Over the weekends, two young brothers aged seven and ten met with a tragic accident while they were playing in a flood retention pond near their home in Malaysia. The bodies of Tay Yew Keng, 10, and Tay Yew Zuan, 7, were discovered at the bottom of a pond in Taman Pagoh Jaya housing estate around evening at 5pm. The pond was actually used to contain excess rain water to prevent flooding from occurring in the housing estate and surrounding low-lying villages.

After the boys failed to return by 3pm, their mother instructed their 13-year-old sister to head out and look for them. The first location that she went to was SRJ(C) Pengkalan Bukit, Pagoh, where the boys went to school at. However, they were nowhere there to be found. According to their school mates, the boys were seen walking towards the direction of the pond. That was also where their sister head to next. Apparently, the pond is fenced up to prevent people from going in. However, due to vandalism, there were several gaping holes in the fence. That was also probably how the two boys manage to get in.

In fact, the pond area was merely 30 meters from their own home. When their sister got there, she first noticed their shirts and shoes by the pond side. That was when she started to panic, resulting in her calling out for assistance. Thankfully, a villager who was doing his daily walk nearby, saw her in distress. He then called out to others to help in the search for the two boys. The bodies of the boys were eventually found at the bottom of the pond, clad in their underwear. According to the villager, it wasn’t raining at that point of time. He added that the water level in the pond dropped to only a meter deep.

Tay Cheng Poh, the father of the two boys who is an optician working in Senai, Johor Baru, mentioned that he rushed all the way home after receiving the call from his daughter. He stated that he had informed all of his children numerous times not to play in the pond. Despite being dismayed at the lost, he accepted his boys deaths as fate. According to Muar deputy police chief Superintendent Sahadan Jaafar, investigations showed that there was no foul play involved. For the full story, you can read it here.

Happy Fish Swim School would like to remind everyone not to take their chances in such scenarios even though you may be a good swimmer. It is always better to have a certified lifeguard around as anything can happen to anyone. If you intend to swim, there are many swimming complex in Singapore with lifeguards always on duty.