Junyao

 28

Impact investment

Diving since 2012

• It was my first time diving in the water. I had no idea how it was gonna be like or what to expect, so I was totally not prepared for it. And the first time I released the air and start going down I was absolutely overwhelmed. Mind blown. Have you been to another dimension? It feels like I had just entered another dimension. Like this whole new world underwater... The corals like trees, you start to see the fishes around you, and all your perceptions and senses are absolutely different as compared to the land. So I was totally not prepared for that. I admit that I got a bit overwhelmed. But I managed to “Okay, okay,” like just chill and slowly get my heartbeat back on track. So that was the in-your-face kind of moment, which was also a great experience in itself.

  
  

• My third or fourth dive within the same trip, where I saw a turtle. It was my first time seeing a live turtle just swimming. We were in this area where it’s just...empty. Not much going on. But suddenly, in that vastness you suddenly see a creature just chilling, swimming. When I saw it I was like, “Wow, this is my first time seeing a turtle.” It’s just gliding. It’s so zen, so chill, and it just struck me hard in the moment that I was witnessing something so pure. A very innocent kind of untouched beauty. And it’s just so chill, so zen, just gliding and I’m just following it, looking at it, feeling really relaxed, very peaceful.

  
  

• That sensation that diving gives me, all these kinds of simple things. Very overwhelming but calm at the same time... A lot of these kinds of mixed feelings that makes me like diving a lot.

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  I think that sharks are… I guess it’s the thrill that they give you. Maybe people’s reaction to it is danger but to me it’s quite thrilling. And you know when they are actually not attacking you and you’re just looking at it, I just think that they are majestic creatures. Beautiful.

  
  

• So what I do is, I sometimes watch videos online to try and reminisce some of the moments that I’ve had in the sea. Like Nat Geo, films like One Breath Around the World. Absolutely amazing, to just relive those kinds of moment. Of course after this lockdown is over I’ll definitely - I guess everyone will rush down to do the things that they love.

  
  

• Yes, I would say it’s a sport that I am very grateful for picking up in my lifetime. That I was open enough to try it, and what a big payoff this has been.

  
  

• Hopefully it’ll give my future kid a more unique perspective into life about the vastness of life, the possibilities, about what’s out there, the unknown. Maybe kill his ego a bit.

  
  

• So what I believe, what I hope, that my child can gain out of his relationship with the water - especially diving - is to let him gain a more varied perspective into life. You know, the world out there is huge. There is so much for him to learn, for him to experience, for him to see. For him to absorb all this, to be closer to nature. And hopefully that will turn him out to be a more wonderful person, because having those experiences will definitely make you think more about life, and that’s what I want him to think of. And hopefully be more involved in conservation work to make the world a better place for himself, for nature, for the earth and I believe this kind of environment, in these kinds of activities that you immerse yourself with you’ll definitely meet a lot of good people. You can hit off ideas with each other, getting that whole environment right for him. Make him grow in a very positive, very wholesome environment.

  
  

• I believe that it did turn me out to be a better person, just based on what I explained previously. Going through all this. And you know I have great friends with me on this journey together with similar interests, similar hobbies... This relationship with water unknowingly seeped into various parts of my life and made me into the person I am today. And I am glad to say that I am very at peace and at ease with the person I am today. And I’m glad I turned out to be this way and I believe that this...swimming with water, diving, played quite a pivotal role in the way I am.

  
  

• I would say it’s because I experienced it when I was just entering adulthood. So I guess that transition, that moment when you start to get things, start to have to take more responsibility as an adult...and then you have that kind of experience at the same time. It has a bigger impact on your psyche and I wouldn’t want it any other way