In Reply to: an email from Meho posted by dodolin on Friday, 23. July 2004 at 00:29 Bali Time:
I can't speak for other western countries, but in Australia water safety is drummed into us from a very early age. Children are given free swimming lessons through schools and are taught at least the basics of CPR. There's constant television advertising relating to water safety aimed at both children and adults.
We learn very early on that you can't take any depth of water for granted and that we're all responsible for our own safety as well as that of those around us. We don't expect there to be qualified lifeguards at every swimming pool we go to, because there's so many swimming pools around. Public beaches and public swimming pools have lifeguards but I have never heard of one at a hotel and I'd guess most Aussies would be the same.
I guess it's for that reason that many of us can't understand the situation as it's been described.