The Plot Sickens

Blogger Nathaniel Tan of jelas.info seemed a bright and personable young man when I met him at a gathering of bloggers in Subang Jaya a couple of months ago. I was shocked when I found out this morning that he has been detained by the police (read Rocky Bru's and Nuraina Samad's take on this, here and here) yesterday evening. Malaysiakini also reported that "A four-day remand order has been obtained against Nathaniel Tan who is being investigated under Section 8 of the Official Secrets Act 1972" and that Tan's laptop and home desktop computer had been seized as well. This makes Nat Tan the first blogger to be arrested under OSA.

It must be noted that Harvard graduate Nat Tan is also a Parti Keadilan Rakyat man and Anwar Ibrahim's secretary for work related to the Foundation of the Future, an international NGO of which the PKR chief is president of.

What gives? Is this country becoming a police state? Or is this just a plot to strong arm and intimidate opposition politicians? Well, I'm pissed off enough to know who I am going to vote for in the next GE. No two ways about this.

(Poster courtesy of Mob’s Crib)

Jaff Point

A distinguished old friend and not-so-ancient fellow mariner has started his own blog: Jaff Point just to keep Tampin Linggi and me company, he says. He also wants to "keep my key moments and views alive and safe for future reference and remembrance." Hopefully many of our mutual ex seafaring friends who are now reading this will want to follow suit and jump in the bandwagon. I am pretty sure they all have many interesting stories and anecdotes to tell.

Welcome to the bloggers' world and happy blogging, Jaff.

PS: My apologies if I have been a bit tardy and sluggish with my blogging. I have been otherwise engaged.

Multiculturalism

I first set foot on the enchanting islands of the Philippines some 40 years ago. My ship was then loading rice in Cebu and later in Davao del Sur in the south. Those were idyllic times, I was young and carefree and there was she with the dancing eyes and flowers in her hair. I was to visit the islands again several times many years later to attend port seminars, conferences and even a senior management program at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Manila.

Fast forward until last week, I was in Angeles City, some 90 km north of Manila with a rather noisy bunch of about 50 lower-rung MIC politicians from Klang. They were there for a bit of R & R, compliments of the party bosses for a job well done. Boy, you will never believe the intense hypocritical lobbying and the back stabbing that went on even amongst this lot. I was to discover that 'caste' politics is also very much alive in MIC, something that other BN component parties or the opposition have never had to worry about. There was also a very strong undercurrent of discontent which if not put right may spell trouble in future.

Not very long ago, Salman Rushdie wrote an article called 'In defense of Multiculturalism' soon after the October 2005 riots or 'civil unrest' by Muslims in France. I have never been a fan or read any of Rushdie's books but I still remember his argument which has haunted me ever since: "The French riots demonstrate a stark truth. If people do not feel included in the national idea, their alienation will eventually turn to rage."

Balik Bayan

Pre 1991 eruption photo of Mt. Pinatubo from Wikipedia

Balik Bayan in Pilipino language means 'return to the country', the nearest thing to balik kampung for the Malays. Well, I am off to Angeles City near Manila early tomorrow morning with my friend Alex and a group of 50-odd Klang MIC division heads for a few days of R&R. I am told this little jaunt is a reward of sorts, compliments of Barisan Nasional, for their combined efforts over and above their normal duties to ensure BN's success in the recent Ijok by-election.

Talk about level playing fields. Sheeeesh. Be back on Friday.

Words - the cause of so much misunderstanding

"Send three and four pence, we're going to a dance!"

This was what happened to the message by the time it had been passed down a line of English soldiers in battle, each of whom had muttered it into the ear of the next. It had begun as "Send reinforcements, we're going to advance!" but it had changed by the time it had got to the end of the line. Nevertheless, simply by taking stock of the actual circumstances and use of common sense, one can easily clear the confusion and rectify the problem before everyone gets killed.

As a mariner, I was trained to say, “Stand by two anchors!” instead of 'both' (port and starboard) anchors. This is because in the heat of the circumstance, the word 'both' can easily be misheard and be mistaken for the word 'port' anchor only, with possible dire consequences all around. Some years ago, two Boeing 747s crammed with passengers collided in thick fog in the Canary Islands due to miscommunication with airport traffic controllers. Many were killed. Nearer home, an American cargo plane crashed while approaching Subang airport about 20 years ago, I believe also due to the same mistake.

Which brings me to what I am trying to say. People misunderstand one another all the time. Produce a stick and someone will get hold of the wrong end of it. Produce a set of trees and someone will end up peeing and barking up the wrong one. And worse, if the spoken or written word is in an ancient language very few can completely grasp and understand and still do not quite comprehend.

Islamic history, especially, is full of conflicts due to various sanctimonious readings and interpretations of the Quran and hadiths. I am no expert, but I do firmly believe that as in the above examples, we have to always consider the circumstances and the prevailing situation in every case as it may be. Whenever in any doubt, I believe common sense should always prevail, lest we think that we are all going dancing instead of advancing ...

Impertinence of Youth

I remember piloting the Kota troopships, a couple of old Dutch built passenger ships* belonging to Singapore's Pacific International Lines (PIL) in and out of Port Klang harbour during the mid 70's. These ships, chartered by the Malaysian army to ferry troops to and from East Malaysia, were usually filled to the brim with whole battalions of soldiers. On one occasion, I recall telling off a very young private who was perched precariously on the ship-side guard rails that he may fall into the sea. Looking at me in the eye, his impudent reply** was most telling, "Tuan, I am not afraid of bullets, so whats a little water?".

Ah, the impertinence of youth. I suppose when you are young you think you are bulletproof and also waterproof. But as a marine pilot who at times were never in full control of difficult situations due to circumstances, I have always believed in Murphy's Law, i.e., if anything can go wrong, it will. An old German former submarine commander once told me that he had no place in his U-boat for any man who did not subscribe to this belief.

So whats with many of today's youngsters? The cocky arrogance, over confidence and unhealthy disregard for convention. They cannot be all doing drugs. Its easy enough to blame parents and parents will in turn conveniently put the blame on Dr Benjamin Spock. Here I believe a bit of love, some discipline and even religion can work wonders, so perhaps there is some hope yet.

Delusions of grandeur, or the mistaken impression that the sun actually shines from your backside, is also a very common malady these days amongst young and old alike. I remember reading in the Ship Captain's Medical Guide years ago that this is actually one of the symptoms of late stage syphilis! So to all those snot nosed kids (and their uppity parents) out there, go see a doctor. Or else get a life. Maybe its not too late.

* M.V. Kota Ratu and Kota Rajah.

** Of course I screamed bloody murder. I stopped engines and told his CO that the ship wasnt going anywhere unless every soldier (there were others) gets his sorry ass off the guard rails ...

The Unkindest Cut

I was a 10 year old schoolboy on 31st August 1957 when I first heard the voice of our beloved first prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra on the radio, shouting "Merdeka!" several times with fist raised and echoed by thousands of jubilant citizens of the proud new nation at the Merdeka Stadium. The recording of his familiar voice has reverberated the airwaves on radio and TV for the past 49 years each time we celebrate the country's Independence Day.



Therefore it was with profound horror and disgust for me when I heard on the car radio the Tunku's familiar voice being replaced by the voice of a much younger persona, DPM Dato Najib Tun Razak during the run up to the Ijok by election recently. I believe Najib was only 4 years old when the country achieved independence and the joke is probably he is unaware of this rather juvenile attempt to distort history and fool the younger voters. Maybe it was just the work of some mindless ball carriers in RTM.

Now that the country is approaching its 50th year of merdeka, I am rather disturbed that lately there have been attempts by misguided youngsters to glorify the then DPM Tun Razak instead. If this is just to belittle or even negate the late Tunku's achievements then it is in very bad taste. Some of our younger leaders should realize that they are in their present exalted positions more because of their fathers' or even fathers-in law's names so they should perhaps cease and desist, for their shameful acts are indeed the unkindest cut of all.

Another Waypoint

I am 60 today but I dont quite feel 60. With the law of averages or whatever and God willing, I reckon I probably and hopefully will have a couple of more decades to go before I reach my final port of call. So while the PM and his new bride celebrated their wedding with a low-key dinner in Putrajaya last night, my family and I had our own quiet family affair at the Telawi Street Bistro in Bangsar. We dined on 'fusion' food: wild mushrooms, goat cheese, tapas, fresh halibut and sea bass with pasta and what have you. There was even a wickedly sinful 'volcano' birthday cake combo with stracciatella ice cream dripping with chocolate lava and the solitary lighted candle for this budding sexagenarian.


Nuraisyah and Dad at 60

We seamen have never been much for celebrating any occasion big or small, especially while at sea. I remember when my eldest boy Imran was born more than thirty years ago, I was away aboard an eastward bound vessel in heavy seas, weathering gale force winds off the Cape of Good Hope. The Suez Canal was still closed to shipping then. There was of course the usual congratulatory back slapping and the obligatory after-dinner cigars and port on the violently rolling and pitching ship. But after all that, it was back to the grind for everybody.

The occasion was after all, like today, just another waypoint in life's journey, and life, as they say, must go on.

What's going on?

Have been a bit busy and there is no denying that a heck of a lot has been happening these past few days. First the Lina Joy's case, followed closely by the Altantuya's case, the Alleycats' Loga's passing and now Pak Lah's rumoured (so he said) wedding has finally come true. The whole country is in the news perhaps for the wrong reasons.

It has also struck me that I have not gone on a holiday for quite a long while. My umrah trip scheduled for this month has been postponed at the last minute to God knows when, so I am now making plans to go on a biznes cum R&R trip to the Philippines with some people for a few days at the end of the month. I need this break so lets hope there wont be any surprises there, either.

You Cannot Fight City Hall

I was rather amused with all the hoo-ha over the highly politicised Lina Joy's case and the very emotional Islam bashing that followed. The operative word here was that it was a majority decision by a panel of judges. The realpolitik is such that you dont need a double first from Oxford to figure out that even if the panel had consisted of only one Malay/Muslim judge out of three, the outcome may not have been very different indeed.

So like the Yanks would say, you just cannot fight City Hall.

But at this stage of my life, I am also no longer interested in issues big or small. An issue in this country can easily become a non issue after being swept under the carpet or everybody going into a permanent denial mode. Therefore it will remain a perennial problem which will resurface later and will not go away.

Lets not then miss the wood for the trees.

Anyhow, this particular issue was really getting a bit tiresome and out of hand, so like I tell everyone, dont give me issues and problems, give me solutions ...

Blue Moon

Old timers may remember the Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's song Blue Moon made famous by Nat King Cole and Frank (Ol' Blue Eyes) Sinatra. There is also Ray Charles' hit song Blue Moon of Kentucky and Elvis Presley's When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again.

Remember the expression "once in a blue moon"?. Well, its going to happen tonight, actually, depending on which time zone you live in. But will the moon indeed be blue? Read here.

Behind Every Successful Woman ...

Fellow blogger Nora a.k.a Anon fm Miri recently wrote "Behind every successful man, there is a woman. And behind every unsuccessful man, there are two." Read here.

My old friend and Dufferin batchmate Raj a.k.a Capt T. Rajkumar in Chennai emailed me this interesting news item yesterday:

Visakhapatnam, May 24:

The wife of a poor pani puri vendor has become a software engineer in Infosys, thanks to her husband’s support. Sheik Salar, 26, a street hawker, used every rupee he earned to help his wife Fatima Bibi Sheik, 21, achieve her academic ambitions. And it was not in vain. Fatima completed her course at Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering with high marks and was given a plum posting by the software giant in a campus selection.

In fact, she is the first student from the college to get into Infosys. Fatima and Salar stay in a slum at Rajendranagar. While Fatima went to college, Salar roamed around the city with a pushcart selling puffed rice, corn, chilli bhajjis and pani puri, earning Rs 150 per day. When she was married off to her distant relation Salar by her parents in 2001, Fatima was just 15 and felt that she would never achieve her dream of being a software engineer.

“I did not want to marry since I wanted to study further and achieve something,” she said. She was crestfallen since Salar merely nodded when she told him about her dreams. But his nod meant a lot and he started saving money to help her study. By living frugally, Salar somehow got together Rs 60,000 to pay Fatima’s fee for the first and second year of her engineering course.

The Andhra Pradesh State Minorities Finance Corporation helped the couple pay the rest of the fee. “At the time of our marriage I was not sure how serious Fatima was about her studies,” said Salar. “But when I realised that she got 536 marks in her SSC exams and stood first in her school, I decided to help her study.” The pani puri vendor was adamant that her future should not get spoilt because she married him.

A junior college in the city provided her free intermediate education. She secured a decent rank in the Emcet exam and opted to join the electronics and electrical engineering branch in college. “We decided not to have kids till she got a good job,” said Salar. “For this, I took much criticism from my parents.” Fatima’s eyes moisten when she talks about her husband. “You can’t imagine the hardships he suffered to help me,” she said. “In the last six years, he was my strength. He sacrificed all his joys for me.”

“Fatima was always first in our class,” said Asha Kanthi, her classmate. “We did not know her story then. Now she is our inspiration.” Though happy at the turn of events, the couple is a bit sad when thinking about their being apart for three months, when Fatima would go to the Infosys campus in Mysore for training. Have they ever quarreled? “When we have issues, we sit together and discuss and sort it out,” said Fatima. She plans to take her husband along with her when she gets her posting. Salar too is proud, for he has proved that behind every successful woman there is a man ...

Battling Corruption

Graft, like sex, is a two-way thingy. The fight against corruption in this country is made doubly difficult with the current emphasis more on nabbing the receiver and not the giver. There is also a crying need to protect whistle-blowers.

On Tuesday 22nd May 2007, former High Court judge Dato Syed Ahmad Idid gave a talk on "Addressing Corruption in Malaysia" at the University of Malaya. This man had to quit his job some years ago after his letter exposing corruption and abuse of power in the judiciary was dismissed by his superiors. (Read Rocky Bru's take on the talk, here. I couldn't make it due to a prior engagement).

I had the good fortune of making the learned ex-judge's acquaintance a couple of years ago when he was the Director of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Center of Arbitration (KLRCA)* and I was a senior council member of Institut Kelautan Malaysia (IKMAL). We were then engaged in developing and promoting maritime arbitration in this country. He had struck me as an incorruptible and principled gentleman of the old school who had to suffer in silence for many years for something that he truly believed in.



It takes balls to rat on your colleagues but I suppose a guy has gotta do what a guy has gotta do, especially when it involves the very integrity of the country's judicial system. Dato Syed Ahmad Idid (I had joked that he resembles Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders !) has been quoted by the press that he has no regrets and given the chance, he would do it all over again.

Way to go, judge.

*Above photo taken at KLRCA circa 2005, (from left) Dato Syed Ahmad Idid, yours truly, KLRCA's Ms Yeo and current director Dato Noorashikin.

Greenwich

(Source: Wikipedia)

During my seafaring days, every mariner worth his salt whose ship was docked in one of London's former famous Royal Docks (now closed to shipping from 1981), will somehow find time to visit Greenwich. The town, located on the south bank of the River Thames is best known for its maritime history and as the location of Greenwich Mean Time or G.M.T., which was at one time based on observations made at the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

The Cutty Sark, a famous tall 'clipper' sailing ship, was in a dry dock by the river in Greenwich until it was almost destroyed by fire, believed to be by arson, a few days ago. Only her steel frames saved her from becoming a total loss and plans are already afoot to rebuild her back to her former glory. (Read my friend and fellow blogger Shanghai Fish's take on this, here).

Maritime Greenwich, which was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 1997, is also the home of the Old Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum.

There is also the University of Greenwich, where my daughter Nurasyikin graduated from 10 years ago.

The Gathering (not the movie)

I was late for the gathering of bloggers at the Subang Lake Club last night but managed to catch the last couple of speakers, MarinaM and Citizen-Nades. The dinner meet was organised by Bloggers United Malaysia and was well received by socio-political and non-sopo bloggers alike. A few friendly non-bloggers were also amongst the guests.

It was great to be able to put faces to names and was an honour and privilege indeed for me to meet Pok Ku, Sang Kelembai , Gundohing et al. Perhaps we should have more of these in the future.

N.O.C.

Around this time exactly 38 years ago, the National Operations Council (N.O.C.) was set up in the aftermath of the infamous May 13th riots and killings. It was headed by the then DPM Tun Abdul Razak. Our present PM, who was then a senior civil servant, was a member of this council. This Council also gave birth to the New Economic Policy (NEP) which after 38 years is no longer new.

I remember the joke going around then was that what NOC meant was very different to the various races in the country, i.e.,

Malays : Now's Our Chance !
Chinese : No Other Choice
Indians : Not Our Country

Sadly, the words still ring true after all these years. So I guess the joke is on us.

The Classmate

On Friday afternoon, Zorro gave me a ride to a meeting of bloggers with a former MCKK classmate of mine, a fellow who has led a chequered life and now in the midst of making a political come back. We were a bit late after getting caught in the late lunch and after Friday prayers traffic. The All-Blogs kakis were all there in Anwar Ibrahim's PJ office namely Rocky, Jeff Ooi, Nuraina, Tony Yew, A Voice, Big Dog, Stephen and a few others I have not met before.

The last time I met Anwar was a couple of years ago at a class reunion of sorts, hosted by another former classmate of ours Tengku Azman (former CEO of MIMOS), at the latter's dusun or fruit orchard in Sg. Buloh. The first thing that struck me on seeing him again was that his hair, like mine, was still 'All-Black' ! (so I suppose like moi, there was some 'cheating' involved here, old bean).

The consummate politician, (40 years ago, we, his classmates never thot he would be who he is today) Anwar answered all the questions posed to him by the so-po journo bloggers amongst us although there were moments I could detect that his mind wandered off elsewhere. Perhaps it can get pretty tiresome having to answer the same questions over and over again. But then these young fellows needed to hear the words again straight from the horse's mouth.

Perhaps after some years in solitary confinement and plenty of soul searching, a man can and do change. Unlike his former boss and jailer, at least he has shown the capacity to let bygones be bygones, and not become very bitter, vengeful and unforgiving - traits which are downright bloody unIslamic, if you ask me. He is now faced with the rather daunting task of trying to introduce big changes in the country's political arena and will need all the help he can get. So at the risk of being accused of being biased, I say boys and girls, lets give the guy a break.

It is the system, baby, and it sucks.

Ship Life

Friends often ask me what life aboard ship was like. Since I left the profession to work ashore in Port Klang many years ago, there have been many changes. I append below an excerpt from a very interesting email about life at sea for a sea captain these days. It was sent to my old training ship alumni website some time ago by my old buddy Capt. Jimmy Shroff (photo), who is still at sea and a master of a third generation container ship:

My morning on board generally starts in the afternoon with the awesome decisions facing a ship-master... to get up from bed or not, to shave today or postpone it for another week..... When (if) I do get up in time for breakfast, the issues get more weighty: should I skip the fried eggs and settle for half-boiled...

'Eggs to order' is not a small matter as Oscar Patrao would vouch for. When we were cadets on Scindia ships, discharging Calcutta coal at Tuticorin anchorage, Oscar once ordered a Spanish Omelet.. when the Chief Steward was summoned by the mess-boy, Oscar explained it was a five egg omelet stuffed with ham and cheese and topped with mushroom rings. “Mushroom rings?” spluttered the Chief Steward. Oscar got the normal 2 egg masala omelet, burnt more than usual and a reprimand from the Chief Officer.

Yusof, you may recall the wondrous feat of the 12 year old chintu kids on the lighters at Tuticorin anchorage, who would dive into the clear waters and bring up the odd piece of coal fallen over side while discharging. Well, the next day after the omelet incident, these young boys were having a gala time fishing out dozens of Jaffa oranges bobbing in the water. Simultaneously the Chief Steward was heard screaming: an entire case of oranges just removed from the fridge room had dizzappeared! Of course Oscar was like the cat that swallowed the canary... deny, deny till the end. Next morning, he got a five egg omelet at breakfast stuffed with ham and cheese... no mushroom rings tho'.

The above story is a small reminder that things have not changed much regarding the basic aspect of life at sea on merchant ships. We still do not have police or courts or doctors, things taken for granted ashore. It is still very easy for anyone to commit sabotage and get away with it. We still maintain discipline by the time honoured bluff and tradition and make a tolerable job with these two dubious tools.

The present day temper of the various authorities connected with shipping is also stretched to breaking point. But on the plus side, on safety of navigation, the Geographical Position-finding System, owned by the U.S. Navy but used by everybody, ships, planes, cars, service-men, trekkers, hand-phones, they have made a mariner's dream come true: The ship's position is known to a high degree of accuracy at any and all the time, anywhere in 3-dimensional space. The sextant has become an heirloom. Star recognition means Shah Rukh Khan, Mars is just another candy bar. I will not talk about safety anymore as a superstitious master who is still sailing... why tempt the devil.

I will end this on some brief observations on management in general, ship-master in particular. An effective manager finally has to manage through his own inner resources... the hollowness of bluff and tradition will eventually disclose itself. So if you are the authoritative, quick tempered master, do not try a facade of coolness, it’s not necessary. If you are the kindly, father-figure type, you may long to pose as a powerful disciplinarian.. again no need, the persons around you will forgive all short comings except posturing. Between these two extremes there are of course hundreds of shades of personality ...let the genuineness show forth, warts and all. Of course that doesnt mean you should be indiscrete. Just trust yourself, know you have the same potential as anyone else.

As regards electronics and automation, I never forget to use the most user-friendly remote controls supplied on the navigating bridge of a ship: they are called 'second mate' and 'third mate'. They know the location and use of more buttons than you know exist, and they love to be used. So give them a break and use them. Don't just use them to do all your distasteful work like filling up forms and check-lists. Let them con the ship through the Singapore Straits under your watchful eye.

Aha, Check-lists! When Percy Master emeritus first suggested using check-lists on board ships, an idea borrowed belatedly from the aircraft industry (as most of our ideas is... the dual wrap-around cockpit cluster on a bridge is just too good to be true. Had it on one new German built container ship), little did he know his article in the Oceanite magazine will be picked up and made the focal point of ISM and safety committees around the world. Alas we have overdone it: if I need to visit the rest-room I will have to complete a questionnaire containing such questions as:

Is the vessel safely aground
are all four anchors in use
is IMO informed
has the coast-guard been alerted
and, for good measure,
Has President Reagan (Who?) approved of the trip to the loo.

That reminds me, as the famous Balu Rao once said: I gotta go now... (you
know where...) I have not filled up the check-list.... but poor Reagan doesn't remember much these days.

Come to think of it, neither do I.

Best regards,
Jimmy

A Sight to Behold

Someone pointed out to me that we mariners are indeed a lucky lot that we are able and get to see enchanting sights, vistas and panoramas even the most frequent air travellers will never get to see in their lifetimes. I didnt quite catch his drift until he explained that some scenes can only be viewed at sea level where only mariners are privileged to enjoy.

As a first year cadet on board a ship at sea, I remember clearly the first time we sailed into busy New York harbour in mid winter en route to the port of Newark, New Jersey. Passing Staten Island and the Statue of Liberty ( of "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"), the sight of all those tall and majestic skyscrapers in Manhattan against a backdrop of clear icy blue sky, is something I will never forget, ever.

On my maiden voyage to Hong Kong, for instance, first impressions on making port at dusk with ships anchored and moored to buoys in the harbour; brightly lit men-o-war dressed to the nines; ferries, junks and bum boats bobbing in ships' wakes and planes landing and taking off from the old Kai Tak Airport are still firmly etched in my mind after all these years.



For me especially, and I am sure for many Malaysian seamen, Muka Head on the northwestern cape of Penang Island bring special memories. The sight of the old lighthouse flashing in the distance against the dull glow of sunrise is pure magic. It never failed to bring a tear in my eye, the same way I suppose that the white cliffs of Dover will produce a lump in the throat of many an English Jack Tar, especially after many months at sea. Or on entering Tokyo Bay, the view of snow capped Mount Fuji gleaming in the distance even to the most travelled Japanese seaman.

Indeed, Muka Head for many of us simply means 'home'- the promise of nasi kandar breakfasts, a visit to the barber for a much needed hair cut, and phone calls to loved ones from the Mariners' Club in Light Street ...

Oh ! dream of joy ! is this indeed
The light-house top I see ?
Is this the hill ? is this the kirk ?
Is this mine own countree ?
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Home is the sailor, home from the sea:
Her far-borne canvas furled
The ship pours shining on the quay
the plunder of the world.
- A.E. Housman

May Day

Today is 1st of May, also known as May Day or Labour Day, a holiday in this country and in many parts of the world. A day to celebrate the working class.

For us mariners, mayday is also an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications, an anglicized version of the French word m'aider, meaning "help me". A mayday situation is one in which a vessel is in grave and imminent danger and requires immediate assistance , e.g. sinking and the possible loss of lives on board. It is a word we do not take lightly, not even in jest.

But here's a hilarious dramatisation of a mayday scenario from You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHx7xYNdha0