SINGAPORE: On Monday (July 20), the day that would have been Jenna Chan’s 17th birthday, her parents filed a lawsuit against St Joseph’s Institution International (SJII). Jenna died on a school trip to the Maldives on Nov 8, 2024.
Jennifer Liauw and Alan Chan said that for more than 20 months, they had sought accountability for the mishap that took their daughter’s life.
“We did not want to be here. For over a year and a half, we asked the school to work with us to find out what happened so this can never happen to another child. Every door was closed. This claim is about accountability, and about making sure Jenna is the last,” Dr Liauw was quoted as saying.
The family said in a media release that the lawsuit was “a last resort after every other avenue for accountability failed.”
Jenna had been on a weeklong compulsory school trip that had students participate in activities with the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP), a charity registered in the United Kingdom that had been engaged by the school. She died after she was hit by a propeller of a boat, which had reversed while Jenna and another student were snorkelling near Dhigurah Island in the Alifu Dhaalu Atoll.
Jenna was under the boat when the incident occurred.
Two teachers dived under the boat to help get her out, and other students aided with getting Jenna back on the boat. Reporting from CNA said that the teen grew conscious briefly and said: “Help me.”
She died 15 minutes after she was brought to the Dhigurah Health Centre.
Her parents’ claim seeks an unspecified amount of damages from her death.
It states that the three guides from MWSRP were not onboard the vessel, having left to check on a dolphin. At the time of the mishap, Jenna and another student were in the water. While the guides were also in the water, they were far away and needed to be returned to the boat with the help of another vessel.
The claim states that the students who were under the care of the MWSRP guides were left unattended and were not adequately supervised. Because the guides were far away when the mishap happened, they could not give her the help she needed in time.
Furthermore, after she was hit by the propeller, the claim states that MWSRP and the crew on the boat did not take the reasonable steps necessary to save her life, which included contacting emergency medical services, such as the Maldives Coast Guard or sea ambulance services.
The claim also says that they failed to administer adequate first aid or trauma management as Jenna was brought to the health centre, and highlighted other examples of negligence.
As for SJII, the claim says that it repeatedly assured parents of the students’ safety, that it did not disclose full information after the teen died, and that it refused to allow Dr Liauw and Mr Chan to meet with the teachers who had been with the students on the trip. Moreover, it says that investigation reports have not been shared with their family.
As Jenna had been on a required school trip, she was owed by SJII a duty of care that should not have been delegated to anyone else.
SJII, however, has denied that it owes Jenna any “positive non-delegable duty of care to protect and safeguard her from the risk of harm.”
In July 2025, satisfied with the school’s safety processes, the Education Ministry announced that it would not be investigating SJII. Furthermore, as a privately funded school, it was “outside the mainstream school system and (has) autonomy over (its) operations, policies and governance.”
On July 20, Dr Liauw posted birthday greetings to Jenna on her Facebook page.
“You were only here with us for fifteen years, but in our hearts we still see the years that should have been—the birthdays, the adventures, the friendships, the milestones, and the future that was waiting for you.
You are loved just as deeply today as you have always been, and you always will be.
You should be here.” /TISG
