This year marks the 50 th anniversary of one of Malaysia's older sports clubs, the Malayan Sub Aqua Club or MSAC. This is somewhat surprising, as amateur diving with compressed air or SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) is a comparatively sport.

The first scuba equipment suitable for amateur divers was launched in 1946. It was based on the work carried out by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan in the early 1940s to produce a commercially viable open-circuit gas regulator in which compressed gas (usually air) is inhaled from a tank and then exhaled into the water.

So, only 13 years after the “Aqualung” appeared on the world scene, Malaysia had its own diving fraternity. How did this come about?

Today, with the wide exposure that undersea movies receive on TV and video, almost everyone will have regularly seen the astonishing images and life forms that abound underwater. In the 1950s and 1960s however, there was much less material available to the public and dive gear was primitive to say the least. Nevertheless, the introduction of equipment that enabled someone to breathe underwater and explore the new world under the sea generated great interest in many people and so various groups came together to learn more about this new adventure and share their experiences. One of the first was the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC), formed in 1953 which spawned numerous branches over the next few years. In 1959 BSAC was one of the founders of the World Underwater Federation (CMAS).

In Malaysia, with its spectacular coral reefs and clear warm waters, scuba diving was a natural activity to pursue. Despite a lack of sophisticated equipment for amateur use, expat divers from Europe, living and working in Malaysia at that time, along with their local friends wanted an organisation that would help them participate in this new sport and provide a great social environment.

In 1959 the Malayan Sub-Aqua Club (MSAC) was formed to provide sports divers in Malaysia with access to some of the best diving in the world. It has always been a multi-racial group bringing together Malaysians and other nationalities who all share a similar passion for the underwater world.

MSAC was conceived as a club for qualified divers, designed round the BSAC model (and for a number of years it was a BSAC branch). Back then there were no dive resorts on Malaysia's islands, and almost no dive shops where equipment could be purchased or diving tanks filled with air. Thus MSAC acquired its own compressors for filling diving tanks, and trained its members in the safe operation of this equipment.

Diving was a matter of transporting the club's compressors to the dive area (usually the East Coast), and hiring a local fishing boat to transport divers and their gear offshore to whatever island was to be the focus of the trip. Once on the islands, such as Redang, Perhentian or Tenggol, camping was the order of the day since there were few or no resort facilities available. Occasionally a kampung balai raya might be rented for a few Ringgit per day where divers could sleep at night. During the day it was all dive, dive, dive.

Over the years, MSAC members have dived all the well known dive sites around Malaysia and have ventured overseas with expeditions to Indonesia, Thailand, the Pacific islands, Australia, the Indian Ocean... the list goes on and on. MSAC was one of the first groups to dive Malaysia's crown jewel, Pulau Sipadan, south of Semporna in Sabah and were on the beach at Sipadan when Cousteau's vessel, Calypso, ventured into those waters for the first time. Today, Sipadan is listed as one of the top ten dives destinations in the world.

As the years passed, and scuba diving became, if not a main stream sport, a popular pastime with hundreds of thousands of divers worldwide, MSAC has continued to provide divers in Malaysia with a friendly club environment and access to the best diving in the country. Today, however, there is no more camping as there are plenty of economical resorts available on all the major offshore islands.

While the principal focus of the MSAC was, and still is, the provision of the best diving experience for its members, it has for many years also provided training for a limited number of divers wishing to take up this fascinating activity. In 1998 following discussions with the World Underwater Federation (CMAS), which encompasses over 70 national diving federations from around the world, the Malayan Sub Aqua Club formally joined the CMAS Technical Committee and commenced issuing internationally recognised diving qualifications.

The club is very much a sports organisation, with a strong environmental flavour but does not see itself as a lobbying group. Today, underwater photography is one of its fastest growing activities within the MSAC as the cost of underwater photographic equipment has dropped considerably over the years. Safety is a major consideration in the club and we are proud to have not had any serious diving accident in our entire 50 years of existence.

As noted above, Malaysia is an ideal place to learn and to enjoy scuba diving. The region encompassing the South China Sea and the Coral Sea has some of the most abundant and diverse marine life in the world. The waters are generally clear and warm and in many areas, strong tidal currents are infrequent. All in all it is a perfect environment for both the novice and experienced diver.

In 2009 MSAC celebrates 50 years of diving in Malaysia. The club will be organising a special expedition towards the end of the year to celebrate this momentous event and will continue with its mission to offer divers in Malaysia the best and friendliest diving community to be found in the country.

For more information on MSAC, log on to the club's website at www.msac.org.my