Dragon Boat Inquest : I dare you to do a public poll whether the State Government should be held responsible !

Sodomy II: Lim dares PM to do public poll

Few will buy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's contention that the Sodomy II trial is “a personal, not political trial”, argued an opposition leader.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang is so confident the overwhelming majority of Malaysians see the trial as political that he urged the government to conduct a public opinion poll.

“Extend the opinion poll to all keen observers of Malaysian affairs worldwide and there can be no doubt that the overwhelming majority of opinion - whether national or international - will be of the view that the Sodomy II trial is a political, not personal, trial.”

The Ipoh Timur MP stressed that he had no doubt over the outcome of such polls.

“Is Najib really unaware that national and international confidence in Malaysian governance - an important element for Malaysia's declining international competitiveness - hinges considerably on the process and outcome of the Sodomy II trial, which explains the presence of international observers at the trial?”

Trio go to Washington

Lim said that if the Sodomy II trial is not a political trial as claimed by Najib, the premier would not send a high-powered team to United States to speak at an event hosted by a Washington think-tank next Wednesday.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail and former chief justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad - will be participating in a two-hour seminar on governance and rule of law in Malaysia.

Lim also ticked off Najib for smacking down the opposition leader's suggestion for a special sitting of Parliament to discuss the call by 50 Australian lawmakers that the Sodomy II charges against Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim be dropped.

“Is Najib worried that he will not be able to get the solid support of every Barisan Nasional MPs if there is an emergency meeting of Parliament on the matter?”

I think you are the greatest idiot in the country !

If I were Law, I will resign

over boat tragedy, says Tan

This is the DAP , they would have have been calling for the resignation of the Chief Minister if the State was still under BN , but when it happens to be them , they will shift the blame to the BN Federal Govt . Spineless DAP , good for nothing except blame , blame , blame , same like Kampong Buah Pala issue .

GEORGE TOWN: Penang State Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law should seek his own conscience in determining if he should resign over the Macallum Street Ghaut dragon boat tragedy.

State Wanita MCA chief Tan Cheng Liang (pic) said if she were Law, she would accept responsibility. “The sad part of our Malaysian political scenario is that we do not have a high level of accountability.

“We push off the responsibilities and keep giving excuses,” she told reporters when asked if Law should resign as the exco-in-charge.

Tan had earlier presented ang pow and Chinese New Year goodies to some 650 senior citizens at the Lee Shih Chong Soo Association yesterday.

On Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s statement that the state government would not launch its investigation into the dragon boat tragedy as schools were under federal jurisdiction, Tan said:

“Anything that is not to the state’s advantage, they would push the blame to the Federal Government.”

Danny Law Resign for the
Dragon Boat tragedy , if
you have the BALLS

I repeat , Mr Lim Kit Siang when are you going to call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry ?

Mr Lim Guan Eng , when are you going to take full responsibility for this tragedy ?

Don't give me that crap " Act Of God ", damn you shriekers of responsibilities , human lives have been lost , if the venue had not been changed , these student might still be alive today .

Don't diam , diam and quietly sweep it under the carpet hoping we will forget about it !




















He Danny Law and the State Government has to and must take full responsibilities for this incident since he is also the Chairman of the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival (PIDBF) committee.

Please resign since you don't have the balls to admit !

State govt wanted open-water races

2010/01/22

GEORGE TOWN: The state government and the Penang Dragon Boat Association (PDBA) had a falling out in December 2008 after the latter voiced its concerns over holding dragon boat races in open waters. PDBA president Lai Chew Hock said the association had brought the matter up with the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival (PIDBF) committee under the state government but the committee insisted on holding the competition in open water off the Queensbay seafront.

He said PDBA had disagreed with the event being held there due to safety concerns.

"However, the PIDBF persisted with its decision to hold the event at the seafront, instead of the Teluk Bahang Dam," he said yesterday.

Lai said PDBA and PIDBF had previously worked together when Penang hosted the Club Crew World Championships and Asia Dragon Boat Championship in 2008.

However, following the disagreement over safety issues between the two sides, PDBA was not re-appointed to the PIDBF committee last year.

Lai said he did not reveal the fallout before this because he did not want to politicise the issue.

"I am only disclosing this now because lives have been lost," he said, adding that PDBA was also proven to be right over its concern when there was an accident during last year's dragon boat event at the Jelutong Expressway seafront.

Even so, Lai said PDBA was ready to work with any party, including the state government, on dragon boat safety issues.

He said PDBA hoped the state government would look into the possibility of banning dragon boat training exercises and races in open water.

Alternatively, he said the authorities must ensure adequate safety measures are followed during such activities.

He said dragon boat activities could be held in the open sea only if safety precautions were observed and properly enforced.

However, he said it would be better that dragon boat clubs held their activities at safer locations such as the Penang Water Sports Centre and Teluk Bahang Dam.

Hey, YB Danny Law Heng Kiang, please grow some balls and admit it!

From Penang Views and News .

As I have written in a post in my other Penang blog(it’s actually my original first blog before I got my own domain), the Asean Cultural Centre is a total failure with only a scraggly few stalls open and nothing else.
Then, as if it has nothing to do with him at all, the tourism exco Danny Law Heng Kiang starts pointing fingers and blamed everything and everyone except for the CM on his absolute total failure in organising the annual Pesta Pulau Pinang bazaar.

He blamed the lack of publicity for the failure. Of course, instead of shouldering the responsibility, he blamed the management company in charge.

Yep. Hell, you are the state exco in charge of tourism, culture, arts and heritage FFS! Instead of doing what you are supposed to do, you start blaming others when your project fails.

Please, grow a pair of these already - image 'borrowed' from karenknowsbest.com

You know, when these DAP fellas took over the government, my first thought was “Err…are they prepared and up to it?”. Then as the days go by, it is obvious they aren’t all that prepared. But still, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

After all, they are new. We should always give newbies a chance. They will learn eventually. Yeah. Sure.

Admittedly some of them are pretty good in what they do. They actually do their jobs. Although I still feel darn annoyed when they still seem to be stuck in the Opposition mentality of blaming the former state government for everything, I thought, okay, they need time to adjust.

But then there are some of them who seemed stuck in a time warp. They are permanently stuck in an opposition mentality and all they know is to point the finger and blame. The thought of taking matters into their own hands and SOLVING the issue never crossed their minds.

Looks like Law Heng Kiang is one of them. You are a blardy exco FFS. Do your job. If you can’t even organise a successful Pesta Pulau Pinang which has become sorta a trademark

for Penang after all these decades, then it goes to show that you really don’t know how to do your job.

And yes, please, grow some balls and stop blaming others for your failure.

* DAPtitis – an affliction that infects many Penangites since the avalanche of votes to the DAP on March 8. Symptoms of this affliction includes a burning desire to be near any DAP leader, but especially so the Penang top dog, Lim Guan Eng, frequent dreams of meeting the said DAP leader and a hefty crush (puppy-love sorta feelings) on DAP leader of choice. This affliction is mostly incurable and the only way to ease its symptoms is to stalk the DAP leaders and be photographed with them at every opportunity and put up all these photos regularly in public spaces or stick it on an album mark ‘My Heroes’.

Danny Law has NO BALLS , no need to grow already pow cha !

The Sacrificial Lamb - Danny Law

The Sacrificial Lamb - Danny Law

After the King of Tennis debacle, Danny Law Heng Kiang, the Exco in-charge of Tourism is like a person afflicted with the leprosy disease. Lim Guan Eng, ever the populist, cleverly distanced himself from Danny Law.

If a popularity rating is conducted on all the Pakatan Rakyat YBs, Danny would received the worst rating. He was made the scapegoat for the King of Tennis debacle by his own leaders.

Lim Guan Eng, do not practise collective leadership & responsibilities - credit is his, failure are yours.

Now, Danny Law Heng Kiang is the sacrificial lamb. He was assigned to handle the potentially explosive local issue on the demolition of business premises in Batu Feringghi.

The state government is adamant(as at posting time) to demolish the business premises. Read about this DEMOLITION issue here.

The right person to handle this issue should be Chow Kon Yeow, which is in-charge of of local government. The local DAP assemblyman, Teh Yee Cheu is nowhere to be seen on this issue.

By the way Danny law is untouchable by the fact that he is related to Lim Guan Eng by being Guan Engs' wife Betty Chew's cousin .

No single factor responsible for dragon boat tragedy

By Hasnita A Majid/Lynda Hong Channel NewsAsia













SINGAPORE : The dragon boat tragedy in Cambodia last November that left five Singaporeans dead, was due to, among others, the following reasons - unfamiliarity with race conditions, low safety awareness and lack of preparations.

These were the findings of a safety inquiry panel which was formed to look into the incident. The panel revealed its findings on Friday.

The tragedy took place at the Tonle Sap River. The Singapore Dragon Boat Team was one of 19 teams taking part in the annual Cambodian Water Festival.

Their boat capsized as they were rowing back to the docking point, after it was hit by a current. Twenty-two team members were thrown into the waters but only 17 surfaced. The bodies of the other five were recovered a few days later.

The Safety Inquiry Panel said the Singapore team was unfamiliar with the race conditions. The river current was at its strongest as it was at the end of the rainy season, and it was flowing in the reverse direction.

The Singaporeans were also not used to the equipment provided by the Cambodians. For example, the safety panel of inquiry found that the Singapore Dragon Boat team was not familiar with the traditional boat used in the race.

The one they were used to and accepted internationally has a flat bottom, while the traditional boat had a round bottom and no proper rudder - which is used to steer the boat - hence making it unstable in water. This caused the two coxswain to steer the boat using their paddles.

The rowers also reported that the freeboard of the boat, which is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, was lower and this caused the boat to take in water during the practice session and the race.

Another finding was that the Singapore team did not have established safety procedures, such as safety briefings and drills for contingencies in the water.

They also did not as a habit do a risk assessment prior to the race and most rowers were not aware of a capsize drill. In fact, most had never experienced a capsized boat before the tragedy.

Preparation for the race was also unsystematic. The team arrived just a day earlier and had only one training session. There was a lack of information about the event, the condition of the river and the race site.

Most of the team members, including team officials, were not prepared for the strong currents or the boat.

The panel also concluded that the Cambodian organisers had not followed International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) Guidelines.

For example, the life jackets given out to the rowers were bulky and not designed for competitive racing. So the rowers decided to junk them as they were told that it was "optional".

The paddles issued were also of non-standard size - some were longer than others. Overall, the rowers found the paddles heavier than usual.

Bernard Tan, Chairman, Safety Inquiry Panel, said: "I think the greater tragedy is if we allow a tragedy like that to happen again, and that's why we put forward recommendations to ensure that this event will not reoccur."

And a key suggestion is that the Singapore Dragon Boat Association (SDBA) and its affiliates only take part in races that comply with international guidelines.

In instances where the guidelines are not met, then the association and the team manager must assess if the team should still compete. They must also assess what measures must be adopted to mitigate the risk of participation.

The panel also wants the association to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of key team members - including the team manager, coach, coxswain and captain. This will help to ensure that someone is responsible in making a risk assessment, before a race.

The SDBA and its affiliates should also check the compliance of its teams to the IDBF Water Safety Policy and the Safety Standing Procedures for dragon boat clubs. This includes ensuring that all dragon boat rowers are strong swimmers.

The panel also recommended that the SDBA put in place a proper system in preparation for races. For example, for teams sports, members must be exposed to high-level competitions on a consistent basis.

The panel hopes that the recommendations will be accepted and implemented within six months.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) has said it will work closely with the Singapore Dragon Boat Association to ensure that the panel's recommendations are implemented quickly for the safety of everyone involved in dragon boating.

It added that it hopes this report will at least help the families affected by the incident to close a chapter on the tragic episode that has touched so many people in Singapore.

The SSC said the panel spent a significant amount of time reviewing the statements and relevant information collected from witnesses, participants and other parties in order to present a thorough and comprehensive report.

SSC believes that the panel has done a thorough job in assessing the factors that led to the accident and has made sound recommendations to prevent a similar accident from happening in future.

Meanwhile, responding to the safety inquiry report, the SDBA said it agrees with most of the recommendations made by the panel.

On the issue of life jackets, SDBA said the decision not to put them on had been jointly made by the team. And before the incident, there was indeed no formalised risk assessment.

After the incident, the association sent a total of 13 officials, coaches and race officials to attend the first Risk Management Course conducted by the SSC from March 17-20.

Going forward, the team manager will be given a greater say in making decisions. But SDBA stressed that it will not be holding anyone responsible, because it was a series of factors had led to the tragedy.

Lam Pin Min, Senior Vice President, Singapore Dragon Boat Association, said: "If you look at the entire report and the sequence of events that has led to this accident, a lot of times there were no rules being broken at any point in time. A lot of the decisions that have been made that contributed to the accident were based on judgement calls.

"And on hindsight, some of the decisions that were made then were sub-optimal, as in a combination led to the misfortune happening. So looking at the entire report, we felt that it is not appropriate to pinpoint any particular persons for this accident happening." - CNA/ms

S'poreans found dead after Cambodian dragon boat accident: police










Sun, Nov 25, 2007 Asia one news

PHNOM PENH - RESCUE workers have recovered the bodies of five Singaporean men who were killed in a dragon boat accident during Cambodia's annual water festival, police said on Sunday.

The boat carrying 22 men capsized late Friday as it tried to dock on Phnom Penh's Tonle Sap river after competing in a race during the festival.

More than 200 Cambodian navy sailors and fishermen, joined by seven divers and a medic from Singapore, scoured the river over the weekend searching for the five.

All the missing Singaporeans were found, and now the mission has ended,' police chief Touch Naruth told reporters on Sunday.

Seventeen Singaporeans were also injured in the accident, which happened on the first day of races. Millions of spectators, holiday-makers and participants flock to the capital Phnom Penh to watch the event.

Nhim Vanda, from Cambodia's National Committee for Disaster Management, said the tragedy occurred because of currents in the river.

'There was a very strong whirlpool around the port area they were returning to, and it hit the boat,' he said, adding that the men were not wearing life jackets.

Singapore's foreign ministry named the victims as Chee Wei Cheng, Jeremy Goh Tze Xiong, Stephen Loh Soon Ann, Reuben Kee En Rui and Poh Boon San, and said the bodies would be repatriated to Singapore.

It said in an earlier statement that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had written to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to convey his 'shock and sadness'.

Relatives of the dead visited the site of the accident late Saturday, with most unable to hold the tears back as they silently surveyed the river where their loved ones had been swept away.

More than 440 boats, including a number of foreign crews, entered this year's races, which end Sunday evening. Ten nations in Southeast Asia have boats competing in the colourful event.

Accidents are common during the boat races, which involve long, thin 'dragon boats' crewed by as many as 70 rowers, which compete against each other in the sometimes choppy waters in front of Phnom Penh's royal palace. -- AFP

Danny Law responsible for

Dragon Boat tradgedy !

He and the State Government has to and must take full responsibilities for this incident since he is also the Chairman of the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival (PIDBF) committee.

State govt wanted open-water races

2010/01/22

GEORGE TOWN: The state government and the Penang Dragon Boat Association (PDBA) had a falling out in December 2008 after the latter voiced its concerns over holding dragon boat races in open waters. PDBA president Lai Chew Hock said the association had brought the matter up with the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival (PIDBF) committee under the state government but the committee insisted on holding the competition in open water off the Queensbay seafront.

He said PDBA had disagreed with the event being held there due to safety concerns.

"However, the PIDBF persisted with its decision to hold the event at the seafront, instead of the Teluk Bahang Dam," he said yesterday.

Lai said PDBA and PIDBF had previously worked together when Penang hosted the Club Crew World Championships and Asia Dragon Boat Championship in 2008.

However, following the disagreement over safety issues between the two sides, PDBA was not re-appointed to the PIDBF committee last year.

Lai said he did not reveal the fallout before this because he did not want to politicise the issue.

"I am only disclosing this now because lives have been lost," he said, adding that PDBA was also proven to be right over its concern when there was an accident during last year's dragon boat event at the Jelutong Expressway seafront.

Even so, Lai said PDBA was ready to work with any party, including the state government, on dragon boat safety issues.

He said PDBA hoped the state government would look into the possibility of banning dragon boat training exercises and races in open water.

Alternatively, he said the authorities must ensure adequate safety measures are followed during such activities.

He said dragon boat activities could be held in the open sea only if safety precautions were observed and properly enforced.

However, he said it would be better that dragon boat clubs held their activities at safer locations such as the Penang Water Sports Centre and Teluk Bahang Dam.

Guan Eng calls for Dragon boat tragedy inquiry

By Lee Wei Lian

PETALING JAYA, Jan 21 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has called for a full public and independent inquiry into the boating tragedy in Penang that claimed the lives of five students and a teacher from the Chung Ling High School.

A preliminary investigation by the Penang state education department apparently showed that the Chung Ling High School management did not adhere fully to safety guidelines for co-curricular activities issued by the department.

“Whilst the Penang Education Department had immediately pinned the blame on Chung Ling school, justice and fair play demands that a full public and independent inquiry must first be held before judgment is passed,” said Lim in a statement to the media today.

Lim also extended condolences to the families of the deceased on behalf of the Penang state government,

State Education Director Ibrahim Mohammad was reported by Bernama to have said that guidelines required the school management to inform the security authorities of the activities to ensure that the students’ safety was monitored and added that a further investigations would be conducted to determine the cause of the incident.

The drownings occured when a group of 15 students, two instructors and a teacher had gone for a dragon boat training exercise off the coast of Penang last Sunday.

It was reported by The Star newspaper that only three of the 18 people on the boat wore life-jackets and that it was not a common practice for the team to do so.

Two of the drowned persons wore life jackets — the teacher Chin Aik Siang and a student Jason Ch’ng.

The Penang Dragon Boat Association chairman and Asian Dragon Boat Federation vice-chairman Lai Chew Hock was also quoted as saying that water sports activities should never have been allowed in the area where the drownings occured due to unpredictable currents and numerous haphazard structures belonging to fishermen.

Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law was also criticised by some for holding last year’s Dragon Boat Race at the Bandar Sri Pinang fishermen’s jetty which is less than 1km from where the tragedy occurred, instead of at the Teluk Bahang dam as in the past.

My Take on this issue !

Kit Siang , aren't you going to call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry ?

Liow Tiong Lai , where are you ? as the Health Minister and as the MCA Pg State Chairman ? or just following PM around like a good poodle ? You disappeared when you should have shown your hide around .

The State Govt has also got to be held responsible for changing the venues and not seeking the views or consult the various marine time agencies on the suitablity of the venue . This has never happened before in Penang as it has always been held either in MengKuang Dam or the Telok Bahang dam or some other sea venues where the under current is not strong .

Dragon Boat tradgedy !
Learn the lesson

There are a series of accidents recently.

During the Mooncake Festival last year, a mother and her children were attacked by a swarm of hornets when they were going for a late afternoon stroll on a hill near their home. Three children were killed in the accident. A suspension bridge in Kuala Dipang, Kampar collapsed and killed three primary students on 26 Oct. Three Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) undergraduates were drowned after they were swept away by strong current at the Batu Berangkai waterfalls in Kampar on 1 Nov. Four siblings were drowned while looking for snails with their father in the Rajang River at Leba'an on 20 Dec. An express bus driver dozed off at the wheel and caused the double-decker vehicle to skid and crash into the divider of the North-South Expressway, leaving 10 passengers dead and three injured on 26 Dec. A teacher and five students were drowned when their dragon boat capsized in the waters off Macallum Street Ghaut on 17 Jan. A four-year-old boy fell and died when he was looking for his mother, who went out looking for a job, on 18 Jan. A four-year-old girl was crushed to death by a bulky 21-inch television set at her home in Bandar Putra Kulai in Kulaijaya on the same day.

These tragedies are in fact all avoidable accidents. Each time after an accident, everyone, including parents, will remind their children to pay attention to safety. But people are always forgetful and thus, tragedies repeat.

After the dragon boat tragedy, some people said: “Life jackets are useless when there is an undercurrent.” The problem is, the chances of survival will be higher if you put on a life jacket, take all safety measures and know how to swim.

How could the teacher, who did not know how to swim, be on board? Only two among the 18 people on board were wearing life jackets. Why they chose to have training there since there were undercurrents nearby? These showed that they were lack of security awareness. But why were they lack of security awareness?

We gain knowledge and learn morality at schools but we never learn how to pay attention to safety or enhance safety awareness. Teachers will sometimes neglect safety, too. Take the collapse of the suspension bridge in Kampar as an example, how could a camp site located by a river during rainy season?

Also, we learn driving skills at driving schools but we never learn safety measures and defensive driving. There will be no question on safe driving in driving examinations. The express bus driver did not understand the danger of not having enough of sleep while driving and the passengers still got on the bus when they found the driver was sleepy.

Only those with safety consciousness will observe and find out about the surrounding environment before having an outdoor activity. Safety consciousness also comes from common sense. With enough of common sense, we will be aware of possible danger. For example, rainwater trapped uphill may flow down to the waterfall in a strong gush during rainy seasons and we can never stand under a tree when it is thundering.

There are a lot of reports on earthquakes and tsunami recently. Therefore, we must be cautious when we are having marine activities. There are floods in the East Coast every year but there are still drowning accidents there each year.

Schools and parents must not cultivate only high-score students, but they have to teach children the common sense of living, too.

On the other hand, the government has also neglected its advocacy and law enforcement responsibilities. For example, the authority never takes action to stop people from using mobile phones at petrol stations. Are they going to take action only after an explosion?

We are not able to change the past but we can prevent something from happening again. Life is a one-way-ticket and therefore, we should appreciate our loved ones and prevent similar tragedies from happening again. (By LIM SUE GOAN/Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/Sin Chew Daily)

( The opinions expressed by the writer do not necessarily reflect those of MySinchew )

First time a Dragon Boat tragedy of this magnitude happens in Penang . Who is responsible ?

My Condolences to the families of those whose children perished in the tragedy

Total death toll in Penang boat tragedy rises to six

Search and rescue team carrying the body of the fourth victim of the Dragon boat tragedy. - Bernama pic

PENANG, Jan 18 — The recovery efforts this afternoon of the bodies of two more students involved in yesterday’s boat mishap has taken the total death toll to six in the tragedy.

The bodies of Yong Xiang, 16, and Cheah Zi Jun, 17, were found close together at 4.15pm in the waters near Tanjung Marina pier, about one kilometre from the spot off Lebuh Macallum where the accident occurred, said a spokesman of the search-and-rescue (SAR) team.

The bodies of two other students, Brandon Yeoh, 17, and Goh Yi Zhang, 15, were found earlier today, in the waters near the Raja Tun Uda ferry terminal and Tanjung Marina pier, respectively.

Yesterday, the SAR team recovered the bodies of student Jason Ch’ng, 17, and teacher Chin Ai Fang, 28.

The Chung Ling High School teacher and the five students as well as 10 other students and two instructors were training for the Penang International Dragon Board Race scheduled for July in Teluk Bahang when their dragon boat capsized after being hit by a huge wave at 8.45am yesterday.

The mishap occurred about 100 metres offshore Lebuh Macallum, in an area often used by schools for their weekly boat rowing exercises.

The Chung Ling High School dragon boat team had been training for almost an hour since 8am when it was hit by the wave, the impact of which dashed the boat against a tugboat.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who visited the families of the students, said the school should attend to all the queries of the families so that they understand what had actually happened.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon visited the scene of the accident with Balik Pulau state assemblyman Datuk Seri Hilmi Yahaya.

Dr Koh extended his condolences to the families of those who drowned in the mishap and asked the state government to look into the safety aspect before designating an area as the venue of the dragon boat race.

The Gerakan president, who is a former student of the school, said he would meet with the school board, administration and principal on the tragedy. — Bernama