Speaker Profile

| Seminar Program | Speaker Profile |
This year, it's time to take out your compact digital cameras and pull out a pen and paper as MIDE will be having a wide variety of seminars and workshops from renowned names on underwater photography, environmental conservations, search and rescue which will include tips and technique on how to improve your underwater photography skills along with diving safety and the conservation of the environment. For the year 2010 we have more workshops than ever before and we would love for you to join in as the seminars and workshops are open to public.
Todd Essick
Title: Underwater Fine Art Photography Date/Time: - 30th July 2010 (1200-1300hrs) - 31st July 2010 (1530-1630hrs) - 1st Aug 2010 (1300-1330hrs) Todd Gary Essick was raised in the Chicago area, spending summers in Ocean City, New Jersey and Winter breaks in South Florida, where he first became enchanted with the sea as a child. After moving to Florida he attended a commercial art school. During his last semester an interest in photojournalism was sparked by an internship with the Miami Herald. The photographic image became the focus of his artistic and professional life. Working as a professional freelance photojournalist for almost a decade, he covered daily news, sports and special interest stories, including drug and refugee interdiction in the Caribbean, the riots in Miami, the civil war in Central America and the Olympics. He has tackled some of the most intense and challenging assignments possible, primarily freelancing for the Associated Press in Miami.
Aaron Wong
Title: The Art Of Lighting - Macro Date/Time: - 30th July 2010 (1300-1400hrs) - 31st July 2010 (1630-1730hrs) Title: The Art Of Lighting - Wide Angle Date/Time: - 1st August 2010 (1330-1430hrs) No stranger to water, he has been "out at sea" since he could remember. In 2004 Aaron took the plunge into the world of underwater photography and has garnered several international underwater photography awards including Our World Underwater, BBC Wildlife Photographer, Celebrate the Sea and Through the Lens. Most recently you may know Aarons work having been chosen by Sony to produce a series of images based on his "Water Colors" project for Sony's latest line of dSLR cameras.
AB Lee
Title: How to Select A Good Regulator and Basic Underwater Photography Date/Time: - 30th July 2010 (1100-1200hrs) - 1st Aug 2010 (1430-1530hrs) A passionate underwater diver and photographer, A.B. Lee is no stranger to many Malaysian and International divers. Calling Redang his home, he has been diving there for the past 17 years. The owner of RedangKalong Resort, A.B often conducts talks and seminars on underwater photography and inspires both professional and amateur underwater photographers alike. Highly respected for his originality and innovativeness, A.B constantly manages to produce some of the most impressive images of Malaysian waters and its stunning marine life. His illustrious works have earned him multiple awards and he continues to add to his vast collections of spectacular images. A.B.Lee’s highly popular photography workshops and marine conservation programmes have been instrumental in making divers and non-divers more conscious of our local marine treasures and the need to help preserve their environment.
Lt Col (Dr) Muhd Yusof Abu Bakar
Title: Bubble Trouble Date/Time: - 31st July 2010 (1130-1200hrs) Title: Development of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine in Malaysia Date/Time: - 1st Aug 2010 (1730-1800hrs) Trained as a Housemanship in Kota Bharu Hospital from 1997 to 1998, Lt Col (Dr) Muhd Yusof Abu Bakar later transferred to 96 Hospital Angkatan Tentera Lumut (96HATL) as a Medical Officer from 1998 to 2003. He followed the Dive Medical Officer Courses in Australia 2001 and later proceed to Singapore for “Master Occupational Medicine (OM)” from 2003 to 2004 and other courses conduct by the Royal Malaysian Armed Forces. In 2004-2006 he was transferred to RSAT in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan then to RSAT KDSI, Tg Pengelih, South of Johor from May-Nov 2006 as a Senior Medical Officer. From November 2006 onwards till present he is attached to 96 Hospital Angkatan Tentera Lumut (96HATL) as a Dive Medical Specialist. He has four children and lives up North Malaysia.
Chitra Devi
Title: Save Our Seafood Campaign Date/Time: - 31st July 2010 (1200-1230hrs) Chitra joined WWF-Malaysia in June 2006. She is the Ecosystem-based Management of Fisheries officer and currently based in WWF-Malaysia HQ studying and churning out materials on all things fishy. Her job involves liaison with government departments to implement projects and activities related to fisheries management and marine protected areas, and more recently with the WWF-MNS Save Our Seafood (SOS) Campaign. She graduated from UKM with a Marine Science degree. In her free time, she does Indian classical dance and is a Self-Confessed-Underwater-Breathing-Addict (SCUBA diver).
Fairul Jamal Hisne
Title: Save Our Seafood Campaign Date/Time: - 1st Aug 2010 (1130-1200hrs) Fairul is a Senior Conservation Officer of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) responsible for managing the Society’s marine and coastal conservation programs. Having completed his studies in Marine Sciences in 2007, he joined MNS as a conservation officer in 2008 and has worked with them since. Among the projects he is currently involved in include MNS Marine Mammal Conservation Program, Tioman Island Coral Rehabilitation Project, and the WWF-MNS Save Our Seafood (SOS) Campaign.
Joanne Marston
Title: Divers Worldwide Demand Better Shark Protection Date/Time: - 30th July 2010 (1500-1530hrs) - 1st Aug 2010 (1230-1300hrs) Ms Joanne Marston joined Project AWARE Foundation in 2004 and became Asia Pacific Manager in 2006. Joanne has a BA Hons in International Studies and has worked with the British Parliament as a Parliamentary Researcher and Coordinator of the Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group. Before moving to Australia, Joanne worked as a Public Affairs Officer for the British Government’s Waste & Resources Action Program. At Project AWARE, she is responsible for educating and training divers and dive centres in coral reef conservation, underwater cleanups and marine resource management. Joanne is a PADI Master Scuba Diver and has dived across Australasia. She is also a qualified English Language Teacher.
Ken Kassem
Title: Semporna - Diving In A Biodiversity Treasure Chest Date/Time: - 31st July 2010 (1330-1400hrs) Ken Kassem has worked on tropical marine conservation since 1997, most of the time for WWF. Ken manages WWF-Malaysia's marine conservation programmes in Sabah, where he has been for the past 6 years. He has degrees in Marine Science, Geography and is a certified diving instructor. He has always had a deep interest in nature conservation, likes spending time in the forest and other habitats, but is happiest when underwater. Marine Coordinator for Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion & Peninsular Malaysia Seas programmes. Coordinates WWF-Malaysia’s marine projects, provides technical support and develops strategies for future successes. Ken has worked for WWF-Malaysia since 2004.
John Lippmann
Title: Inside To DAN AP & Diving Insurance Date/Time: - 30th July 2010 (1430-1500hrs) Title: Dangerous Jellyfish In The Asia Pacific Date/Time: - 31st July 2010 (1500-1530hrs) John Lippmann began diving some 38 years ago and developed an avid interest in diver rescue and first aid, decompression, deeper diving and marine animal injuries. He has been involved in researching, teaching, writing and consulting on safe diving, decompression and accident management for more than 30 years. John has specialised in certain areas including resuscitation, first aid, oxygen administration, dive rescue and various aspects of decompression. John has authored, or co-authored, many books that have been published and distributed worldwide. These include The DAN Emergency Handbook, Deeper Into Diving, The Essentials of Deeper Sport Diving, Scuba Safety in Australia, Oxygen First Aid, First Aid & Emergency Care, Automated External Defibrillators, Advanced Oxygen First Aid, Basic Life Support, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, the Ambulance Service Victoria First Aid Training Manual, and others. John’s articles and research on dive safety, decompression and accident management have been published in medical, technical and recreational diving journals throughout the world. John is currently the Executive Director and Director of Training of the Divers Alert Network Asia-Pacific (DAN Asia-Pacific), which he founded in 1994 in an effort to improve the safety of scuba diving within the Asia-Pacific. In 2007 he received an Order of Australia award for services to scuba diving safety, resuscitation and first aid.
Lawrence Alex Wu
Title: Underwater Photos with NO STROBES Date/Time: - 31st July 2010 (1400-1500hrs) - 1st August 2010 (1530-1630hrs) As one of the world’s leading internationally acclaimed underwater photographers with compact cameras, Alex has gained over 18 international awards and recognition from prestigious underwater film festivals and photo contests around the world. His work has been broadcasted, published in magazines and exhibited in over a dozen countries and at major cities such as London, Bangkok, Athens, Prague, Cape Town and Chicago. To date all his underwater photography has been produced only from digital compact cameras. He gained his passion for diving in Canadian Pacific waters and became a PADI Scuba instructor in 1996, but in 2003, he dived into underwater photography with the digital camera revolution and has never come up for air since. Completely self taught & having shot in cold water, the tropics, low visibility diving, conservation and research diving, he specializes in teaching divers the techniques to shooting underwater with compact cameras as well as photo journalism with a devotion to the oceanic environment. "Our oceans are still a world of mystery despite human advances, with 98% (NOAA) of it still to be discovered and protected. As a photographer, I feel it’s one of my roles to stop people lost amongst our chaos and bring the wonderful and tragic realities of nature to them through my imagery; to make them aware and realize..."
Sean Ferguson
Title: Underwater Photography - Timor Leste Date/Time: - 31st July 2010 (1300-1330hrs) Sean Ferguson-Borrell is one of the event organizers who assists H.E. the President of the Republic of Timor-Leste, Dr. J. Ramos-Horta, in producing a series of annual international events. These events have a dual purpose, firstly they promote peace and unity in Timor-Leste by bringing the nation together in ways never done before. Secondly, events such as the Tour de Timor and the first Underwater Dive Photo Contest show the world that Timor-Leste is a safe, beautiful and exciting place to visit. Sean has been a diver since the age of 13. Since settling in Timor-Leste 8 years ago (having dived all over the world) he can only say “it’s time you checked out Timor-Leste – untouched, unexplored and unbelievable - it s the best!”
Mohd Fairoz
Title: Marine Leisure Industry & Overview on the Public Marina In Malaysia Date/Time: - 31st July 2010 (1830-1900hrs) Currently holding the position of Principal Assistant Director / Marine Engineer Officer, Mohd Fairoz handles the duties in upholding, developing, maintaining and enhancing the Malaysian ship registration activities, Monitoring the statutory performance with regards with the present and future Convention and Non-Convention Regulations and Conducting Flag State and Port State Control inspection from his position as Surveyor of Ships under the Section 10, Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952 and he is also a Qualified International Safety Management (ISM) Auditor and Qualified Port Facility Security Officer (PFSO) under International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS), 2003; He is also the Secretariat of the Cooperative Mechanism on Safety of Navigation and Environmental Protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore and handles the task of Permanent Secretariat of the Aids to Navigation Fund Committee, Secretariat of the Cooperative Forum and Coordinator of the Project Coordination Committee.