Tuesday November 3, 2009
Dad waited for a miracle after being informed daughter swept away
By DERRICK VINESH, TAN SIN CHOW and ERIC TAN
SUNGAI PETANI: It was the kind of phone call no parent would want to get.
But that was what factory manager Yew Siew Beng received at 8pm on Sunday when a policeman told him that his daughter Shy Gin, 21, had been swept away at the Batu Berangkai waterfalls.
“I waited the whole night for a miracle that my daughter would still be alive,” said the 58-year-old. His wife and son had rushed to Kampar.
Rest in peace: Ghim Chnieh’s family members perfoming a ritual prayer for him at the spot where he was last seen. “My hopes were dashed when I saw her picture in a Chinese newspaper the next morning,” he said.
Yew said he would have talked Shy Gin out of going to the waterfalls if he had known about the trip.
“This is because she has just learnt how to swim.”
He said Shy Gin returned home from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) in Petaling Jaya two weeks ago and informed the family that she was preparing for her final-year thesis in Chinese Studies.
“The day before she left for Kampar, my wife and I had advised her not to go near any kind of water, be it the sea, a river or waterfalls,” Yew recalled.
“She allayed our worries by saying that she was big enough to take care of herself.”
A wake will be held at the house of Shy Gin’s grandfather at Taman Mahsuri Phase 2B in Padang Serai. Her body is expected to be cremated on Thursday.
Tragic trio: A combo picture of (from left) Shy Gin, Ghim Chnieh and Wan Kai. Shy Gin was one of three Utar students who drowned at the waterfalls in Kampar.
In Butterworth, the family of Yew Ghim Chnieh, 20, is devastated that his dreams of studying abroad had been dashed.
His grandfather Ng Sze Xian, 72, said the second-year Science student was eager to continue his studies overseas.
“He was a bright student,” Ng said at the wake at the family house in Jalan 9, Kampung Valdor in Sungai Bakap here yesterday.
Ng said his grandson would drive his mother and siblings (Yew Siang Teng, 17, and Yew Thong Koon, 14) to pay him a visit in Kuala Kurau, Perak often.
It was especially hard on Ghim Chnieh’s mother, Soo Hwa.
“Her husband Yew Kok Heng died of cancer five years ago,” said Ng.
Soo Hwa, he said, was hopeful that Ghim Chnieh could support the family after he had completed his studies.
Ghim Chnieh’s uncle Yew Kok Foo, 56, said his nephew was a well-liked person.
“He did not drink liquor or smoke,” he said. “He was a responsible and diligent young man.”
His funeral will be held at the Berapit crematorium in Bukit Mertajam at 10.30am today.
In George Town, the body of James Khor Wan Kai, 20, was brought to the Penang Hokkien Cemeteries funeral parlour yesterday.
A family member said the body would be cremated at the Batu Gantong crematorium at 12.30pm today.
The ashes is expected to be placed at the Beow Hong Lim Columbarium in Air Itam, Penang.
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