Condolences

It's not anyone I know personally

I've been hearing about this piece of news since a few days ago. But today's the first time I've read an article about it.

An unfortunate incident took place in Batu Kawa, Kuching. It's quite near to my grandparent's place. I can't seem to find any English articles about it. So here's a rough line on what's happening.


On the night of the mooncake festival (a night of gathering for many Chinese families), a housewife, her three young children and an 11-year-old uncle went for a walk outside their house. Their main aim was to collect some branches from which to hang the paper lanterns that the husband was about to bring home. After getting the branches, they walked over to an area where there's a little pond, presumably to have a look-see at the beautiful night scene.

Unknown to them, a nest of deadly Asian giant hornets was still agitated from being disturbed by some teenagers a few days ago. What happens next is as good as your guess. The little party got stung from head to toe. The two youngest kids (aged 4(m) and 6(f)) were the first to be pronounced dead at the hospital, due to extensive poisoning from the hornets' stings. The third to go was their elder sister, a little girl of 8.

As far as I know, their uncle (aged 11) has recovered and out of the hospital. And their mom, the housewife, is still in Intensive Care. The three little kids were cremated on Saturday (10.10.09).

Imagine the poor father's devastation. Getting home happily with paper lanterns, ready to celebrate the festival, only to find out all of your family members are in critical condition at the hospital, then your kids leaving you one by one. He expressed regret during one of the interviews for when he kept putting off his eldest daughter's request for a doll during the last time they talked- on the hospital bed hours before she died. I guess, he must have thought that there were still plenty of time between him and the eldest daughter.

The housewife- the mom- still doesn't know about the passing of her three kids. I can imagine her despair upon knowing that the kids she risked her life to save, were still gone at the end of the day.

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It is only after this widely-covered incident, that the whole of Sarawak is thrown into a Hornet-killing spree. Sigh, even false alarms about hornet nests are making headlines these days. If only someone cared enough to eliminate these hazards in the first place. Wouldn't the kids have lived?

My prayers to be with the family and the victims.

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