What Is The Cost Of Life?

Today is indeed a sad day for China as they bid farewell to 3 sons of China in Hubei province. 3 relatively young first year university students barely 19 years of age, perished in an effort to rescue 2 young boys from drowning.

Fourteen students from Changjiang University in Jingzhou, Hubei province, had assembled for a get-together on one of the banks of the Yangtze on October 24, Saturday morning. In the afternoon, when everyone was returning back, two boys from no where fell into the river as the bank they were walking on gave way. Then 9 students on witnessing the struggling young boys immediately joined hands to form a human chain to reach the 2 boys to pull the two kids from the swift currents.

After one of the boys was pulled to safety with the other was approaching the bank, a strong current swept up and broke the human chain. As the currents were quite strong, all of the students suddenly found themselves struggling as the tide began to rise and the currents getting stronger. Soon, 3 winter swimmers nearby, all in their sixties, came to the students' rescue. During the intense situation, the 3 senior winter swimmers only managed to pull out six of them, but could not save three front students.

It is sad and pitiful as the three Chen Ji Shi, Fang Zao, and He Dong Xun were just barely 19-years-old and had just barely enrolled into the university two months ago.

The news moved the whole of Hubei province to the whole of China, and came to a standstill this morning to send them off their final journey. Not one mother was without a tear, even the harden hearts of men were seen to be weeping as well.

This moving and heart rendering incident moved everyone in Hubei and China netizens as well. Till date, hundreds of thousands of people have posted comments on websites, paying their respects to the deceased, commending the surviving students and the three senior winter swimmers.

On the forums in China, there were some who supported the selfless act of the deceased, but some people have questioned the rationality of the students' action. The hottest question asked was the relative cost of the lives of the saved two young boys to that of three university students'.

In my opinion, the 3 who had perished were not reckless let alone foolish with their lives. I felt that they were commendable from all aspects - starting with their realization of their limitations and lack of rescue aids, the instinctive decision to form a human chain and the selfless act to release their grip in order not to harm the rest of the human chain team when the currents swept by - all justified it.

It is reassuring to know that the present generation still remembers and observes the Chinese tradition of selflessness and true meaning of sacrifice. It is also reassuring to see the people involved understands the moral of "cherishing a precious and fragile life."

So, what is the cost of life? Is there a need to consider the relative cost in an emergency?

Ref: http://www.jznews.com.cn/...