KUALA LUMPUR: THIS year’s Syawal would not be easy for the next of kin of the passengers and crew who died in the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash in Ukraine on July 17.
Md Zaki Md Salim, the elder brother of one of the passengers on board the plane, said his family would forgo their routine of visiting relatives during the first day of Raya.
“My brother was usually very excited to be back for Raya. All of us would wait for him and then we would visit our relatives in Pagoh, Johor, together.
“This year, we might just stay at home and wait for the others to come over instead.”
Md Zaki said his brother Md Ali, 30, was a very hardworking man for whom family came first.
“Every time he came back home before Raya, he would be the one who worked untiringly to clean and decorate the house .
“He would also never forget to bring back Raya gifts for us from Amsterdam every year.”
Md Ali, who was a doctorate student in developmental neuropsycho pathology at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands, was returning home on holiday to
Kampung Jayor, Pagoh, when the plane crashed.
For the family of Ariza Ghazalee, 47, who was heading home to Kuching, Sarawak, with her husband and four children for a family reunion, their Raya will be dismal as they are mourning.
“We did not plan anything for this Raya as we are still in mourning,” said Ariza’s eldest sister, Madzalina, 46.
“It is very strange to not have them here this year as they never missed coming home to celebrate Raya,” she said, adding that Ariza and her whole family had their ‘baju raya’ ready.
Ariza and her husband Tambi Jiee, 49, together with their children Mohd Afif, 19, Mohd Afzal, 17, Marsha Azmeena, 15, and Mohd Afruz, 13, were on their way back from Kazakhstan.
Normi Abdullah, 54, wife of Mohd Ghafar Abu Bakar, 54, the in-flight supervisor of MH17, said the family would go to her husband’s kampung in Malacca on the morning of Hari Raya.
“This year our family will be gathering and spending time together, but it will be to mourn the loss of my husband.”
Normi said she understood the delay in getting her husband’s body back as the process was long and complicated.
“I am sad, but praise be to God, I can accept the slight delay.”
Normi and Ghafar had four children but one of them passed away in 2006.
Amir Daud who lost his nephew, MH17 co-pilot Ahmad Hakimi Hanapi, said Hari Raya was now meaningless with his nephew.
“Hakimi was the backbone of the family. Now that he is no longer with us, Hari Raya means nothing,” he said, adding that Hakimi’s mother has been a picture of despair since the day the aircraft was shot down.
“We are sad that we cannot get his body before Hari Raya because we want to finalise everything as soon as we can. It’s been more than a week since he died.”
Diyana Yazeera, 15, the only child of chief stewardess Dora Shahila Kassim yesterday tweeted hopefully “I want you to be back before Raya,” referring to the return of her mother’s body.
In George Town, the uncle of a MAS stewardess on flight MH17 said it would be a bleak Hari Raya following the tragic loss.
Ahmad Redza Abdullah, 61, told the New Sunday Times the family was still grieving and they did not make any preparation for the festival.
“We will not be celebrating Raya this year but will hold a gathering of close family members to offer moral support to her parents and to hold prayers and to decide on the next course of action.”
“What we are hoping for now is that Nur Shazana’s body can be identified, brought home and we can give her the proper send-off.”