In the Beginning…..
Like all stories, there has to be a beginning, an introduction of sorts, followed by the main story, and then the close.
This is a sailing blogpost that will attempt to chronicle my entire plan to circumnavigate the globe on this 5-year mission…. ( sound s like a Star Trek intro….hahahah).
The 5- year plan started above all with the why I decided to do this. For this, we will like they say need to revert back to the very beginning.
My name is Fabian Fernandez, born in 1971 in a small town in the northern state of Perak , Malaysia. Growing up, typically in a small town, meant the same ol stuff of a bunch of naughty kids and their antics!
My parents are the typical 2nd Generation families that migrated from India in the 1930s. Both my parents were born in Malaysia, and I trace my ancestors to Trivandrum in India.
My father worked as a Clerk in a school and was with the government service. This is very typical for the period when most immigrants to Malaysia, 2nd Gen - at least were employed in the civil service. Mum was a homemaker, so ours was a very conventional household. I am the middle child, with an elder and younger brother.
I remember something my mum told me very early in my life, where she said that I would travel a lot. It was common, in those days, when a child is born, to have their stars read, (regardless of what religion you were).
This stayed with me, and in my early years, I was always interested in jets and the air force. Then when I turned 13, I had to wear glasses and that meant ‘ bye-bye’ flying…. so, in turn, changed to think about doing engineering and joining any branch of the armed forces. After my required government entrance exams, I did not succeed to get into a local varsity to further my engineering aspirations due to the requirements for entry, and thus I was rather pissed and decided instead to perhaps study law.
That too, fell into some issues as my brother was already in a public Uni and if I had gone, would mean my dad could not afford the both of us in the Uni at the same time. Contrary to popular beliefs, not all of us non-malays ( in Malaysia) are born super-rich and have access to a load of money and scholarships!
At that point, my former classmate - Mr Kanaga Lingam, suggested I take up a course in Marine Engineering. As it stood, I would obtain a scholarship and also a guaranteed job on graduating. That seemed like a good deal! I had never had any idea of working on a ship in the merchant marine. So, this was all rather new. I could not swim, never felt at ease in the water, basically had no idea what I was getting myself into. Although I must admit, tall ships fascinated me!
I was always hoping to get a stint to train on the ship, KLD Tunas Samudera, which was presented by HRH Queen Elizabeth 2 to the government of Malaysia. But that never happened.
So here started the beginning of my journey.
The Ship Years
on board MV Alam Aman
