near drowning at
farrer park swimming pool

it is the right thing for the authorities to ban the use of certain floatation devices in public swimming pools. i had a near death experience when i used one of these now banned devices at farrer park swimming pool long ago.

farrer park had two pools - a shallow one meant for beginners and non-swimmers and a deep one meant for swimmers. i started off by using the tube at the shallow pool. then, wanting to have more excitement, i decided to use it at the deep pool. the lifeguards on duty did not stop me to check my proficiency in swimming when i went to the deep pool.

standing by the edge, i threw the tube into the pool. then i dived into the water. foolishly, i had thought that as i dived through the tube, i would be able to grab it. i dived through and down into trouble. i panicked when i realised that the water level was way over my head and i could not touch the bottom with my feet.

as i struggled to reach the side of the pool, it dawned on me that i was drowning. as my life was ebbing away, thoughts of how my mother would react to my demise went through my mind. just when i was about to give up the struggle, i felt someone push me to the side of the pool.

i like to think that my life was returned to me because of some guardian angel who has been looking after me. there were a few other instances when my guardian angel came to my rescue: once in mlaysia, once in new zealand and two other times, in singapore.