Every Boat Needs a Heartbeat

Hoi Lam was the smallest member of the junior dragon boat team in Hong Kong. When the coach, Mrs Cheung, handed out the jobs, the paddlers got paddles, the steerer got the long oar at the back, and Hoi Lam got… a drum.

“A drum?” she said, disappointed. “But I want to paddle!” “The drummer is the heart of the boat,” said Mrs Cheung. “Watch what happens without one.”

At the first practice, the team paddled without a beat. Some paddles splashed in early, some late. They clacked together, water sprayed everywhere and the long boat with its carved dragon head wobbled across the bay in a zigzag. Everyone ended up soaked and giggling, but they had hardly moved.

Then Hoi Lam sat at the front, facing the paddlers, and began to drum. Boom… boom… boom. Slowly the paddles began to dip together, all at the same moment, like the legs of one giant creature. The boat surged forward so smoothly that Hoi Lam felt the wind lift her hair.

On race day the beach was crowded and noisy. Hoi Lam could barely hear her own drum, so she watched the paddlers’ shoulders and kept her beat steady, even when her arms began to ache. Their boat glided past two others and crossed the finish line in second place.

The team splashed into the shallow water, cheering, and somebody lifted Hoi Lam onto their shoulders. “Still wish you had a paddle?” asked Mrs Cheung. Hoi Lam patted her drum. “No,” she said. “Every boat needs a heartbeat.”

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