Desmond Ng, The New Paper 6 Jun 08;
JUDGING from their happy expressions as they played inside a canal off Choa Chu Kang Crescent, these children seemed oblivious to the risk they are taking.
A sudden downpour and their joy could turn into sorrow as the canal fills with surging water.
The New Paper photographer Jonathan Choo saw the children lugging their two remote-controlled boats and cycling to the canal on Monday evening.
They then launched the two boats into the canal.
The children, aged between 9 and 12, also crawled into the canal with their slippers on, then walked into the water to retrieve the boats when the batteries went flat.
They were there for 90 minutes. Luckily for them, during that time, the water was relatively calm and there were no strong currents.
But they could have slipped on the algae growing by the side of the canal and fallen on the hard concrete.
When asked about the potential danger, one of the boys, Primary 6 student Adam Yan, 12, brushed it off.
He said: 'My father has taken us fishing here before. It's quite shallow, only up to waist level. It's deeper further down the canal.'
Adam was there with his younger brother, 11, and sister, 9.
They were not accompanied by an adult, who could have watched out for their safety.
Adam said that they live in a Housing Board flat nearby and were trying out the boats their father had bought them on the weekend.
NOT WORRIED
A few curious joggers stopped to look at the children playing in the canal. But no one tried to warn the children of the potential danger.
When The New Paper contacted the children's mother, she wasn't worried about them playing inside the canal.
Mrs Yan said that her husband had taken them to the canal the day before and her children have been educated about water safety.
All three can swim, she said.
She added: 'I've told them that it's okay to play in that area as long as the water is shallow. There are always people fishing or jogging in that area, so I think it's quite safe.'
The National Water Safety Council was set up last April to promote water safety here after a spate of drowning cases in storm canals, swimming pools and open seas.
It aims to educate the public on the safety of water facilities and equip them with water survival skills.
Specific measures include getting schools to cover water safety in class, educating older caregivers such as parents, grandparents and maids, the possibility of setting up a water safety park, and the setting up of a water safety website.
The council also released a six-point code for people to practise at all times:
# Learn swimming and water survival skills
# Understand the dangers of water, such as high tides and strong currents
# Follow safety signs
# Swim in safe areas
# Never swim alone
# Supervise children and weak swimmers at all times
A KK Women's and Children's Hospital study had listed drowning as the second most common cause of accidental deaths among children, with road accidents in top spot.
In April last year, two boys drowned in the sea off Pasir Ris Park.
That same month, a girl and three friends entered a canal near Bukit Batok to retrieve a bag and they were washed away by a sudden surge of water caused by a downpour.
The girl drowned.
In both cases, the victims were teenagers.
