Syed has been a diver for over 30 years (All photos: Patrick Goh/ The Edge Malaysia)
A far greater percentage of the surfaces of celestial bodies, such as the moon and Mars, have been mapped and studied than the seabed. While a large part of the ocean remains an enigma — more than 80% is still unexplored — it is inextricably tied to the survival of all life forms on Earth.
Thalassophiles often find comfort and peace in the sea’s weightless environment, where the grip of gravity weakens, reality is silenced and hardships are temporarily forgotten. Suspended in the vivid space between the surface and the depths, Syed Abd Rahman finds “real happiness”.
Syed started his corporate career with Maybank for 12 years before lending his financial expertise to the retail arm of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, where he stayed for 23 years, during which he picked up scuba diving as a sport. “I started out snorkelling at first and saw the beauty of the underwater world.
“It’s human nature, you know?” he says, recalling the curiosity that welled with each expedition. “Some people want to climb the highest mountain; I want to dive deep. In 1990, I took my open water dive course in Tioman. After that, I continued with my advanced, rescue, divemaster and instructor courses.”
Scuba diving altered Syed’s perception of the marine environment. In 2004, he founded Kids Scuba to teach children the sport as there was no outfit that catered to them. It was a good opportunity to instil conservation values too. Start them young, as they say. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors 5-star dive centre operates at Tropicana Golf & Country Club. “From there, we developed scuba diving in other areas. We began training special kids too, then youth, then people with disabilities.”
Kids Scuba gained recognition as they were virtually the only players in the region serving this niche. Their Kids Scuba Camps inadvertently publicised local islands too. Subsequently, Tourism Malaysia reached out and requested Syed to promote the programme overseas, dispatching him to some of the world’s biggest dive exhibitions.
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In 2012, he attended the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association Show — the largest trade fair in the world dedicated to diving, water sports and related industries — in Orlando, Florida. There he met Jim Elliot, president of Diveheart, a non-governmental organisation whose mission is to build confidence, independence and self-esteem in the lives of children, adults and veterans with disabilities through scuba diving.
They stayed in contact and a few years later, the first Diveheart chapter in Malaysia was set up at Kids Scuba with the hope of providing differently-abled individuals an experience that could offer both physical and psychological therapeutic benefits. Later, a second chapter was established at the Premier Marine and Scuba Centre in Kuching to serve those in Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. The non-profit organisation also works with the Malaysian paralympics team, hospitals and universities.
“There are five areas of disabilities we normally train: those who are visually impaired, hearing impaired, amputees, paraplegics and quadriplegics. For special kids, we also take care of those who have autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or are amputees,” explains Syed, currently Diveheart’s Malaysian ambassador as well as chairman of the country’s accessible tourism committee.
Diveheart’s programme uses adaptive diving, which modifies skills and techniques to meet the individual’s needs. The instructors also practise a zero-risk approach.
“One of the main differences with adaptive training is that the special person needs to be assisted by two or three adaptive buddies. In our programme, we make it mandatory for all our patients to come with a certified medical assistant.” Those who are keen on learning the proper techniques to dive with a buddy with a disability can also take the Adaptive Support Diver Course at the centre.
“As Diveheart is a non-profit organisation, we do not charge the special community. Some of them have lost their jobs and families after bad accidents. Coming back to normal life is not easy. So when they come under the recommendation of professors and doctors, we will assist where we can,” he says.
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At one of the adaptive training sessions at Tropicana Golf & Country Club, 28-year-old Nur Nabilah Mohd Azahar, who prefers to be called Bella, is both nervous and excited about her first lesson. She was a tourism management student and a divemaster when she interned at Curaçao in the Caribbean a few years ago.
“The accident happened when I was diving. I was a guide and had to get off the boat first. I was given permission by the captain to jump, but he suddenly put the boat in reverse and I went into the propeller. I survived, but was in a coma for three weeks and warded in Curaçao for four months. I was asked to come back to Malaysia for treatment and warded at HUKM (Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) for another seven months.”
Her right leg was amputated and she suffered from damaged nerves and muscles in her left. “When I woke up from the coma, I thought I would never dive again. It was my dream,” she says.
Beyond her physical loss, being away from the ocean she loved was equally painful. “I got depressed because I couldn’t be in the water, not because of my injuries.”
During recovery, a friend told her about Diveheart. It sparked hope, but her wounds were not yet healed and she did not get clearance from her doctor. For two years and six months, she waited to get back into the water.
“I’m kind of nervous, excited and overwhelmed because I’m learning new techniques. When the accident happened, I thought I had to forget all about diving.
But this is the start of a new journey for me,” Bella says with a sparkle in her eye. “Diveheart really makes me, someone who is disabled, feel like an equal.”
Sitting nearby, Sharifah Nadiah Syed Mohd Famy, 42, is confident that Bella will take to the experience like a duck to water.
“I have a condition called neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. It’s an autoimmune disease, a spectrum of multiple sclerosis. It is affecting my spinal cord from T2 to T6,” she explains.
While in the hospital, Nadiah overheard a conversation between an occupational therapist and physiotherapist about Diveheart. She was advised to look it up on Facebook, but like Bella, she was not well enough to participate then. It was only after five years that she came across the Facebook page again and reached out.
“It was something I really wanted to do before I was paralysed, but could never find the time because I was too busy working.” She is now a certified advanced open water diver.
Nadiah recalls her first day at the pool: “I was really scared and nervous. But the instructors told me not to worry. If I wasn’t comfortable, we could get back up and try again. I could take it slow and take my time. Together with two volunteers, I went down into the pool and that built up my confidence. I went to Pulau Rawa for my open water course and was completely speechless. It was majestic. Everyone said I was smiling the whole time.”
For those who might have the same jitters, she advises: “Trust the instructor. They are going to be with you at all times. They will not neglect or take their eyes off you.”
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There are a few ways to support Diveheart’s good work, including sponsoring students for open water courses and island trips. “For companies looking for special CSR programmes, we welcome divers from corporate organisations to take up the adaptive buddy course to assist our special community. We have regular monthly, quarterly and yearly programmes that they can support too,” Syed says.
Diveheart’s upcoming annual event for special kids on Perhentian Island will take place between Oct 7 and 9. From Oct 11 to 13, its corporate partner RHB Malaysia will hold a coral conservation programme that will involve the differently-abled community on Tioman Island. The public is welcome to attend both events.
After diving for over 30 years around the world, Syed still thinks the waters at home are the best, especially two sites in Sabah. “The marine life in Sipadan is amazing. You get to see vortexes of barracudas. It’s also known as turtle heaven — you can see 12 to 15 at one go. The other is Layang-Layang, which was not on the map 20 years ago. It’s known for hammerhead sharks and very good visibility. You can see to 10m to 14m from the boat.”
Being able to help others discover the marine world brings this 58-year-old great joy. Diveheart’s tagline is “Imagine the Possibilities”, but with his dedicated team on the job, the possiblities are made real.
This article first appeared on Sept 2, 2024 in The Edge Malaysia.
