>> ASIAONE / NEWS / THE STRAITS TIMES / STORY

		Wed, Nov 28, 2007 The Straits Times
Mementoes, prayers and words of comfort at wakes
WAKES were held last night for the five young men who perished in the dragon boating competition in Cambodia. Relatives, friends, former schoolmates and students and two ministers turned up in the family homes of the late national athletes, in places as scattered as Bishan, Yishun, Paya Lebar, Ang Mo Kio and Jurong West. They wanted to pay their respects, say a prayer and comfort the men's families.

But the families also received something intangible: the knowledge that their sons had many people who loved and admired them as role models.

Few eyes stayed dry in the face of the families' pain and at the sense of waste. These men had so much more to give, to learn and to live for.

News reports of the accident that claimed the lives of Mr Goh, 24, Mr Loh, 31, Mr Poh, 27, Mr Reuben Kee, 23, and Mr Chee Wei Cheng, 20, have gripped the nation since the tragedy struck at Cambodia's Water Festival along the Tonle Sap river last Friday.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, showed up at Mr Goh's wake on Street 32 at around 9pm to offer his condolences to Mr and Mrs Goh Chai Kee, aged 62 and 56 respectively.

Mr Lee told reporters that the family had said that Jeremy would have wanted the rest of the team to carry on with the sport he was so passionate about.

Mr Lee said: 'I think that's the right attitude, because when something like this happens, you're shattered, but I think we help others and life goes on and we will pick ourselves up and be stronger again.'

Calling for resilience, he said: 'We cannot say, 'We've now had an accident, we have to stop going into the water'...So you have to go on, I mean, we have to learn our lessons, but you cannot say, 'I close shop, I give up', because in that way, we'll not survive.'

Over at the Loh family's house on How Sun Close, off Bartley Road, Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam talked to the late teacher's family and looked through old photos.

Mr Tharman described Mr Loh as a model teacher, one who had 'made quite a remarkable impact' on his students although he was new to the career.

He said: 'He was not just a teacher but also a friend, and he inspired them to do what they love and what they're passionate about. And I think that's going to stay with them for a long time.'

NJC's vice-principal Mark Lo announced at the wake that a plaque in Mr Loh's memory will be put up near NJC's squash courts, where Mr Loh spent many an hour coaching the college team.

For the family of Mr Kee, whose wake was held in a Bishan Street 12 void deck, this period of grief was not the time to point the fingers of blame.

His father, 53-year-old Freddie Kee, said: 'We cannot bring our children back. What is important is to prevent things like this from happening in the future.'

Referring to the dragon boat team's decision to ditch their life jackets in favour of efficient rowing, he made a plug for safety, saying: 'If the life jackets are not suitable for rowing, then design some that are. We must stack the cards in favour of survival.'

He had another suggestion: that all future water sports participants wear identification tags, because it would be just too painful for families to have to identify them in morgues after accidents like this one.

At Mr Poh's wake in a Yishun Street 22 void deck last night, his brother Boon Nam said dragon boating made his younger sibling tough, 'always full of fire, determination'.

It was that quality which made him the family's 'Comeback Kid', who graduated from university after having struggled through school. That same determination gave the family hope that he would survive.

The family, especially his dad, who did not go to Cambodia, was disappointed to learn that the casket had to be a closed one.

The loss of a much-loved son was also palpable at the Chee family's wake in Jurong.

Mr Chee's cousin, Mr Wilson Tan, estimated that, by last night, 500 people - some unknown to the family and others going back even to his kindergarten days - had showed up to pay their respects.

Mr Chee, at 20, was mature beyond his years, said Mr Tan. The elder of two sons in a single-parent household, Mr Chee was always protective of his brother and filial towards his mother.

His father is still alive, contrary to earlier reports.

REPORTING BY TRACY SUA, HONG XINYI, LIAW WY-CIN AND TESSA WONG

SAFETY FIRST

'If the life jackets are not suitable for rowing, then design some that are. We must stack the cards in favour of survival.'
MR FREDDIE KEE, 53, father of victim Reuben Kee