Let me tell you a bit about the history of Doulos.
From posters onboard "Built in 1914, DOULOS is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest active ocean-going passenger vessel. DOULOS began life as Medina, carrying cargo from New York to Calveston, Texas. Then for a few years, as Roma, the ship carried pilgrims and immigrants. The role of the ship changed when it was remodelled into Franca C, a cruise liner in the Mediterranean. In 1977 the ship became DOULOS."
"DOULOS is a Greek word for "servant". Each member of the ship's company endeavours to serve. Some serve with their professional expertise as qualified seamen, officers, doctors, welders, teachers, cooks, secretaries etc. Others come without specialised skills, but with a willingness to serve in any way they can. All - from the captain to the cooks - serve as volunteers. "
From Wikipedia "the MV Doulos currently holds the biggest floating library in the world."
From Mikestation "the MV is a distant relative of this blog author's little red vehicle, the MyVi. Though they differ in extremes in terms of size, passenger capacity, function... and almost everything else, but what the heck, it's still good to have big fat relatives."
We went on the second day of Hari Raya. I was working all night the day before, attending to Hari Raya babies. We thought it would be a quiet day, with most city folks out of the city for balik kampung, or making their open house makan-makan rounds. See, little boy was so excited, he was about to board a ship for the first time in his life!
We were very very wrong.
Look at the line! No, those folks were not queueing up to buy tickets. Entrance was FREE. They were waiting for the crowd ON the ship to clear, so that they would have some standing space onboard. We didn't have the stamina to join the crowd on a hot afternoon... and it was beginning to rain.
We decided to come back another day. Well, at least little boy got a glimpse of how sailors look like.
We came back on Thursday night. Cool night sea breeze, city folks taking rest from a hard day's work and dining with their families... that would be good timing.
Yup. It wasn't too crowded. We had lots of space to move around and look at books. The last time I went to Doulos was a many years ago when she docked in Klang. I managed to get some books that I couldn't find elsewhere, particularly Thomas Hale's stories about being a missinary doctor in a little hospital high up in the hills of Nepal (which I had the opportunity to drop by).
The selection of books was quite huge, with most of them being children's books, Christian books, novels, and a smaller section on other interests. Some books are very well priced.
About an hour later, little boy got impatient and hot. The crowd began to swell after dinner, there was no air-con, and the sea breeze couldn't cope. We grabbed a few books and left. Wanted to buy a slim Bible (my current NIV is bigger than a brick. Two bricks.). Auntie Liz recommended a leather-cover NKJV... but the price was a bit overwhelming; and with little boy crying I was not in the mood for an expensive purchase. Anyway, we got some books...
My loupo chose "Bringing Up Boys" by Dr. James Dobson. The cover says "practical advice and encouragement for those shaping the next generation of men". Who doesn't know this doctor? The shopping centers in Keningau play his Focus On The Family audio tapes over and over again. Little boy is growing up very fast, he grew more than double his size in six months. We figured that we needed some help in shaping him into the right kind of little man. Hopefully he willl grow up fine.
Then I bought two "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. The cover asks "what on earth am I here for". What's your answer? What on earth are you on earth for? This book is a top best seller among Christian literature. Many churches in Kota Kinabalu and beyond are getting their congregation to buy this book en-masse and el-cheapo, so that they can spend forty days studying the book together. When was the last time since the Bible, has any book gain such recognition? If you haven't read it, go get one. I have a copy each in Mandarin and English. We gave a couple more to friends. So, these too, are for Hari Raya, or Deepavali, or Christmas gifts. See that golden stamp at the lower right corner? It says The Gold Medallion Book Award. I've got some good books by Philip Yancey which carries the same golden stamp. 
Next is "The Man In The Mirror" written by Michael Jackson. It says "solving the 24 problems men face". Men are the last creatures on earth to admit a problem. So, it's really good of Michael Jackson to write about it, especially his child abuse trials. And for all you know, the GOLDEN STAMP is there! Wait a minute. Hey it's not Michael Jackson! The author is a Patrick M. Morley who-is-that. Since I haven't read enough books to choose good writers, I'll just kiasu-ly follow the golden stamp. The golden question now is how to find time to read it. Auntie Liz recommended books by Frank Viola, but tak jumpa la bos. 
How can little boy go home empty handed? We found a book for him too. More like forcing a book into his little hands, hahaha... "Piglet's BIG movie" by Disney. This may be the DOULOS' last trip to KK, we thought it will make a good souvenir for his first trip on a ship. Well, you never know when little boy will start asking for books. I remember having a book like this when I was a little boy. A book with curves on its pages. It was a story about Pooh and Tiger getting stung by bees over a pot of honey. Something like that; read it during the years when learning to read was done over canes and tears. I think my parents bought it on a Doulos long looooooonnngggg ago. 
Pretty nice book it is. Colourful and lots of nice cartoons, though the story plot is quite silly. If only they make medical books so beautiful. Then everybody would become doctors.
It began to rain just as we reached the car. Along the highway leaving the port, we stopped for a moment to admire the jewel of the sea shining brightly against the dark and stormy night, quietly serving the people of the world. DOULOS, bringing knowledge, help and hope as it's mission statement says. How well do we shine in a dark and fallen world?
It was crazy, I went out in the rain to catch this photo. We bade farewell to this "Grand Old Lady of the Sea" as she cruises on blessing the nations for many good more years. Also, secretly envying those volunteers who have a year or two to spare for the life-onboard-around-the-world experience of their lifetime; on sea and away from the rat race. If I were still young and single, I might just go with them. Hehehe... too late to jump ship now.
To see more photos, click HERE.
Auntie Liz has a brief entry about her Doulos trip HERE.
3 comments:
Prefer your posting to mine anytime. More meat, more substance, more reflection, more insights, more indepth, more everything la! Dont stop blogging eh
BTW sorry you found the leather bound Bible too expensive. Thought it was a worthwhile investment for son, hence got it. Less than RM80 wor. As for FrankV, like I said, go online and download his stuff in pdf. It's worthwhile read. Blessings.
Not too expensive for a Book that's gonna be in use always for many years to come. Just not in the mood to buy that time. Will look at Salvation or something. :-)
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