Team Singapore dragon boat tragedy (2007)

On 23 November 2007, the boat carrying the Singapore national dragon boat team collided with a pontoon, a large floating platform that had marked their docking point. The side of their boat had also hit a tugboat docked near the pontoon. The force of the collision caused their boat to capsize. 5 members of the 22-member team drowned as the team was sucked under the pontoon by the strong currents in the Tonle Sap river. The Tonle Sap river in Cambodia can be translated to mean “great lake” or “large river”, and is 100 kilometres wide, and 250 kilometres long.

Details of incident

The Tonle Sap river (trans "Great Lake") as pictured on the map of Cambodia.

On 22 November 2007, the Singapore national dragon boat team arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to take part in the ASEAN-Cambodia Traditional Boat Race held the next day. The race was part of a three-day Cambodian Water Festival which marked the water flow reversal from the Mekong River into Tonle Sap. Due to their late arrival, the team did not have time to conduct a practice session before their race.

On the day of the race, the team found out that the race distance was actually 1.7 kilometres, instead of the 1.5 kilometres that they were told beforehand. They were also unaware that November was the month when the undercurrents of the Tonle Sap River were the strongest. They practised paddling in the river for 20 to 30 minutes while wearing life jackets but later decided to forego the life jackets for the race as it inhibited their movements and may affect their performance.

After they had completed the race, the Singapore team was initially in a safety vessel which was supposed to bring them back to the docking point. However, the team decided to get back into their boats and paddle the rest of the way for extra practice after seeing other teams doing so.

As the team approached the pontoon which marked their docking point, their boat suddenly collided sideways with the pontoon due to a strong wave (CNA YouTube video). This collision had caused their entire craft to sink into the water. The back of their boat also hit the side of a tugboat, which was docked near the pontoon. The strong undercurrents of the Tonle Sap river created “mini-whirlpools” that caused the team members to struggle to stay afloat. The collision occurred at roughly 5.25pm.

According to the Vice-president of the Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management, Dr Nhim Vanda, all participating teams had been briefed that one side of the pontoon was “prone to whirlpools and downwards rips”, making it very dangerous. However, the briefing was carried out in Khmer, the local language. Hence, there was a possibility that the Singapore team were unaware of this information and went to the wrong side of the pontoon.

Search party and rescue operations

Thumbnail for CNA's commemorative video series on the 2007 dragon boat tragedy.

The police boats present at the scene were only able to rescue 17 of the team Singapore rowers, while 5 rowers remained missing. The Cambodian authorities then organised a search party consisting of more than 200 people to search for the 5 missing Singaporeans, who were sitting at the front of the boat when it capsized. The search party consisted of volunteers comprising of local fishermen, divers, navy sailors and the police.

On 24 November 2007, an elite team of 8 naval divers from the Singapore Naval Diving Unit arrived in Phnom Penh to join in the search with special sonar equipment, which allowed them to scan the riverbed for the bodies. The team arrived at around 3.00pm and was made up of 6 divers, a medic and a mission commander.

Chee Wei Cheng, Jeremy Goh, Reuben Kee, Stephen Loh and Poh Boon San (from left to right) were the 5 Singapore dragon boaters who fell victim to the tragedy. Thumbnail for CNA video "2007 Singapore dragonboat tragedy - In memory of".

On 25 November 2007, the first body was recovered by the search party after nearly 40 hours of combing the river. The body was identified to be Chee Wei Cheng, and was retrieved at 8.00am. The second and third bodies retrieved were identified to be Jeremy Goh Tze Xiong and Stephen Loh Soon Ann. All 3 bodies were found buried under the mud of the riverbed and had to be dredged up. The last two bodies to surface were identified to be Poh Boon San and Reuben Kee En Rui. According to the Singapore Navy Chief Pes Lim, all 5 bodies were located near each other --- at the confluence of the Tonle Sap River, Tonle Bassac River and Mekong River.

The bodies were then brought to Calmette Hospital’s morgue, where team captain Yeo Chin Hwei and the family members of the casualties were tasked to identify their loved ones. The rest of the team stayed at their hotel, as they were still recovering from the shock and devastation of losing their team members.

On 25 November 2007, King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia addressed a letter of condolence to then President S R Nathan of Singapore and extended his “sincere condolences and profound sympathy” to the families of the 5 deceased as well.

On 26 November 2007, the 17 surviving Team Singapore rowers arrived at the site of the incident at around 8.00am. They threw chrysanthemum flowers and joss sticks into the river to mourn the 5 team members who had lost their lives. Team captain Yeo Chin Hwei also told his teammates to offer one joss stick each to a Buddha statue located under a tree at the pontoon, so that their teammates would be watched over. At around noon, the family members of 3 of the victims held Taoist rites for the victims as well. The bodies of the casualties, their family members, and the surviving rowers were then dispatched on a C130 plane back to Singapore.

Memorials

Thumbnail for CNA's commemorative video series on the 2007 dragon boat tragedy.

On 29 November 2007, a joint memorial was held at Mandai Crematorium for the 5 deceased rowers. The memorial was open to members of the public and started at around 12.55pm that day. Then Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan also delivered a eulogy in remembrance of the departed.

On 16 December 2007, a dragon boating event was held at Bedok Reservoir to honour those who died during the incident, as well as a show of support for the survivors.

Members of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) dragon boat team also raised S$125,000 to set up a bursary fund in memory of Poh Boon San and Stephen Loh Soon Ann, who were both NTU students. The bursary fund was officially launched on 15 October 2008, during the annual NTU Sports Appreciation Night. Each year, the bursary fund would allocate S$4,000 each to two members of the NTU dragon boat team who are in need of financial assistance. The recipients of the bursary fund in 2008 were Koh Seng Long and Peh Kai Jay.

Tides That Bind (2017)

On 23 November 2017, exactly 10 years after the incident, Channel News Asia created an interactive site titled “Tides That Bind” (official site) in memory of the incident. The site consists of 4 chapters, which narrate different parts of the incident, complete with illustrations. The writer for the site is Justin Ong, a CNA journalist who was also one of the paddlers in the boat that capsized on 23 November 2007. He recounts the incident in his writing.

Responses

Cover image for the commemorative site that was set up in 2017 by CNA.

Singapore Dragon Boat Association (SCDA)

On 28 November 2007, the Singapore Dragon Boat Association (SCDA) imposed a new regulation in which life jackets had to be worn at all times, inclusive of overseas races.

Dragon boat inquiry panel

The formation of a dragon boat inquiry panel was announced on 4 December 2007. The panel was tasked to review the 23 November 2007 incident, investigating the root cause of the incident as well as identify any safety lapses which may have been overlooked.

During a press conference on 30 May 2008, the panel concluded their findings and presented certain lapses as well as recommendations they had regarding the incident. They narrowed the cause of the incident to a number of contributing factors, which were as follows:

• The team was unfamiliar with the conditions of the race, the site of the race and the equipment provided for them to race with.
• The team did not have an established safety procedure of conducting risk assessments, giving safety briefings or safety drills.
• There was a lack of systematic preparation for the race. Members and team officials were not prepared for strong currents, and were unaware of the hydrography of the Tonle Sap River.

The panel then proposed a few preventive measures for the Singapore Dragon Boat Association and their affiliates to consider adopting. The proposed recommendations were as follows:

• The SCDA and their affiliates should only participate in races that comply with the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) guidelines for race organisation, conduct and safety. In instances where the IDBF guidelines are not met in part or in full, an authoritative figure must assess if the team should still compete and what measures must be adopted to mitigate the risk of participation.
• The SDBA and its affiliates should promote and check the compliance of its teams to the IDBF Water Safety Policy, and the Safety Standing Procedures for dragon boat Clubs and Crews while training. The continuous promotion of safety in their respective sport should be a fundamental responsibility of all National Sports Associations (NSAs).
• The SDBA and its affiliates should put in place a proper system in preparation for races. For team sports, the development of the team for extended durations is important and the team needs to be exposed to high-level competitions on a consistent basis. By having this plan and an annual competitive schedule, the team will know well in advance how to train and prepare for events. More importantly, the SDBA should also set guidelines and SOPs for overseas events so that thorough preparations can take place.