THE tragedy that struck the 1Malaysia camp in Kuala Dipang, Kampar, was indeed regrettable. It led to the death of three young girls. It is dreadful to imagine the agony of the parents.

We are told that these 1Malaysia camps are for a noble purpose, to foster unity and interaction among primary school pupils of all races, through activities such as traditional cooking, cultural training and games.

However, are these camps the best and only means of fostering racial unity? Do we need to take young children into remote areas for such a purpose? Are the teachers adequately trained and equipped to handle emergencies in such areas like this tragedy? What was the need for these children to cross a river 30m wide and 1.5m deep on a suspension bridge at 10.30pm? Shouldn’t young children of their age be in bed by that time? Why weren’t they provided with life jackets when crossing the river? Why were 30 to 50 children allowed to use the bridge at the same time?

Other questions concern the quality and safety of the bridge itself. The bridge collapsed after one of its metal pillars got ripped off the ground. Was it built to specifications?

Why was a suspension bridge chosen instead of a traditional wooden or concrete one over a river as wide, deep and hazardous as the Kampar River that is used for extreme water sports?

These are some of the disturbing questions that must be addressed by the authorities. A detailed and independent investigation must be conducted to get to the truth so as to prevent such tragedies.

It looks like we never seem to learn from our mistakes but keep repeating them.

We hope this tragedy in Kampar will open the eyes of the authorities to place the welfare of the people above everything else. They should temporarily suspend all unity camps for children and get the experts to check the safety of all the facilities in them.

It is also timely to review in a professional manner the need for such camps to promote unity among children. It is time to seriously look into better, safer and more effective ways of doing that than by bringing the children to a remote camp for a few days with all the attendant risks.

Children are essentially colour blind; it is the adults, as leaders, parents and teachers, who sow the seeds of racism by their own examples. Unless the adults get rid of racial and religious bias within themselves and stop reminding children of their ethnic differences, there is no way our children can be united by unity camps.

Dr Chris Anthony
Butterworth

Source: The Sun – October 29, 2009