the nikon sank into the sea



this incident also happened at the former junior sailing club premises at the ferry point pier, changi. during those days, at least six of us - kok weng, yong len, liang, kwan, kia wah and myself - were shutter bugs; we took photos using black and white film and developed and printed the photos on our own in the school's dark room. three of us used nikon cameras while the others used leica, minolta or olympus cameras.

kwan pursued his hobby on his own. he was good enough to take wedding photos for colleagues and friends. he had a nikon with three sets of lenses - standard, wide angle and telephoto.

on that particular night we had a private bbq at ferry point. the students were not included. we camped ourselves at the jetty, enjoying our food and the sea breeze at the same time. kwan decided to take a snap-shot of the group.

as the group was quite big, he had to move backwards in order to get everyone into the picture. one moment he was there, the next he was gone. we heard a splash and realised that he had fallen backwards into the sea. we rushed to the edge and peered into the darkness below.

it was sometime before he broke the surface. we were so relieved. fortunately, kwan was not only a photographer, he was also a trained life-saver. if he had panicked, he could have struggled downwards and the result would have been disastrous. the water was quite deep, at least 10m or more.

he told us afterwards that when he fell into the water, he was enveloped by darkness but he remained calm. when he stopped sinking, he used his hands and legs to propel himself to the surface. those few moments had seemed like eternity.

it was only after he had bathed and changed into dry clothes that he realised that his beloved camera was lying at the sea bed at ferry point.