The News headline today.


SINGAPORE: Five members of the Singapore national dragon boat team are missing, feared drowned, and 17 others were hospitalised after their boat capsized on Friday during Cambodia’s annual water festival river races, officials said.

The mishap occurred late in the afternoon on the first day of the races, which draw millions to the capital Phnom Penh, a police official told AFP.

The Singaporeans’ boat capsized as the crew of 22, aged between 20 and 30 years, were rowing back to the starting line, at the end of the 1.5-km Cambodia-Asean Traditional Boat Race in which 10 teams competed.

According to Mr Kwek Siew Jin, president of the Singapore Dragon Boat Association, at about 4.20pm, the boat was swept by a sudden wave and hit a pontoon, causing the boat to overturn. Resue boats were immediately deployed, but five of the crew could not be found.

An extensive search was mounted. The crew was not wearing lifejackets for this race, according to the association. In a statement last night, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the ministry and the Singapore Embassy in Cambodia were working with the local authorities in the search and rescue operations.

The association told Today it had contacted the family members of the missing five Singaporeans, and it was working closely with the MFA to facilitate their passage to Cambodia. The five missing crew members had been training with the national team for a year.

The Singaporean contingent of 29, which included officials, was due to be back in Singapore on Sunday. Accidents are common during the boat races, which involve dragon boats crewed by as many as 70 rowers, on the sometimes-choppy waters in front of Phnom Penh’s royal palace.



You know people are always saying stuff like "Life is fragile" or "Life is unpredictable". The thing is you won't exactly know what it means until it happens to you. It was a heavy blow to all of us who are in the team when we learn of it this morning. Trainings ceased as a result.

The first thing we asked is if our SIM rowers are alright. There are 7 rowers who are in SIM, out of the 22 people in that boat. The rest were fine except for one, who still can't be located.

I'm not exactly very close to anyone of the missing rowers, but the thing is i've spoken to one of them before, attended the same lecture with him, and now no one is sure if he's ok. I was quite shook up after reading the newspaper, let alone my other team mates who are close friends with him. I mean, any homosapien would be saddened by this type of tragic news, because one moment he is strong, fit and crapping with you, the other moment you learn that his life is in danger. Who wouldn't be taken aback?


I really really hope and pray hard that they are fine. Let them come back alive please.