November 28, 2007By Kor Kian Beng in Cambodia
Electric News (Singapore)
HE had just gone through a near-death encounter, but Mr Yeo Chin Hwei, 27, has had to put aside his personal trauma to be the face and voice of the Singapore dragon boat team.
As team captain, he has faced the media, dealt with questions from distraught parents and accompanied officials to identify the bodies of five team-mates who drowned.
Despite breaking down several times at the mortuary, he has been putting on a brave front.
It's his responsibility as team captain, said Mr Yeo, a PE trainee teacher at National Institute of Education.
'The parents wanted to know the truth. So I was just giving them that. That is my responsibility to the parents,' he said.
How was it like seeing the bodies of his team-mates?
'It was tough but it was my responsibility. I had to do it.'
Yesterday, he mustered courage and inner strength one more time to lead his 16 surviving team-mates to pay their last respects to their five dead team-mates at the pontoon where the accident took place.
He said: 'It's been devastating and traumatic for us. It was a near-death experience for all of us. Most were fearful to relive the experience but we wanted to come here to pay our last respects to our team-mates.'
Mr Yeo said the past two days had been hard.
'Most of us were still clinging to hope that there might be a miracle,' he said of his team-mates whose bodies were found two days after their boat capsized.
Breaking down in tears, Mr Yeo added: 'I just want to say they were all good guys with promising futures. They were great friends, great team-mates.'
The sad, traumatic memories came flooding back the moment the team arrived at the pontoon around 8am.
A few broke down after alighting from the bus while others hugged and put their arms around one another for support. Some looked pensively at the water that took the lives of their team-mates.
Later, the team threw chrysanthemum flowers and joss sticks into the water as a form of respect and mourning for the victims.
Mr Yeo told the team to offer one joss stick each to a Buddha statue at a tree in front of the pontoon, so that their team-mates would be watched over.
A similarly touching scene was repeated at noon when the family members of Mr Jeremy Goh, Mr Poh Boon San and Mr Chee Wei Cheng held Taoist rites for the victims.
Many broke down in tears as the victims' brothers knelt and shouted their names, trying to recall their souls.
Mr Chee's mother, who was looking on, told her younger son: 'Ask kor kor (brother in Hokkien) to wake up! Wei Cheng, mummy is here to wake you up. You must wake up! Can you hear me?'
Families of three of the deceased and the bodies were sent back to Singapore in a C130 plane.
The team members and family members of two of the deceased reached Singapore earlier at 1pm.
The father of victim Reuben Kee, 23, a musician and winner of Mr World Singapore 2006, asked to speak to the parents who were there to meet their sons.
According to Mrs Pamela Tan, mother of survivor Mr Darren Tan, the elder Mr Kee told them 'treasure your children'.
'He said he didn't know Reuben had so many friends until he went through his handphone,' she said.
Additional reporting by Mindy Tan
As team captain, he has faced the media, dealt with questions from distraught parents and accompanied officials to identify the bodies of five team-mates who drowned.
Despite breaking down several times at the mortuary, he has been putting on a brave front.
It's his responsibility as team captain, said Mr Yeo, a PE trainee teacher at National Institute of Education.
'The parents wanted to know the truth. So I was just giving them that. That is my responsibility to the parents,' he said.
How was it like seeing the bodies of his team-mates?
'It was tough but it was my responsibility. I had to do it.'
Yesterday, he mustered courage and inner strength one more time to lead his 16 surviving team-mates to pay their last respects to their five dead team-mates at the pontoon where the accident took place.
He said: 'It's been devastating and traumatic for us. It was a near-death experience for all of us. Most were fearful to relive the experience but we wanted to come here to pay our last respects to our team-mates.'
Mr Yeo said the past two days had been hard.
'Most of us were still clinging to hope that there might be a miracle,' he said of his team-mates whose bodies were found two days after their boat capsized.
Breaking down in tears, Mr Yeo added: 'I just want to say they were all good guys with promising futures. They were great friends, great team-mates.'
The sad, traumatic memories came flooding back the moment the team arrived at the pontoon around 8am.
A few broke down after alighting from the bus while others hugged and put their arms around one another for support. Some looked pensively at the water that took the lives of their team-mates.
Later, the team threw chrysanthemum flowers and joss sticks into the water as a form of respect and mourning for the victims.
Mr Yeo told the team to offer one joss stick each to a Buddha statue at a tree in front of the pontoon, so that their team-mates would be watched over.
A similarly touching scene was repeated at noon when the family members of Mr Jeremy Goh, Mr Poh Boon San and Mr Chee Wei Cheng held Taoist rites for the victims.
Many broke down in tears as the victims' brothers knelt and shouted their names, trying to recall their souls.
Mr Chee's mother, who was looking on, told her younger son: 'Ask kor kor (brother in Hokkien) to wake up! Wei Cheng, mummy is here to wake you up. You must wake up! Can you hear me?'
Families of three of the deceased and the bodies were sent back to Singapore in a C130 plane.
The team members and family members of two of the deceased reached Singapore earlier at 1pm.
The father of victim Reuben Kee, 23, a musician and winner of Mr World Singapore 2006, asked to speak to the parents who were there to meet their sons.
According to Mrs Pamela Tan, mother of survivor Mr Darren Tan, the elder Mr Kee told them 'treasure your children'.
'He said he didn't know Reuben had so many friends until he went through his handphone,' she said.
Additional reporting by Mindy Tan
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