Over the last weekend, my wife and I were on a trip to Pulau Tioman. We were late in doing our planning but despite that, we managed to get a room and ferry ticket via an agent.

However, two days prior to our departure, the chalet's (Genting Bayu Chalet) manager called me and told me that the ferry that we were supposed to take was full. Then I was told that when I get to Mersing, I was to call someone by the name of ‘Rizal'.

So, when I got there, I called him, and to my delight, we got into the ferry 45 minutes later as planned. Well, Tioman is a nice place, so the 45-minute delay was not really a big problem. But the funny thing was, we were asked to enter the ferry first, then when it started to move, we should go up to the roof of the boat, as there were no seats left inside for us.

After a two-night stay in Tioman, came the time to go home. Our agent Rizal, fearing that the ferries would be full, booked us for 10am. That Sunday, we waited from 9.45 am at the jetty at Kampung Genting, and boarded the ferry at 10.30am. Well, half-an-hour is nothing.

The ferry we were on proceeded to Kampung Paya then on to Teluk Tekek (arrived at Tekek at around 11.15am). At Kampung Paya we picked up many passengers and at Teluk Tekek where we were supposed to pick up even more passengers, the ferry was already full.

No problem. But we couldn't leave. We were sitting in the ferry waiting - for more than 45 minutes. At around 12.15 or 12.30pm, someone came on board, shouted for a few names but left when no one responded. We were kept waiting without being told what was happening.

Eventually, a lady sitting behind me, went out and asked for the reason. Apparently, the harbour master was preventing our departure. Our ferry, it seems, was overloaded, by nine persons. Then the same person came in again and shouted that nine of us were supposed to disembark.

If not, the ferry would be grounded. There was no mention whatsoever of what alternative transport arrangements had been made for the 9 if they disembarked. So, of course, nobody went out. The whole ferry kept waiting.

After some time, the same lady sitting behind me said she had secured five seats on the next ferry arriving and whoever left now would help the ferry to move and we would be out on the next ferry coming at 12.45pm.

So, five of us volunteered (my wife and me and three others). Our original ferry left soon but the next one that came was full. The same scene was repeated a few times and finally we got on a boat only at 3pm.

After boarding, and the ferry travelled a bit and was then boarded by personnel from a Marine Department vessel, apparently checking if the ferry was overloaded. Fortunately, we were not overloaded, because before they approached us, our ferry rendezvoused with another vessel and transferred a few passengers to the other ferry which looked equally full!

In between the waits, I called the operator of the ferry. I told them that at around 1pm, I was still waiting for my ferry that was supposed to pick us up at 10am. She asked me a few questions concerning my ticket, and in the end she explained that it was the agent's fault in that he had sold too many tickets.

I went to talk to the people from the Marine Department at Teluk Tekek, and I asked them what was the reason for the long wait. What was the problem? His first reply was that it was not his responsibility.

Then upon further questions, he said it is was because the ferry operators were trying to reap in maximum profits during the short peak weekend. At that time, there were around 200 tourists waiting at the jetty for their ferries to come.

What I am really unhappy about the situation is:

i. That there is no regulation and control of the ferry operators by the Marine Department. How can they say it's not their responsibility? They have to take care of the safety of the tourists and when the operators are unscrupulous, it is up to them to take care of us.

ii. Tioman is such a nice place, and judging from one long-weekend, it is sort of a goldmine for our nation's tourism trade. Unscrupulous ferry operators would really damage the tourism trade in Tioman.

The Marine Department should make a more concerted effort to ensure that the ferry operators, agents and so on conform to certain standards. Agents like ‘Rizal' are raking in the money while the chalet/resort operators are doing most of the work. The tourists who paid good money are not getting the service they paid for.

And we were made to wait for hours on end without food and water. I'm really disgusted with the disparity between the nice image the authorities are painting of Tioman and the reality on the ground.

Advertising is one thing. If your product and services are not up to par, sooner or later, people will find out. And then you would wonder why tourists no longer choose our country as a vacation spot.

iii. Safety issues - the passing of passengers from one ferry to the other on the open water is hardly safe. It's a cat and mouse game between the operators and the authority. This is really an accident waiting to happen.