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SUNDAY, MAY 17, 1981
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR KEITH WILLIAMSON, WHO WILL BE VISITING HONG KONG DURING THE FESTIVAL, WILL ALSO ATTEND THE RACES.
IN ORDER TO EXPAND THE FLEET, SEVERAL NEW DRAGON AND PHOENIX BOATS HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED WITH PRIVATE DONATIONS FOR THE RACES THIS YEAR.
DRAGON BOAT RACES WILL ALSO BE HELD IN OTHER PARTS OF THE NEW TERRITORIES, INCLUDING TAI 0, MUI WO, PU! 0, TSING YI, CHEUNG CHAU AND LAMMA ISLANDS.
SWIMMERS URGED TO OBSERVE BASIC SAFETY RULES
*****
EARLY ONE MORNING AT A REMOTE BEACH ON THE OUTLYING ISLAND, JACK AND HIS GIRL FRIEND SUSANNA WERE PLAYING TO THEIR HEART'S CONTENT IN THE BEAUTIFUL CLEAR WATER, ENJOYING THE WARM SUNSHINE AND SOFT SEA BREEZE, BUT MOST OF ALL, THE PRIVACY OF HAVING THE WHOLE BEACH TO THEMSELVES THERE WAS PRACTICALLY NO ONE ELSE AROUND BECAUSE IT WAS A WEEK-DAY AND THE BEACH WAS NOT EASILY ACCESSIBLE.
THE WATER WAS COOL BUT ROUGH. THIS DID NOT WORRY JACK WHO ALWAYS BOASTED OF BEING A GOOD SWIMMER. HE CHALLENGED SUSANNA TO SWIM WITH HIM OUT TO THE RAFT, BUT SHE REFUSED.
SC HE PLUNGED INTO THE SEA ALONE, PROMISING TO RETURN IN HALF AN HOUR.
JACK NEVER RETURNED. HE GOT INTO TROUBLE ABOUT 100 METRES AVAY FROM THE SHORE. HE YELLED FOR HELP BUT THERE WAS NO LIFE GUARD NEARBY AND NO ONE HEARD HIM. HE BATTLED WITH THE WAVES UNTIL HE LOST ALL HIS STRENGTH. THEN DARKNESS CAME OVER HIM.
HOURS LATER, JACK'S BODY WAS FOUND.
THIS IS ONE OF THE MANY WAYS SWIMMERS GET KILLED. LAST YEAR, A TOTAL OF 16 SWIMMERS WERE DROWNED FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER, AND 881 WERE RESCUED FROM DANGER.
A WORD OF ADVICE TO SWIMMERS CAME FROM MR CHAM SIU-LEUN, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON SAFETY IN OUTDOOR PURSUITS TODAY (MAY 17) : IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT BECAUSE SWIMMING IS SUCH A POPULAR AND COMMON SPORT IN HONG KONG, PEOPLE HAVE BECOME SO USED TO IT THAT THEY TEND TO OVERLOOK THE RISKS AND DANGERS INVOLVED.
+BUT IN FACT, LIKE ANY OTHER FORM OF OUTDOOR PURSUITS, THERE IS A SET OF BASIC SAFETY RULES THAT SWIMMERS SHOULD OBSERVE.+
/MR CHAK