukit Pelindung. Or Pelindung Hill, maybe something unheard of for many townsmen or even townswomen. But to addicts of touring or wanderlusts, they may know where actually Teluk Chempedak is. Or the Gulf of Chempedak. So such a hill really stood high above the sea level of Teluk Chempedak. And so here I came to escape from the Brute of Life.
Before that I had been crazily downloading videos from Youtube.com, describing as well teaching survival techniques in the jungle or deep forests, until I was so absorbed with Daniel Suelo, the lone survivor who had been travelling with no money for five years and so forth. Many different techniques had been watched and timely absorbed starting from primitive hut’s building, lighting up fires with sticks, fire steel, stones, hand line fishing instead of the ordinary fishing tackles and lures, until to choices of wild animals and plants as staple foods. This overall studies nearly took 18 months to complete beginning early November 2017 when my home-based jobs with the local broadcasting company dwindled.
Many avid travellers especially campers and jungle trekkers, comes from Westerners. Even if they are local Malaysians, they are from successful backgrounds. Successful in the terms of highly educated, rich and prosperous, and if least subjected – free from trouble. But as for me – I am not. I am still clogged, soaked and choked by troubles. Education’s debts, debts burdened upon me by other people’s irresponsibility, rented abodes such as single and shared rooms that are forever haunted by disturbing noises, distrustful stares and nobody-is sincere-like tenants. So I abbreviated them as the Brute of Life. This is because I have been given no ample choice to avoid or even stop it from happening. I am just like a down-trodden, shackled and the should-be-punished person that is just like forever doomed and gloomed to be helpless. Just that, my inner sense of which has been thoroughly shaped and developed by ‘Think and Grow Rich: Sixth Sense’, abruptly objected. Phrases like, “Should I always be victimized?”, “Must I live in agony, desperateness whilst succumbed by ever doomed loneliness?”, “After plans, A, B, C, D fails should plan E also repeats the same, while realistically ‘E’ means FAIL in school’s exam?”, “What plan should that absurd E stand for?” Later onwards it sparked, “AHAA! Escape to the jungle!” YES! Escape to the jungle.
Even though ‘E’ is best suited to the beginning letter for the word ESCAPE, but there are so many escapes to be called upon. Escape from 9 to 5 work schedule, escape from working stressful part-time jobs, escape from falling in love with women, escape from gathering sins like alcoholism, drug addiction, smoking, LGBT, atheism, escape from paying loads of debt, and many more. Though I should admit that I have committed all these forms of escapism before, still it did not really solve my entire trouble. Which are noises and unwanted disturbances. Finally, I chose to Escape to The Jungle. That shall be precisely practical to my own common sense.
And I assume myself as a carbon copy of him. Only that I am not ever keen to testify that I am a loser. Nevertheless, I accept failures as values that I have to pay for in order to keep on living and survive. Those failures are my disability to negotiate with people, making more losses than profits in businesses, the failed attempts to stay much longer in any company because ‘I am experienced as not a people person’, throwing away money from savings to underperforming investments as a well-educated investor. Yes! A well-educated investor of Benjamin Graham. The master of the art of COMPOUNDING. The truth is the ‘God-curse-these bullshit corporates-of Malaysia’ ASB, where its dividends and bonuses are seriously declining from 7.5% in 2013 until to 6.5% in 2018. Just that if without that bullshit ASB and Bursa Malaysia, I would already be engulfed by the grief of hunger. Because why? Because there is no more BR1M. Translated as The Aid for the People of One Malaysia. This particularly due to the historically changed government that singles, B40 bachelors and retirees are not at all eligible to receive such beneficial aids anymore. But, they have failed to notice that many bachelors down here on the soil of Malaysia are stuck to death by the ever-changing policies that only enrich the usual cronies and the wealthiest amongst the riches.
Therefore with a rucksack of camping gear, basic and simple, stuffed together with life-essential assortments, I trekked up the mountainous hill. Not actually uphill but downhill too. Up, down, up a little bit, down to take bath in the South China Sea, and up again to build my tent for the overnight stay. It was just like walking through a 20 kilometre off-road. I got lost for almost three hours in the woods for not abiding the rule of following the usual track. The track where trekkers usually hike safe and sound. Diverted downhill, I collided and stumbled with spiky rattan strands and wild palm trees. Scientifically known as Calospatha Becc. Scratches effectually formed and uneasiness to breathe started to take place. I really had to cut the strands as well as other obstacle-featured branches in order to climb downhill. Along the way, I spotted 3 to 4 caves built either from mounted big stones or prehistorically formed due to geographical factor.
Later onwards, one deep-rooted cave had been one of my biggest obstacles. This beautifully underground cave with a tiny passageway passing through it was covered with spiky rattan strands as its roof. Quite traumatized by the painful sensation of the spikes experienced earlier, it accidentally drove me breathless. I panted for nearly half an hour. My sense was just like swimming. Between dreaming and unconsciousness. I thought this might be my death bed. Thankfully, I was not yet doomed to die. So I withdrew my step backwards and climbed out to about 5 degrees eastward, of which I knew it would be the seashore.
But the breathless’ sensation was recurring as I moved ahead. I thought that something was wrong with my body and I decided to rest on a stone. A boulder of which was quite protruding from the earth as if it was a flat cliff. Then, I started to control this awkward breathless’ sensation with Yoga-type sitting. Closing my eyes, with a deep breath, I cleared my haywire mind. Total calmness could really be achieved after a while later. And it was historical for me to gain control of this awkward breathless’ sensation as one of my personal achievement. Yes! I have cleared my haywire mind. No more fear. No more confusion. No more gloominess. Wow! That was wonderful.
The rest of the three hours lost in the small jungle was spent on getting the exact direction to the seashore. And later in the evening after a successful camping and igniting campfire, I endured another 9 hours of thirst. Hehe! Not enough water to bluntly admit. And the forest’s water source was very scarce. Whatsoever, the conclusion, I have just put to use the skills of Bush Craft. Not just the skills of building fire, erecting a tent, carving woods into cups, spoons and plates, but also the skill of self-control, of which for me was highly demanding my intellectual capacity. In order for me to escape from The Brute of Life.
