One rainy day last year, while I wa

One rainy day last year, while I was returning home from Mersing, a town in the east coast of Malaysia, I witnessed an accident which I shall never forget.

I was returning home in my father’s car. It was raining heavily and the road therefore could not be seen clearly. My father, an old man, was driving slowly to avoid an accident. The journey seemed longer than usual, which made me begin to feel tired.

All of a sudden, a small car ran at great speed, overtaking us. My father was shocked at the recklessness of the driver of the car. We could not count the number of persons in the car, but were sure that there were at least five, including two children. My father at once predicted that tragedy would befall the occupants of the car. After the prediction, I began to grow impatient. I did not wish to see any horrific scene resulting from accident. Although the car had gone quite far away from us, its rear lights could still be seen.

In the distance, there was a narrow bridge. Looking at the way the car was running, I too was now sure that an accident would come.

A lorry was coming from the other side of the bridge. It was already on the bridge. The driver of the small car, however, could not slow down in time. He lost control of the car which skidded and plunged into the river. Somehow, the driver managed to slip out of the car. The others however were doomed. When we arrived at the bridge, we were touched deeply by what we saw. Two children were struggling in the river and we could do nothing to save them. Their mother, as we came to know later, was at the bottom of the river, trapped in the car. They were swept away by the rush of the current and drowned. The driver, father of the children, began to cry piteously because of the death of the wife and children. He had lost them so suddenly.

It was indeed a very touching scene that I shall never forget.