On April 4, 2012, a boating accident occurred near Xishan in the Tai Lake, Suzhou. On board were several JI students, among whom three passed away and three were injured. The tragedy has shocked the SJTU and the JI community. Friends and strangers have been posting condolences and well wishes on a special section on JI’s website.
In the evening of April 6, a spontaneous memorial service initiated by the SJTU students was held in the East Semi Circle in the Minhang Campus. Some students had called for the service on SJTU’BBS blog and received a huge turnout. At the evening service, hundreds of students braved the chilly spring wind, lined up solemnly, yellow ribbons on their arms, and waited patiently to pay their respect to the victims.
During the service, the mourners were holding up their lit mobile phones towards the night sky, like thousands of stars illuminating the way for the departed to reach their final destination. There were tears and sad words.
Long after the service, many students lingered around the flickering candles and white chrysanthemums. One student, Zhou, from the School of Foreign Language said, “ I wish the deceased to rest in peace and the survivors to be strong. SJTU is a community of love; we watch out for each other.” A student, Bi, from the School of Media and Design, expressed, “In this solemn and heart-felt setting, we mourn the perished and pray for the injured, wishing for their speedy recovery.”
The touching blog of a JI student, Jiang, has been passed around by the netizens: “ From now on, regardless who I will become, an ordinary person or a successful elite, I will cherish every life and no longer being apathic. I don’t expect to conquer the world’s darkness by myself but I will try my best to bring every ray of light. For my classmates who are gone, I could do nothing but mourn, but we will make sure a tragedy like this never happen again.”
A special mourning section was set up on the front page of JI’s web site. More than 5000 people have left their condolences. One person named “Star I know you are here” wrote, “ I know you are not gone. You just left earlier than we. You are not leaving us. You just wait for us a few steps ahead. When we meet, we will have a drink. No matter where you are, we always like you.”