Lahad Datu: a diver's paradise that bore a love story between two individuals from Malaysia and Singapore, creating Pirate Divers

By NATASHA JOIBI

The love story between Singaporean Kristy Chan and her Sabah-born Malaysian husband Glen Hapirulla is one that transcends borders.

The couple first met while Kristy was on holiday on Tioman island, Pahang, where Glen was working as a divemaster in the late 1990s. And as meet-cutes go, this particular romance was sparked by a shared passion for diving.

Granted, the relationship was not always smooth sailing, what with Kristy working and living in Singapore and Glen remaining on Tioman. But their love endured, and after a few years, Kristy and Glen tied the knot in 2003.

After marriage, the couple continued their long-distance arrangement for a while, as Kristy was still working as a graphic designer in Singapore. Eventually, however, they decided they needed to be together and headed to Glen's hometown, near Silam Bay, Lahad Datu, where they started a dive shop.

Today, 14 years on from moving to Lahad Datu, that small business — Pirate Divers — has become a prominent name to divers in the region. And perhaps more importantly, it is playing a role in helping Lahad Datu move on from its dark past and become a thriving tourist destination.

Diving into the unknown, with eyes wide open

Kristy was no stranger to Lahad Datu's reputation when she uprooted her life in Singapore in 2009 to move to Malaysia.

In fact, she recalls that her first visit to Sabah happened around the time of the Sipadan kidnappings in 2000; the much-publicised hostage crisis that saw 21 people being abducted from a dive resort by the Abu Sayyaf militant group.

Still, it was only natural for Kristy's family and friends to worry about her safety.

And they were even more anxious in 2013, when over 200 militants intruded into Malaysia and were involved in an armed standoff in Kampung Tanduo, approximately two hours by road from Silam Bay.

"When the news broke in Singapore, my family was so worried. They even offered to fly me home. People were fleeing from the villages to the towns and cities to be with their families. I was also considering returning to Singapore," Kristy remembers.

Eventually, though, the couple decided that Kristy would live in Sabah's capital city of Kota Kinabalu until the situation stabilised, with Glen staying back to manage their business and properties.

Needless to say, the couple's dive business took a huge hit following the Kampung Tanduo incident. Yet, that only served to strengthen their resolve to make their dream work.

Marine wonderland

Situated between Sandakan and Semporna, Lahad Datu is typically known as the gateway to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Danum Valley Conservation Area. It is also notable for that earlier-mentioned intrusion and apparently being a base for pirates in the 19th century.

Over the past few years, however, it has been gaining a reputation as a scuba diving wonderland.

Since the inception of Pirate Divers, Glen has sketched and mapped 64 dive sites around Silam Bay. And in 2017, his team discovered Blue Ring Reef; a reef that has been much talked about due to its resemblance to a “blue hole” or large marine cavern.

According to Kristy, Pirate Divers has received guests from the United States, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. And all of them are enamoured by what Lahad Datu's dive sites have to offer, from Blue Ring Reef to the Timber Wreck, a large Japanese cargo ship that sunk off the coast in the 1980s.

She also noted that while some trepidation is understandable, there is no reason to worry about the area, as tight measures have been put in place to make sure that everyone is safe. For instance, before diving in Silam Bay, divers are required to register their details with the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM), the enforcement agency that oversees security in the area.

"I feel safe here... I even go out to sea with Glen and our guests," Kristy said.

To Singapore, with love

Glen, Kristy's husband, meanwhile, concurs about Lahad Datu's safety, and that many diving enthusiasts, both local and foreign, have visited and fallen in love with the place.

Yet, he shares that he also has a personal mission of sorts for Pirate Divers — getting the Singaporean diving community to look Lahad Datu's way. And that is not solely due to his being married to a Singaporean, but rather down to his fond memories of the Singaporean dive enthusiasts he met and interacted with while on Tioman.

"Singaporean divers helped keep the dive industry alive (on Tioman). They were easy to work with, and it was easy communicating with them. So I'm really looking forward to Singaporeans visiting Lahad Datu," Glen said.

For the record, the governments of Singapore and Sabah have recently announced that they will be exploring more tourism opportunities. Additionally, it has been reported that Sabah is looking to boost its collaboration with Singapore Airlines and Scoot to bring in more tourists.

So, Glen and Kristy's hope of bringing Singapore and Lahad Datu closer through a love of diving could soon become a reality.

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