Tuesday January 19, 2010

Bodies of four missing students found

GEORGE TOWN: The bodies of four Chung Ling High School students who were missing after the dragon boat crash on Sunday, have been found – much to the anguish of family members who had been hoping for a miracle.

The body of Goh Yi Zhang, 17, was the first to be found at 8am followed by Brendon Yeoh, 17, at 12.10pm.

Both were found off the Tanjung City Marina seafront.

Two others – Cheah Zi Jun, 17 and Wang Yong Xiang, 16, were found at 4.25pm in the same area.

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I'm so proud of my brother. He's a brother with compassion, a person that feels, and gives when need, and cares for people.

When I heard about it, it did occur to me that my friends may not know the deceased due to the age gap. But then I thought...my bro may know them, despite his transfer to another school.

And yes. He knew them. 4 of them. How sad it is.

He said he saw 2 of them last weekend, and I said that "isn't that good? You get to see them before they passed on." And he said "No, it makes it even worse". And I was like "Oops". Yup, it makes it worse, knowing that you've seen them, and the next day, they are not around anymore. Never to see them playing football (or walking) again. But as said, they live in our hearts.

Penang, being a small place, makes all of us related to each other some way or another. You know this friend, who knows the deceased. Or your parents' acquaintance's son passed away. And somehow, even if you haven't seen them in your life, your heart mourns too. Oh Lord.

So somehow or another, everyone in Penang, is affected by it (I think). The suddenness of things...Those lives, being so young, most in their final year of high school, the amount of people lost at one shot, adds to the mournful atmosphere of the state.

This is the video my brother did to just remember them, to express how he feels. I don't think it's easy for a guy to express how he feels. And for that (and the amount of compassion he has), I love him.