Sometimes 3 yuan (36 US cents) is enough to make the difference between life and death.

For example, a middle school student in a rural county in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality died after she was swept away by a flood as she made her way home from school earlier this month.

She was walking in order to save her bus fare which, over the 20-odd kilometres she needed to go, would have only been 3 yuan.

The 14-year-old girl, Beijing Youth Daily reported, never took the bus to go home, regardless of the weather, because she wanted to save the money for her impoverished family of four.

Her father, who is a labourer, is the only bread-winner in the family as her mother is paralyzed and bedridden.

It is no surprise that such a small amount as 3 yuan was a significant amount for the dead girl, given that she and her younger sister, who is also a middle school student, only have a 10 yuan (US$1.20) weekly allowance, according to media reports.

It is heartbreaking to read such news.

The impoverished state of her family is not unique as there are many more families in abject poverty in China's vast rural areas, despite the fact that the government has made tremendous efforts to improve their living conditions, reducing the number of people in abject poverty.

But it is hard not to be deeply touched, and troubled, by the loss of such a young life.

Three yuan, an amount that could not even buy a hamburger, may seem trivial to relatively affluent urban youngsters of the same age.

But for that Chongqing girl it meant one or two hours of her father's time, or one or two pills for her sick mother. It also meant one or two new pencils for herself and her sister.

Every 3 yuan saved by walking home showed her profound consideration towards her family.

The loss of such a considerate girl really is painful.

Someone may hold that this girl's death is mainly the outcome of an unfortunate episode -- the flooding that killed her.

Had there been no flooding that day, they say, the girl would have not been killed.

Yes. Maybe they are right. But other possible triggers also warrant close scrutiny.

Poverty is undeniably a factor in the tragedy, as that girl's decision to walk home was a choice made out of the necessity to help alleviate her poor family's burdens.

It can be assumed that had her family not been suffering from extreme poverty, she would probably have not chosen to walk that mountainous road.

There are no lack of policies to help poor students and families, and there is also no lack of help from society at large. But sometimes all this assistance may come too late, as in this case.

The local government and the area's communities, according to media reports, have extended their help to the family.

The girl's middle school has decided to waive the tuition and other fees for her sister. Furthermore, her sister will get an allowance.

There is, however, one question we must ask.

If such help had been extended to the family long before, would that tragedy still have happened?

And we cannot help but ask: Are there similar cases waiting to happen in other places?

If the answer to the last question is yes, we hope we have learnt something from this tragedy, a tragedy that we do not want to be ever repeated.

(China Daily June 20, 2005)