Multiple blunders blamed for dragon boat tragedy

GEORGE TOWN: With the recovery of the bodies of all six missing people, fingers now point to a series of blunders that resulted in the dragon boat tragedy.

Besides the blatant disregard for the safety of the dragon boat racing team, the location of the training venue was mind-boggling.

Among the shocking revelations — only three of the 18 people in the ill-fated boat wore life jackets, and it was never a practice for team members to wear life jackets.

Of the six missing people, only two wore life jackets - teacher Chin Aik Siang and student Jason Ch’ng, both of whom died.

Chin is believed to have drowned because his life jacket was hooked to the boat, while Ch’ng was trapped underneath the tug boat.

One of the 12 survivors, Indonesian Chinese Kassim Siedek, 16, said only Chin, Ch’ng and survivor Lim Wey Yeng wore life jackets because they could not swim.

“It has never been a practice to put on life jackets during training, probably because most of them thought they could swim well except for the three,” he said at the Penang Hospital.

Life Saving Society Malaysia Penang branch secretary Geh Thuan Tek, who was part of the search and rescue team, said wearing a life jacket would not guarantee that a person would not drown, but it is “a must” for all water activities.

“There are many possibilities for someone to drown although the life jacket is on. For instance, the jacket may not have been fastened properly.

“However, if you have your jacket on properly and you fall into the open sea, it is not a problem because you will float,” he said. “The main concern is if you are trapped under water and panic sets in.”

The lack of safety precautions is clear, since the Marine Department had said the water at the Western Channel where the tragedy occurred was not suitable for water sports.

Marine Department (northern region) officer Shamsir Mohamed said water sports enthusiasts would have to contend with busy traffic, unpredictable weather and strong currents.

“The incident occurred during low tide when strong currents were pushing from south to north and the boat was trying to turn.

“As the tide gets lower, the current is stronger. The dragon boat is narrow and long, and with many rowers inside, it can become unstable when turning,” Shamshir said.

Penang Dragon Boat Association chairman and Asian Dragon Boat Federation vice-chairman Lai Chew Hock said water sports activities should never have been allowed there.

“It’s common sense that the area is definitely not suitable,” he said. “Fishermen repair their boats so there are lots of structures lying around haphazardly.”

Lai said when he was the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival (PIDBF) chairman for four years, he did not allow any activities to be held there.

“Many local fishermen advised me against it, saying the water current was unpredictable.”

But some people in Penang are blaming state Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law for holding the Penang Pesta Open Dragon Boat Race 2009 at Bandar Sri Pinang fishermen’s jetty last December.

The venue is less than 1km from where the tragedy occurred.

They felt that the students would not have gone there for training if the dragon boat race had been held at the Teluk Bahang Dam as in previous years.

Related Stories: Danger warnings ignored before fatal dragon boat capsize Chung Ling mourns tragedy It’s only the dam now for Penang dragon boat races Ensure proper safety measures, organisers told Learn lesson from mishap Bodies of four missing students found Lament of a distraught parent RM84mil allocated for rescue equipment