As people across Taiwan simmer in this summer’s record-setting heat, the allure of a cool dip in the water is more tantalizing than ever. A day of fun at the beach or a river is a fantastic way to make it through the hot months, but the power of nature cannot be taken lightly.
Reports of drownings — especially over the summer — are sadly all too common. On July 9 alone, three lives were lost in separate incidents. One man surnamed Lee (李) was found the next day after he went missing while tracing Chingtan Weir (青潭堰) with two friends in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店). In Taichung, a 16-year-old high-schooler surnamed Hung (洪) drowned while swimming in the Dajia River (大甲溪). At the same time in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳), an eight-year-old lost his life while swimming in the ocean off Cape Tofu (豆腐岬) with his siblings.
Official statistics from the National Fire Agency paint just as grim a picture. Over the past five years, 902 people were involved in water-related incidents on average each year. Of them, 536 — more than half — were fatal, while 341 were rescued and 25 remain missing. Most of the cases, at 44 percent, occurred in rivers or streams, 23 percent happened in the ocean and 9 percent in canals. More than half, or 54.7 percent, happened between June and October.
Faced with these sobering numbers, the government response leaves much to be desired. Besides advice on how to respond to a drowning emergency, officials repeatedly urge the public to avoid dangerous areas, enforced by fines and sporadic patrols.
Asking people to avoid the water will clearly never work. Taiwan is, after all, a grouping of islands, with countless streams flowing from rocky mountainous heights. There are not enough patrols or barriers in the world to keep people from them. Instead, more needs to be done to better equip everyone with the skills and knowledge needed to handle situations when they turn dangerous.
Australia serves as an instructive parallel. Most Australians live near the coast, where a beachgoing culture far more robust than Taiwan’s has emerged. The beaches are full of people on any given day, with swimmers venturing far out into the waves.
Last year, Australia saw 968 water-related incidents for a population about the same size as Taiwan’s, not too far off from Taiwan’s yearly average of 902. The notable difference is that only 30 percent, or 294 cases, were fatal, compared with Taiwan’s 59 percent.
Hand-in-hand with Australia’s beachgoing culture is an insistence on safety. Swimming lessons for primary-school children is compulsory for most of the country, including explicit instructions about how to identify ocean conditions and handle riptides or other dangerous situations.
Yet in Taiwan, despite its abundance of dangerous areas, many young people never learn how to swim. Lessons are not compulsory in most schools, and there is not the same urgency to learn. Many are left with either too much or not enough fear of the water, without the tools or confidence to respond when things go south.
Swimming in natural waterways will always be a dangerous activity, but it is also a joyous part of people’s lives. Instead of restrictions and fear, Taiwanese schools and communities need to offer robust education that teaches people not only how to swim, but how to identify dangerous situations and react when they arise to instill a healthy respect for nature’s power.
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