In June 2024, I revisited Bidong Island on two separate occasions to continue my work on island and below the sea of the island.
The first of these visits came through the invitation of Dr. Hafiz Borkhanuddin, Director of Marine Biology at University Malaysia Terengganu. I joined Dr. Borkhanuddin and his Masters students on their monthly research dives to examine the state of the marine ecosystem on the sea bed around Bidong. This was a long and exhaustive day under the heavy sun of an exceptionally hot Terengganu summer. According to Dr. Hafiz, the intense heat of June had brought with it a heavy bleaching event upon the corals. A widespread series of deaths hit many species of corals some the size of a hand to some the size of a two sedans.
Joining the team for such a long and focused day that extended into the evening for debriefing, transformed my relationship to Bidong. I had begun this relationship through my own one-way projection upon the island based on its traumatic history. I expected for the island to have a psychological burden, a deep sombreness and sorrow. Having experienced a full working day by people who treat the island as a part of their livelihoods and their deep research interests, I now have a more realistic relationship to Bidong. This was certainly the case as I observed the joy and satisfaction of the marine biology students as they undertook their dives. I felt at ease, although in seasickness, as I laid on our boat for a quick nap. This insignificant leisure activity was deeply freeing, I felt I could work with the island now on my own terms and at a casual cadence.
The second visit this summer was joined by a local guide, Darius, who I had met the previous year when I had first travelled to Bidong. We recounted our steps and inspected how the Terengganu State Museum had cleared parts of the dense forest of the island to create a foot path that traces the trail where different refugee camp facilities and lodgings were formerly located in Bidong. These locations are marked with new signposts, and included language schools, cooking facilities, aid stations, and even an art school. Clouds of mosquitos swarmed us as we moved through rough footpath trying to evade red ants.
The primary beach of Bidong where an accessible jetty is located, is now undergoing the construction of concrete wave walls to reduce the burden of the sea on the beach. I wonder how this new environmental engineering of the island will impact its ecosystem and how people may relate to its history of the island. The natural gradation of the beach is being erased by a concrete cliff. On this second excursion to Bidong I had taken the same boat that I had last year and from my first visit this summer with the marine biologists. The boat was also captained by the same person, Toro.
