Students ignore canal dangers

Straits Times, 27 April 2007

STOMP TIP-OFF
Nine students seen playing in canal near Bedok Reservoir, despite drowning risk

THREE days after news of a teenager drowning in a canal hit the headlines, nine students were captured on film messing about in another waterway near the Bedok Reservoir.
Several pictures were sent to Stomp, The Straits Times’ online portal, showing the children – both boys and girls – milling about nonchalantly and playing with water on Wednesday.
The Stomp contributor was concerned that the children were putting themselves in danger, but several responses from forum users revealed a devil-may-care attitude.
Stomper “bittenshrubs” said: “People dare to go in... they will dare to bear the consequences. Being in there isn’t a big problem, why make a fuss about it?”
But the Public Utilities Board (PUB), which will mark its Safety Day today, warned that “it is dangerous to enter any canals and drains” – which is why it maintains railings along them.
For one thing, strong currents can arise suddenly during a thunderstorm – as happened last Sunday when Debra Koh, 14, and three friends climbed into a canal at Bukit Batok West.
They wanted to retrieve a bag which had fallen in after they had tossed it around, but a sudden surge of water swept them away.
Three of them survived, but Debra’s dead body was found the next afternoon about 5km downstream.
The teens had entered a section of the canal where the current runs strongest during a thunderstorm.
This is due to the steepness of the drop in that stretch – a 6m slope over just 250m – which may not be obvious to the naked eye.
Debra’s death was this year’s second canal fatality. In February, 76-year-old retiree Kuek Ser Beng died after he fell into a 1m-wide and 2m-deep drain in Toh Tuck while trying to leap over it.
Such incidents are rare here – there has been just one other known fatal canal mishap since 2005.
The drain Mr Kuek tried to leap over, and the canal Debra and her friends ventured into, were both flanked by railings.
Safety will be the top priority in a major makeover of Singapore’s canals, rivers and reservoirs that will take place over the next five years, said Mr Yap Kheng Guan, director for the PUB’s 3P Network.
The project, called the Active, Beautiful and Clean Waters Programme, aims to allow people to appreciate the water and enjoy water activities.
“The water in the play areas will be off the main stream and will be shallow so children can play safely,” said Mr Yap.
He added that for activities at reservoirs and selected waterways, there will be safety measures such as mandatory donning of life vests.
The PUB manages a number of water supply plants, reservoirs and distribution networks.
In a media release to mark its Safety Day, it said its workplace safety records have improved, with 2.22 accidents per million man-hours last year, compared to 2.87 the year before.
The industry average is three accidents per million man-hours.

Click here to link to the photo posted at STOMP.

Life is indeed vulnerable. One moment, the teenage girl was still well and alive. The next moment, she got swept away by the sudden current in the canals and never came back. I felt really sad for the girl…

However, why are those teenagers ignoring the threat of a possible death? Once bitten, twice shy; although they were not bitten before, someone around their age was ‘bitten’ and never had a second chance.

This really tells me a lot about the current generation of ‘kids’. One, these kids do not know how to differentiate what’s right and what’s not. Two, they do not care a hoot about advices from their parents or from the media. I really have to shake my head and heave a sigh; they are the future leaders of the country. If they do not know what’s right and do not care about what others say, how are they going to make the right decisions for the country in future?

You may think I’m too far-stretched, but everything starts from young. If you were very bad when you are young, most likely you would stay the same when you are older. As you can see from Stomp, quite a number of users also think that these kids do not think of the consequences and are stubborn and defiant. As such, I bet you should agree with all these viewpoints and would think that those kids are very immature. I think I am able to understand how their parents felt or would feel upon seeing the photo posted on Stomp. They could be either angry or disappointed at their stupidity for such acts.

However, we are not those kids. Those kids are able to think on their own. As what Stomper ‘bittershrubs’ said, since the kids dared to enter the canal, they dare to face the consequences. From my point of view, I would like to say that, everyone has his own mindset; something that one believes is dangerous, someone else might think it is perfectly all right. For example, a parent may think it is very dangerous to be too near a lion, but a zookeeper may say it is okay to do so as the lion is tamed. Who should you believe? Therefore, the point I’m making is that it is up to one’s discretion when deciding whether to do or not; outsiders may not be in the position to comment too much, especially me a 15-year-old.

As a conclusion, I hope that everyone especially teenagers is able to empathise with the parents of the teenage girl who died by the ‘killer’ canal. The mother was devastated by the sudden death of her daughter and even urged the deceased’s classmate to pull herself up and study hard. I was touched for the mother did not blame her but even encourage her; therefore, how would she feel if she knew that the teenagers in the photo are not alarmed by the call of the ‘killer’ canal?