Four young active Form-4 students were drowned at Pantai Dalit near Tuaran two
days ago. They were amongst seventeen students from the same school, SMK SANZAC
Sembulan, who went to take part in a community project, building shelters for
poor children in the area (some reports said it was a mushroom shed for a blind
couple). On their way home they wanted to wash up their sweaty bodies after a
hard day's work. Their teacher agreed with them, kind of rewarding them for
their contribution towards community works, and detoured to the beach which is
about one km away. They waded out in the seemingly calm sea to a depth of about
chest high. The teacher called out to them to get ashore and to head for home
after about 15 minutes in the water. But before they could respond the sea
suddenly turned rough, a huge wave washed away 6 of the students. One of them
who is a strong swimmer, managed to swim to safety and another was rescued by a
lifeguard from a nearby resort on a water-skii . The other 4 were drowned. As a
parent of 2 kids myself, while looking at the photos in the news papers in which
crying parents hugging the dead bodies of their sons, I felt their pain deeply.
What went wrong? Like the Chief Minister, Datuk Musa Hj Aman said, "Don't allow
people to swim there if it is dangeours to do so!" The local authority should
have put up sign boards warning people about the dangers of possible sudden huge
waves and under currents in that area. How much does it cost to plant a sign
board there? Do not blame the teacher, do not blame any parents for that matter,
who takes their children to the beach. The beach is there for us to enjoy, but
we must be made aware of any hiden dangers there is, so that we will avoid those
areas. If taking the children to the beach is so wrong, then why do the
government still try with all means to attract foreign tourists to our beaches?
Are we knowingly putting them in danger? Of course not, only certain spots are
not safe to swim in, and adequate warnings should be posted in the appropriate
places. Please act now before more tragedies occur.
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