Island of the Children
We found Mabul is an lively Island with many children and young people.
Half the 2,000 population on Mabul are children below 14 years of age.
Most of them loved having their photos taken.
Children play with whatever they have. Usually boys in a group and girls in a separate group. Shouting and laughing at each other.
The sea their playground
The sea is the playground of the kids in Mabul. They play and swim in the sea like a pro at young age. All boys and girls seem to know how to peddle a boat. Some poorer kids peddled around the resorts seeking foreigners to ask for money or snacks. They are those immigrant kids not entitled for the education from Malaysian schools.
Some, not all, of these “Bajau Laut” kids are stateless with no proper education. There is one primary school in the island.
City children think these Mabul Children are lucky to be born in this island with beautiful water where everyday is a holiday.
By the time these island children attend teenage, they begin to have their hopes and desire, they wanted a better life elsewhere, their families also want a better future for their kids, to have a proper education so they can move out from this tiny island to roam the world just like we do.
But for the time being, this boy (photo above) is contented to roam around the water village with his Styrofoam box.
Alijah and Abijah
We met these two sisters at the beach.
Attentive, cheerful, confident and good physical body , something most city children are lacking.
This small 21 hectares oval shaped island located at the south-eastern coast of Sabah.
Surrounded by soft white sandy beaches and perched on the northwest corner of a larger two square kilometer reef.
With nice scene of swaying coconut trees and a pleasant water village.
Half an hour by speedboat from Semporna Town.
From Mabul Island to Sipadan Island is about 15 minutes boat journey.
Mabul became popular due to its proximity to Sipadan and Sipadan is one of the world top dive sites.
Because Sipadan is protected from overnight stays, Mabul became the main choice of accommodation for the Sipadan tourists.
A number of resorts and homestays on Mabul Island were built to cater the tourists’ accommodation and also to provide the diving and snorkeling services.
Mabul Island itself has its unique marine life and is arguably one of the richest single destinations for exotic small marine life anywhere in the world.
Mabul is well recognized as one of the best “muck diving” sites in the world.
Kite flying on Mabul island
The children fly kites in the morning, in the afternoon. The village boys fly kites whole day through.
Vegetables handpicked from a garden
Life at Mabul island is simple and self-sufficient. The sea out there is loaded with fresh seafood. There are sundries shops, a police station, a school, a mosque and a popular banana-kue shop.
TOY STORY of Mabul Island
Photo 1) Early morning in an island while an adult just awoke walked pass in his sarong pajama, the children already busy in their sandy playground for their routine daily play.
“My wheel barrow, you never seen such toy in the city right?” With big eyes steering on me, this small boy seems asking me when I strolled into his village with amazement.
Photo 2) Nearby an elder brother (in white singlet) knows something else, he quickly took over the toy “This is not a wheel barrow, it has paddle, it is a …..a….. a bino-cycle. I have seen one in TV alright.”
He likely think so and try to prove it by demonstrate how to cycle with its paddle. That unhappy young brother (in blue T-shirt) could only stand aside to watch. Somehow this elder brother unable to get this “bino cycle” moving no matter how he paddle forward and backward with his feet. Meantime, their father kept an eye on his children from the stilt house.
Photo 3) “My toy is bigger with 2 wheels”
A neighbor kid came show off his similar colored toy without paddle. But he does not know the name of his toy. While puzzling on how to play with his strange Two wheels toy, a fourth boy came showing a latest model of toy available in the village – a Guitar. This small plastic guitar is not only too new but also too precious to be touch by others and has to be protected in it original plastic case.
“I will play for you some guitar music, but only if you invite me to your birthday party.”
He certainly can entertain his peer group with great excitement and exotic music with his plastic guitar – but only after he insert a pair of batteries and switch on. While children play with joy , a father has to face hard ship of a real life in an island with no tape water supply. All domestic water has to be carry back to the house bucket by bucket from a near by well. Why not he uses the barrows? The children have a 1 wheel barrow and a 2 wheels barrow.
Photo 4) There is no limitation in the imagination of a child. Whether 1 wheel or 2 wheels, they know what their toys are. Whether has paddle or without paddle, they know how to use their toys. Mean while a big boy has been watching us with amuzement under the shed beside his house. He might wonder how the children toy could amazed an outsider (me) with just their ordinary and routing daily life.
But he himself play toy too. His toy is not a plastic but a real, big, steel made bicycle. He has a much wider playground. Those swaying and curving bicycle tire marks on that long village beach are created by him.
Toy Story goes on in Mabul Island.
In the morning a fishermen came to sell fresh crabs and lobsters for a low prices.
The Chinese cook also help visitors to select fresh lobster and fish from the fisherman coming by, and cook for you the fresh sea foods for a small fee.
One of the resorts here do not serve any seafood in meal because the management support sustainable fishing in the area. Eating seafood does not help to preserve the marine environment. When there is more demand of sea food, more supply will be provided by the fishermen resulting in damaging the ecosystem.
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