The name literally translates to “large river” - one that at its most immense, sprawls 100km wide and 250km long in connection to the larger and more famous Mekong. And the Tonle Sap turned out to be like no race site we’d ever seen. This is "Dragon Boat Races 2007" by Easternjourney.com on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them. The force of the collision caused their boat to capsize. Calendar - International Dragon Boat Events . A cancer survivor dragon boat team promoting wellness, camaraderie and positivity. We opted to do the same, agreeing it would be good to get more practice and a better feel of the water conditions. Gloucester Docks Dragon Boat Final 20/05/2007. We are close - a tuft of hair grasped, a jawline palmed away - and over the years I’ve never stopped wondering who it could have been. Brighton Dragon Boat Club Est.2007, Brighton, Ontario. Remembering the 2007 Singapore dragonboat tragedy Chapter 1: In The Same Boat 10 years ago in Cambodia, Channel NewsAsia’s Justin Ong was a member of the Singaporean national dragonboat crew struck by tragedy. [13] 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. On 17 January 2010, the Chung Ling High School dragon boat practice took place in Penang Strait, located off Macallum Street Ghaut, as part of their weekly training in preparation for their upcoming July competition. 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. Soon the two pontoons marking our boat launch and return area came into view - ugly grey, protruding monstrosities seemingly cleaved out of a navy vessel and plonked into the river. 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. He recalls that fateful Friday evening of November 23rd, 2007. Shamsir cited busy traffic, unpredictable weather, and strong currents for his concerns. Why couldn’t we have swum out from under it? Then I looked at the river - still the massive, fast-moving force of nature I remember. Today's the big Dragonboat Festival. How were the bodies found? Those five men, brothers to us, were our fittest and most capable and surely would have swam to shore somewhere - perhaps they were stranded at a village along the snaking river, just waiting to be rescued ... Then, word filtered through on Sunday morning that they had recovered the bodies. 0:49. The stars of the show were the boats: Hundreds and hundreds of them, some making for a remarkable sight with dozens of paddlers standing precariously perched on impossibly long, thin, wooden crafts. [4] The funerals for the deceased took place the following day at multiple victims' homes in Penang. A decade on, he revisits the tragedy to […] With each move, I’m increasingly helpless against undercurrents churning, surging, spitting me back at speeds of up to 8 knots - as fast as the most ferocious whitewater rapids around. Browse 9,423 dragon boat stock photos and images available, or search for dragon boat race or dragon boat festival to find more great stock photos and pictures. What really happened in Cambodia? Chian did not travel to Phnom Penh for the race, but clearly remembers the paranoia, misconceptions and negativity stirred up in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. An additional RM 200 from Education Ministry was donated to each survivor of this incident. I learned this incident through Facebook when one of my ex … On Nov 23, 2007, five Singaporean dragonboaters - Chee Wei Cheng, Jeremy Goh, Reuben Kee, Stephen Loh and Poh Boon San - drowned while representing their country in a race in Phnom Penh. It is one of a family of traditional paddled long boats found throughout Asia, Africa, the Pacific islands, and Puerto Rico. [7], There are several controversies that occurred before, during and after the incident. Others were more conventionally powered by about 20 seated individuals - but still not entirely stable given the conditions. Out on the water, each of the 21 paddlers - and one coxswain - were subject to different but no less harrowing experiences: Some avoided being dragged below; some went under briefly but were quickly swept out; some clung on to a tugboat moored close by, others emerged at the end of the pontoon after navigating its entire 45m length. 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