Drowning at Pandan canal

hmm, been reading about the incident involving a sec2 girl drowning in the canal. for those who stare at me quizzically, these 4 teenagers were walking along the canal on sunday when they decided to play monkey(?) with their bag, which had their handphones in it. ok, so one missed catch and the bag goes into the canal.

they decide to retrieve it (or risk scolding from their parents) and then venture into the canal, about 2.5m deep. suddenly a downpour arises and huge torrents sweep them away downstream. one of the girls cannot swim and then she panicked and struggled or something, gradually lost contact with the other three, who managed to get to safety. eventually after a 24hr search, she was found, drowned, at the Pandan canal (leading to the sea).

i took 197 back from pharm anal paper yesterday and eventually passed the bridge that linked west coast and jurong together. along the other side was the pandan bridge and the incident jolted back into mind. i guessed as much that after such a long time the chances of survival should be very slim, and i kept looking at the scene until the cycle and carriage building obscured the canal from view.

sometimes, when this sort of freak incident happens, the feeling is well, indescribable. other than the us shooting, which, well happens overseas, this is the other thing in the papers that caught my attention. the wasting of such a young life - she was only 14 years old - left me to question how come simple mistakes such as wading into the canal to retrieve a handphone - would result in a fatality. how treacherous the recent weather has been, with bouts of stormy weather that caused many a torrent and downfall.

it is no doubt that we are complacent - we think we can do it - but never expect fate and nature to deal us such a cruel, unexpected hand. if i were the girl, i would have went in as well in all of perhaps, common sense - after all, what's so difficult about retrieving a bag anyway? but this was because i know how to swim, of course - and being comfortable with water, could have a better chance of survival.

yes - even now i'm complacent, of course. who knows what might actually happen?