Drowning twice

When I was small, I did not go into the sea to play although I lived near the sea then. My dad had told me not to dip in the sea and I listened to his advice. That explained why I did not know how to swim before I joined a teacher's college.

I had the experience of getting drowned twice. The first one occurred at Sungai Pinang (Pinang River) when I was still a scout. I was sitting on a rock when I slipped and fell into the river and sank. After failing to get myself float (I did not know how to do it anyway), I lifted my hand twice to ask for help. Soon I felt someone approaching and then he brought me to the shore.He was a King Scout. I was very scared at that time.

The drowning repeated when I was teaching in Pahang. One day, we organised a trip to Taman Negara (the National Park). On the first day, we went to one lake to swim. It happened again when I fell off a rock and down into the lake I went. I sank and sank all the way down. When I struggled to go up I sank further until I touched the bed of the lake. I sprang to go up to lift my hand to ask for help only to find myself sinking again. Twice did I do this. Then help came when Anchor Choong, one of my colleagues approached me and brought me to safety.