Boat tragedy: Friends paying their last respects to Hon Tat, Man and Darren at the funeral parlour in Taman Sentosa. — KK SHAM/The Star
KLANG: Family members of boat capsize victims Gan Hon Tat and Careen Man are still grappling with the reality that the young couple, and their only child, three-year-old Darren, are gone for good.
“My heart aches and I have been crying non-stop but I’m starting to accept that I will not see them again, no matter how much I cry and wail,” said Hon Tat’s 54-year-old mother Chan Pei Pei.
Hon Tat, 32, Man, 29, and Darren were among five people killed on Friday when the boat they were on capsized at 0.3 nautical miles west of Tanjung Harapan here.
Two others – boat owner Cheu Son Hin, 50, and mechanic Fong Yong Sen, 29 – were also killed in the mishap.
Fong’s apprentice Alvin Chang Yan Qin, 17, is the sole survivor.
As Hon Tat and his family lived with his parents and younger sister, the demise will leave a void in the once happy home.
“My grandson won’t be in the house anymore,” said Chan.
Her husband Gan Leong Seng, 58, sat forlornly at the funeral parlour in Taman Sentosa near here yesterday during the funeral of the young parents and their child.
Hon Tat’s elder brother Gan Hong Chuan, 35, said he was shattered by the tragedy as he had spent last Monday and Wednesday with his brother and his family.
“My wife, two daughters and I went to i-City on Monday with them. And on Wednesday, my wife and I met up with my brother and his family as well as four other friends for dinner in Klang Utama.
“Two days later, all three of them are gone,” said Hong Chuan, who works in an engineering company.
According to Hong Chuan, his brother and wife were seeing progress in their seafood supply business after working very hard to get it off the ground.
He said Hon Tat and Man also supplied seafood to the Royal Selangor Yacht Club where they would go regularly to meet their friends, including Cheu, the owner of the ill-fated boat.
“Their business was picking up and my brother had also started another business supplying bait to anglers,” added Hong Chuan.
Sentosa assemblyman Gunaraj George, who visited the family at the funeral parlour, extended his condolences to them.
“It is a tragedy to see an entire young family wiped out this way in such a cruel twist of fate.
“The couple were building a happy life with their son, and this had to happen,” he said.
