The 2010 Penang dragon boat tragedy ( zh, ''钟灵中学龙舟队翻覆事件'') was an

incident The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response providing a common hierarchy within which responders from multiple agencies can be effective. ICS was initially develope ...

that occurred on 17 January 2010 in

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. The incident involved the Chung Ling High School

dragon boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...

club, where eighteen paddlers took part in dragon boat training at

Penang Strait The Penang Strait is an 11 kilometre-wide strait that separates Penang Island from mainland Malay Peninsula. Penang Island is to the west of the channel, while Seberang Perai, the mainland half of the State of Penang, is to the east. The northe ...

. Strong water currents caused the

helmsman A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver or steersman) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, airship, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fis ...

to lose control of the dragon boat and collide with a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

. The dragon boat then capsized and killed six of the eighteen paddlers, including a teacher and several students. A memorial service was held on the following day in the school. The school flag was flown at

half-mast Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a sal ...

, and

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

s were held on the second day following the incident. The school and government subsequently donated the money to the victims' families and survivors. It was later revealed by the Penang Education Department that the school disregarded the safety guidelines for co-curricular activities by not seeking approval and clearance before conducting the training. The training was unscheduled as it occurred upon students' requests to a new teacher already interested in joining the training session. Only three of the eighteen paddlers wore life jackets, and despite the precautions, two of them died at the scene. All paddlers who wore life jackets were unable to swim. Some officials said that the incident location was unsuitable for the water sports due to busy traffic, uncertain weather conditions, strong currents, and debris left by

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

from boat repair. Penang Forward Sports Club countered that the area was safe for a training session as a trained coach had checked the sea and weather conditions.

History

On 17 January 2010, the Chung Ling High School

practice took place in

, located off Macallum Street Ghaut, as part of their weekly training in preparation for their upcoming July competition. Eighteen paddlers took part in this activity. Safety measures were not followed, as only three of the eighteen paddlers wore the compulsory life jackets. While training, some rowers, mostly new members, were tired and paused in the middle of the sea. At approximately 9:00 am, the dragon boat capsized after colliding with a

when strong currents caused the

to lose control of the boat. Twelve paddlers were admitted to Penang General Hospital after being rescued by

in two nearby boats or having swum to safety. A 100-person rescue team in sixteen boats consisting of policemen, firemen, marine law enforcement bureau and civil defense officers arrived at the accident area. Two bodies were retrieved: Chin Aik Siang, a teacher, at 11:00 am and Jason Ch'Ng, a student, at 2:50 pm. The remaining bodies, all students, were recovered the following day. Goh Yi Zhang was first discovered at 8:00 am, followed by Brendon Yeoh at 12:10 pm, and Wang Yong Xiang and Cheah Zi Jun, found at 4:25 pm. The search operation, totaling RM 84 million, ended at 5:00 pm. On 18 January 2010, in memory of the deceased, the flag of Chung Ling High School was flown at

and a memorial ceremony was held inside the school. The school Board of Governors, Parent-Teacher Association and Alumni Association donated RM 10,000 to the families of the victims. An additional RM 2,000 was donated to the injured paddlers. The principal of the school declared the incident to be "the darkest co-curricular activity incident ever occurs in the school’s history". The funerals for the deceased took place the following day at multiple victims' homes in Penang. Multiple high-profile figures, including

Muhyiddin Yassin Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Mohd Yassin (; ), is a Malaysian politician who served as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2020 to 2021. Appointed as prime minister amid a 2020–2022 Malay ...

Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia The deputy prime minister of Malaysia (; ) is the second-highest political office in Malaysia. There have been 15 officeholders since the office was created in 1957. The first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, started the convent ...

Lim Guan Eng Lim Guan Eng (; born 8 December 1960) is a Malaysian politician and accountant who served as the Minister of Finance of Malaysia from 2018 to 2020. A member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), he has served as the party's second advisor si ...

Chief Minister of Penang The chief minister of Penang is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Penang. According to convention, the chief minister is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The ch ...

and Datuk Wira Ayub Yakoob, deputy communication for Penang police chief, visited the tragedy site. The

Home Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...

then donated RM 3,000 to six of the deceased victims' families in addition to RM 1,000 from Education Ministry. An additional RM 200 from Education Ministry was donated to each survivor of this incident. The school offered psychological counseling to help victims and family members affected by

psychological trauma Psychological trauma (also known as mental trauma, psychiatric trauma, emotional damage, or psychotrauma) is an emotional response caused by severe distressing events, such as Major trauma, bodily injury, Sexual assault, sexual violence, or ot ...

as a result of the tragedy.

Controversies

There are several controversies that occurred before, during and after the incident. The school was found to have disregarded the safety guidelines for co-curricular activities set by Penang Education Department, which required school management to inform security authorities of the activities to ensure that students' safety could be ensured prior to extracurricular outdoor activities. The revelation also found out that the group did not seek approval or get clearance to conduct training session in this area. On 4 November 2010, Penang Forward Sports Club revealed to a parent of a deceased victim that the dragon boat training was unscheduled and conducted due to student requests to a new teacher already interested in joining the training session. Lok Yim Pheng, the secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP), criticized the organizers, coordinators and teachers for developing a reputation of a lack of safety sense, citing another tragedy involving three women who drowned on a

1Malaysia 1Malaysia (pronounced ''One Malaysia'' in English language, English and ''Satu Malaysia'' in Malay language, Malay) was a political slogan coined by former Malaysian Prime Minister of Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009. The Initiativ ...

school camping trip due to collapse of suspension bridge in Perak. Most of the paddlers did not wear life jackets during most of the regular training as they knew how to swim, but three of the paddlers did wear them. Geh Thuan Tek, the secretary of Life Saving Society Malaysia Penang, who was also involved in the search and rescue mission, stated that life jackets would not guarantee that the wearer survive a

drowning Drowning is a type of Asphyxia, suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where othe ...

, especially if worn improperly. One of the victims is believed to have died after their unfastened life vest trapped them underneath the boat. Only one of the victims who wore a life vest survived. Not all of the students who attended the training were able to swim, as attested to by multiple family members. Some officials, especially Shamsir Mohamed, officer of Marine Department (northern region) and Lai Chew Hock, chairman of Penang Dragon Boat Association, voiced concerns about the suitability of the area for water sports. Shamsir cited busy traffic, unpredictable weather, and strong currents for his concerns. Chew Hock claimed the area was unsuitable for any

water sports Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms ...

activities due to debris from fishing boats and strong currents. Despite these concerns, the same area was used previously for Penang Pesta Open Dragon Boat Race in December 2009, which garnered criticism from residents of Penang. Concerns were raised when two boats collided during the race. As a result, organizers changed the location for the 2010 edition event to Teluk Bahang Dam. The decision was made following the Chung Ling dragon boat tragedy. The parent of a deceased victim questioned the rationale of conducting the training session during the north-east monsoon season and added that any water sports activity should only be conducted after monsoon season. Lim Choo Hooi, chairman of Penang Forward Sports Club, responded by saying that neither the wave tides nor the monsoon season posed a problem for training sessions. Coaches would need to check sea and weather conditions prior to conducting training sessions. He also said that the tragedy site was protected from

tsunamis A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, la ...

and strong waves and had been used for training for three years, making it one of the safest stretches of public shoreline.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penang dragon boat accident, 2010 Maritime incidents in 2010 Penang Dragon Boat Accident, 2010 Transport disasters in Malaysia Boating accident deaths Accidental deaths in Malaysia January 2010 in Malaysia 2010 in rowing

History

Controversies

See also

References