Friday, November 23, 2007

Fishing outing turns tragic for three friends

This news is taken from The Star Online. Please click on the link below to go to The Star Online to read more.
PENANG: A fishing trip in Batu Ferringhi turned into a tragedy for three friends when one of them drowned after their boat hit a net left behind by trawler fishermen.

Koay Hock Soon, 53, and Low Chye Kim, 33, who wore life jackets, spent more than seven hours in the water before they were rescued by two fishermen at 6am yesterday.

Their friend, Lee Kim Kooi, 50, drowned and his body was found in the sea off Telok Bahang at 3.30pm by marine police boat.

Northern region marine police chief Asst Comm Zainul Abidin Hasan said the three were on their way back to berth their 10m boat by the Gurney Drive coast when the incident happened at 11.30pm on Wednesday.

“They hit the net, then the boat overturned and sank. There were beacons and buoys on the net which they failed to spot.

“Fishermen who rescued Koay and Low then took them to Batu Ferringhi where they lodged a police report. We immediately sent out two boats,” he said.

The two survivors were later taken at the Central police station where their statements were taken. They refused to speak to reporters.

~ By Bernard Lee, The Star Online

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To all my fello fishos. Please read the above news carefully. Let it be a lessen to all of us. DO invest in a good life jacket. Accident can happen anytime.

My condolence to the family of Lee Kim Kooi.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Krazie Fishie,

Many thanks for your condolences. Also, thank you so much for putting this up in your blog.

I am Mr. Lee's son-in-law and I have to say that the STAR report is actually inaccurate at some parts (which I will be writing to Mr. Bernard See of the STAR paper soon to clarify matters).

According to one of the survivors, my father-in-law (FIL) was the FIRST to wear his LIFE JACKET when he sensed something amiss, and he instructed his 2 friends to quickly do the same. And do take note that the 2 survivors are actually non-experienced fishermen. So, you can actually say that my FIL was the most experienced among the three.

What happened was, they came across a TRAWLER boat while on their fishing trip. My FIL stopped the motorboat engine to let the trawler boat pass. Unfortunately, the netting of the trawler boat got caught in the motor, and dragged the their boat along, which eventually caused their boat to be overturned. All 3 of them were THROWN into the sea.

At this point of time, everything was depending on LUCK. You see, since there was a trawler boat nearby, you can be sure that there will be NETTING trailing behind it as well. My FIL was unlucky to be thrown right into the netting area, which means he got entangled and got dragged along with the netting. Again, let me remind everyone that he is a good swimmer, and he is wearing a life jacket.

Meanwhile, the 2 survivors were rescued by a passing by fisherman boat at approx 6am. They begged the fisherman to go out and save my FIL, but that b*st*rd fisherman did not want to do so, as they claimed that they did not have enough fuel to go out to sea. That being said, tha bl**dy fisherman continued with his fishing activities, as though his fishing is more important than a life.

They only returned to shore at approx 10am (4 HOURS DOING NOTHING TO SAVE MY FIL!!!). Then, the survirors informed my family members. My brother-in-law (BIL) immediately lodged a police report. And this useless police force (or should I say FARCE) refused to send out rescue boats until they got all the "documentation" red-tape done!!! Therefore, I do not know why the Northern region marine police chief Asst Comm Zainul Abidin Hasan said that they "immediately sent out two boats". This is not true! They dilly-dallied too long, as though as the report is more important than a life!

And, please take note that the marine police DID NOT FIND my FIL's body (as they have confidently put in the newspaper report). My FIL's more experienced fishermen friends launched their own search using their own boats to find my FIL. They found my FIL with only his shirt on. His life jacket and pants have most probably been pulled out by the netting of the trawler boat!

Also, please note that according to the hospital autopsy, they discovered that my FIL died approx 2-3 hours before he was found at around 3pm. This means, a lot could have been done if the authorities pulled theirs acts together!

And also, to the fisherman who took their own sweet time to return to shore, we are indeed disappointed with their attitudes. We are sure that God will know how to punish them!

I hope that with this statement, everyone will learn the truth. What is gone, we cannot bring back. Hopefully, everyone will learn from this tragedy. And never be too confident of our "police farce", if you know what i mean.

Mr. Lee Kim Kooi was laid to rest at the Mount Erskine crematorium, Penang on 26-Nov-2007.

Rest in peace Daddy!

Sharma D. Pillai said...

Hi Kenny,

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Indeed it is sad to read about what happened to your FIL.

Regards,
Sharma aka Krazie Fishie

Fishing Charter said...

It is really a sad and scary experience. It is really important to choose a good Fishing charter to have a wonderful adventure. And always make sure that all the safety gears and gadgets are available before the trip.