He left Sarawak to become a teacher. He came home in a coffin. Such was the tragic story of 21-year-old Christopher Ling Jia Siang.
His body arrived at Kuching International Airport today as his family and a nation mourned the loss of a young man whose life was cut tragically short during a college kayaking exercise in Kedah.
‘You’re home’
Tears and grief filled Kuching International Airport’s MASkargo terminal yesterday afternoon as the coffin of trainee teacher Christopher Ling Jia Siang arrived at around 4.30pm.
According to The Borneo Post, family members, including his parents Ling Kuok Hui and Esther Liu Poh Ling, and siblings, were on hand to receive him, their sorrow palpable as they later accompanied the hearse to the funeral parlour.
Also present were educators, friends, and staff from IPG Batu Lintang, as well as Sarawak Education director Omar Mahli, IPGM Batu Lintang Campus director Dr Abang Ismail, and other senior education officials, who came to pay their respects and support the grieving family, Dayak Daily reports.
The remains were taken to Chan Funeral Services Parlour at Mile 5, where the mourning period will be held from April 7 to 9. The encoffining ceremony is scheduled for 8 am on April 9, followed by funeral services at 9am.
Meanwhile in Sibu, Joey Ling landed at around 6.30pm, also greeted by tearful family members, friends, and educators in an atmosphere of profound grief.
Father demands answers
For Christopher’s father, grief has given way to hard questions about why his son had to be sent so far from home for a programme that cost him his life.
There’s no need to go so far. If it’s done here, at least we can look after him, but we cannot do anything when he is that far away from us,” he reportedly said.
He also raised serious concerns about the suitability of such activities for students from urban backgrounds.
“Children who grow up in cities, if you ask them to swim in the open sea, it’s not realistic,” he said, questioning whether young people who have grown up in city environments are adequately prepared for open-water conditions.
Joey’s aunt, Kee Ching Ching, echoed that call for accountability.
“We hope the report will be thorough and transparent, especially regarding the standard operating procedures for kayaking activities.
“We also want to know whether the location was suitable for such activities, and we urge the Ministry of Education to review the syllabus involving outdoor programmes,” she said.
What happened
Christopher Ling Jia Siang and Joey Ling Lin Siang were participating in an Outdoor Education Programme organised by Institut Pendidikan Guru (IPG) Kampus Perlis when the incident occurred at Pantai Merdeka near Sungai Petani on Saturday (April 4).
The incident occurred during a college-organised outdoor activity involving 35 students.
Kuala Muda police chief Assistant Commissioner Hanyan Ramlan said both students are believed to have fallen into the sea at about 5pm after their kayak was struck by strong waves.
Preliminary investigations indicated that strong waves and swift currents caused several kayaks to capsize, and the victims’ kayak was believed to have become entangled in a fishing net, making it difficult for them to escape.
The bodies of the two victims were found at around 7.30pm, both still wearing life jackets.
