SEA Games: Singapore make ‘difficult’ return to Cambodia after 2007 dragon boat tragedy
November 23, 2007, is a date that Singapore Dragon Boat Association (SDBA) general manager Raizal Abdol Jalil will remember for the rest of his life.
It marks the day when one of the biggest tragedies in Singapore sport took place as five members of the Republic’s 22-man crew racing at the Cambodian Water Festival died. Their boat had overturned after colliding with a tugboat moored to a pontoon in Phnom Penh’s Tonle Sap river.
Singapore’s dragon boaters have not returned to Cambodia to compete since despite several invitations to do so – the hosts even offered to pay for flights but Raizal said “for a period of 10 years we avoided Cambodia like the plague”.
Raizal and the national athletes will be thinking of their fallen countrymen on Saturday, when the dragon boat teams kick off their SEA Games campaign in Cambodia – 16 years after the tragedy.
The traditional boat race will be held in Kampot, which is about a three-hour drive from Phnom Penh.
Raizal, 50, who was then a member of the SDBA’s management committee, said: “It’s going to be difficult because the team of that generation is still around, although most of them have moved on (from the sport).
“A few of them are still in the sport with other teams, but there are no survivors in this squad. This generation knows the story and what happened, but it’s easier for them to go back because they will not carry that memory.”
For those in the fraternity who experienced the tragedy, every activity that followed was tinged with its memory.
Raizal, who is one of two officials remaining from that period, said: “The first 10 years were hard, everything we did, organised, we thought back to the tragedy.
“The next few years it was difficult to form a team and even the national team went to the 2009 world champs in the Czech Republic, it was a very emotional time for us because it was the first time the national team competed again after 2007. In 2010 we went to the Asian Games in China, which was also very emotional.”
For years, Raizal struggled to talk about it and was only able to after he sought professional help from a psychologist.
He was at the scene a few days after the incident and recounted: “It was difficult to look at the river. You feel angry at the river, you take five of my boys’ lives, you just feel angry. That was my feeling when I went over there but it was in the aftermath, I wasn’t there during the race.”
Raizal recalled how the sport was affected by the tragedy as people labelled it as dangerous, but he also believes that it taught the fraternity valuable lessons.
Following the incident, the SDBA made it compulsory for all paddlers to wear personal flotation devices, while the association has also introduced a last-word policy in which the team manager has the final say in deciding whether conditions are safe for the team to compete.
Before accepting invitations to overseas competitions, it also makes sure that the country they are competing in is a member of International Dragon Boat Federation or International Canoe Federation to ensure that there are sufficient safety regulations in place.
“It’s something that we should not forget because the cost was very heavy,” he added.
While the current batch of athletes competing in the Games have no personal connection to the tragedy, they are aware of the significance of this return.
Men’s team captain Nico Lim, 28, said: “We do hear things and when we represent Singapore we remember this history at the back of our minds too... Emotionally, it’s been a while since Team Singapore has gone there to compete so it’s something we want to get back.”
Their female counterparts will compete in the women’s 3-crews (Under-24) 250m event, which is new to the SEA Games. Vice-captain Evette Neo, 22, is looking forward to the competition, saying: “We don’t really know what to expect and we’ll just make sure to do our best.
“The goal for this race is to simply record a good timing and set a standard for this event should there be future events like this.”
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