DROWNED DIVER FOUND AFTER 2 1/2 DAYS
'He was just very hardworking'
By Shree Ann Mathavan
September 22, 2009 Print Ready Email Article
THREE short days was all it took for Mr Gerald Chia to impress his supervisor, a commercial diving veteran of 20 years.
Click to see larger image
ANXIOUS WAIT: Loved ones wait outside the gate at the Police Coast Guard building in Tuas last night, as Mr Chia's father(beside the white car) waits inside the compound. --TNP PICTURE: KELVIN CHNG
His 45-year-old supervisor, who wished to be known only as Mr Fong, told The New Paper last night: 'Gerald was one of the best divers I have ever supervised in my 10 years as a supervisor.'
Unfortunately, Mr Fong didn't get much of a chance to learn more about Mr Chia, 21.
Last Friday around noon - on Mr Chia's third day of work - tragedy struck.
Mr Chia went missing while on a dive at an oil rig at Jurong West Anchorage in Tuas.
Yesterday around 7pm, his body was found floating near the rig by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Police Coast Guard.
A police spokesman confirmed the identity of the dead man. The body was clad in blue overalls.
It was a huge shock to Mr Fong, who saw much promise in the young man, though they had met only last Wednesday.
He recalled: 'Gerald was always very helpful, without you asking he would just rush over to help.
'He would help out whether it was carrying oxygen tanks, checking if the torchlights had batteries or doing the preparation work. He was just very hardworking.'
Mr Fong described Mr Chia as someone 'very handsome, tall, just like one of the boys from F4 (a Taiwanese boy band).'
Although he was new on the job, Mr Chia was no diving newbie. According to Mr Fong, he was a certified diver and had 'a few years' of diving experience.
He was also qualified to be a dive instructor.
Mr Chia had undergone an orientation session on Wednesday, and completed his first dive on Thursday with another veteran colleague.
On Friday, it was his second dive on the job. He was again followed by a 'buddy', another experienced diver.
Together, they went down to an oil rig to complete some installation work.
Mr Fong, who was the supervisor in the dive boat, was holding on to a lifeline, which the divers could hold on to if they needed to come up to the surface.
Mr Fong explained that during such dives, one buddy typically stays attached to the line at any one time, while the other diver works.
Line went slack
However, around noon, Mr Fong felt the line go slack.
He recalled: 'I was pulling and I didn't feel any tension. When I pulled at the line, it just came up.
'I was shocked. I immediately sent my stand-by diver down to check.'
Mr Chia's buddy resurfaced 30 minutes later, saying he didn't know where Mr Chia was.
Mr Fong then activated a team of 10 divers and alerted the Police Coast Guard, who rushed down to the scene.
Their search operation was also aided by the Navy. Mr Chia's body was found about 54 hours after he went missing.
The Beatty Secondary School alumni's death clearly came as a shock to the many friends he had.
While he was missing, MrChia's friends dedicated a page to him on social networking site Facebook, titled 'Gerald Chia, Come home please!'
On it, over 100 of his friends dedicated messages praying for his well-being.
Yesterday at about 10pm at the Police Coast Guard in Tuas, a group of 10 gathered to wait outside as Mr Chia's body was identified by his family.
They, however, declined to speak to the media.
Mr Chia's family also hurriedly left the scene in a white Mercedes without speaking to the press.
Good friends like Mr Nicholas Tan, 30, who works in a bank, painted Mr Chia as a 'physically gifted and natural athlete'.
Mr Tan, then a muay thai teacher, had taught Mr Chia the sport when he was just 16 years old.
He told The New Paper: 'It was a group class but he was definitely my student with the most potential and he went quite far managing to qualify for the junior national Chinese kickboxing team in 2005.'
Mr Tan and Mr Chia would hang out socially, going clubbing, or just hanging out at the beach.
While Mr Tan eventually gave up teaching muay thai, the two would still occasionally meet up to train at a muay thai gym.
In fact, it was at the opening of a new gym about a month ago that Mr Tan last saw Mr Chia, who was there giving a martial arts demonstration.
Said Mr Tan: 'He looked contented, I would never imagine that would be my last time I would see him, he was a really great guy.
'I didn't know that he was going to be a commercial diver.'
To Mr Fong, the incident was a mishap and had a 'one in 1,000 chance' of happening.
Said Mr Fong: 'Commercial diving is like driving a car, everyone follows the rules and regulations.
'But just like how someone can knock into you, accidents can happen, we have to wait to find out more findings from the autopsy.
'He was just very hardworking'
By Shree Ann Mathavan
September 22, 2009 Print Ready Email Article
THREE short days was all it took for Mr Gerald Chia to impress his supervisor, a commercial diving veteran of 20 years.
Click to see larger image
ANXIOUS WAIT: Loved ones wait outside the gate at the Police Coast Guard building in Tuas last night, as Mr Chia's father(beside the white car) waits inside the compound. --TNP PICTURE: KELVIN CHNG
His 45-year-old supervisor, who wished to be known only as Mr Fong, told The New Paper last night: 'Gerald was one of the best divers I have ever supervised in my 10 years as a supervisor.'
Unfortunately, Mr Fong didn't get much of a chance to learn more about Mr Chia, 21.
Last Friday around noon - on Mr Chia's third day of work - tragedy struck.
Mr Chia went missing while on a dive at an oil rig at Jurong West Anchorage in Tuas.
Yesterday around 7pm, his body was found floating near the rig by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Police Coast Guard.
A police spokesman confirmed the identity of the dead man. The body was clad in blue overalls.
It was a huge shock to Mr Fong, who saw much promise in the young man, though they had met only last Wednesday.
He recalled: 'Gerald was always very helpful, without you asking he would just rush over to help.
'He would help out whether it was carrying oxygen tanks, checking if the torchlights had batteries or doing the preparation work. He was just very hardworking.'
Mr Fong described Mr Chia as someone 'very handsome, tall, just like one of the boys from F4 (a Taiwanese boy band).'
Although he was new on the job, Mr Chia was no diving newbie. According to Mr Fong, he was a certified diver and had 'a few years' of diving experience.
He was also qualified to be a dive instructor.
Mr Chia had undergone an orientation session on Wednesday, and completed his first dive on Thursday with another veteran colleague.
On Friday, it was his second dive on the job. He was again followed by a 'buddy', another experienced diver.
Together, they went down to an oil rig to complete some installation work.
Mr Fong, who was the supervisor in the dive boat, was holding on to a lifeline, which the divers could hold on to if they needed to come up to the surface.
Mr Fong explained that during such dives, one buddy typically stays attached to the line at any one time, while the other diver works.
Line went slack
However, around noon, Mr Fong felt the line go slack.
He recalled: 'I was pulling and I didn't feel any tension. When I pulled at the line, it just came up.
'I was shocked. I immediately sent my stand-by diver down to check.'
Mr Chia's buddy resurfaced 30 minutes later, saying he didn't know where Mr Chia was.
Mr Fong then activated a team of 10 divers and alerted the Police Coast Guard, who rushed down to the scene.
Their search operation was also aided by the Navy. Mr Chia's body was found about 54 hours after he went missing.
The Beatty Secondary School alumni's death clearly came as a shock to the many friends he had.
While he was missing, MrChia's friends dedicated a page to him on social networking site Facebook, titled 'Gerald Chia, Come home please!'
On it, over 100 of his friends dedicated messages praying for his well-being.
Yesterday at about 10pm at the Police Coast Guard in Tuas, a group of 10 gathered to wait outside as Mr Chia's body was identified by his family.
They, however, declined to speak to the media.
Mr Chia's family also hurriedly left the scene in a white Mercedes without speaking to the press.
Good friends like Mr Nicholas Tan, 30, who works in a bank, painted Mr Chia as a 'physically gifted and natural athlete'.
Mr Tan, then a muay thai teacher, had taught Mr Chia the sport when he was just 16 years old.
He told The New Paper: 'It was a group class but he was definitely my student with the most potential and he went quite far managing to qualify for the junior national Chinese kickboxing team in 2005.'
Mr Tan and Mr Chia would hang out socially, going clubbing, or just hanging out at the beach.
While Mr Tan eventually gave up teaching muay thai, the two would still occasionally meet up to train at a muay thai gym.
In fact, it was at the opening of a new gym about a month ago that Mr Tan last saw Mr Chia, who was there giving a martial arts demonstration.
Said Mr Tan: 'He looked contented, I would never imagine that would be my last time I would see him, he was a really great guy.
'I didn't know that he was going to be a commercial diver.'
To Mr Fong, the incident was a mishap and had a 'one in 1,000 chance' of happening.
Said Mr Fong: 'Commercial diving is like driving a car, everyone follows the rules and regulations.
'But just like how someone can knock into you, accidents can happen, we have to wait to find out more findings from the autopsy.
