KUALA LUMPUR: For seven Malaysian families, today is the day they will be a step closer to obtaining the closure they have been hoping for in the last 47 days.
But the anguish remains for 11 other families, as they wait for news on the fate of their loved ones who died in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 tragedy.
Despite feeling relieved that he will finally be with his son on the latter’s final journey, Jijar Singh, the father of flight steward Sanjid Singh Sandhu, has been overcome with anxiety since he was told of the news by a MAS representative recently.
“I get more anxious by the second, but I am relieved that the family will finally get closure,” said the 71-year-old yesterday.
Sanjid’s wife, Tan Bee Geok, and his son, Hans Singh Sandhu, 10, had left for Amsterdam, the Netherlands, last Saturday.
They are expected to accompany Sanjid’s urn home.
Jijar said his son’s ashes would be brought to his house in Jalan Klang Lama here for families and friends to pay their last respects, before being flown to Alma in Bukit Mertajam.
The family is planning on scattering Sanjid’s ashes into the sea in Penang tomorrow.
Kevin Fan, the only son of the two Dutch victims who had wanted to be buried in Malaysia, went on Facebook to express his relief that the remains of his parents were en route here.
“Dear friends and families, from tomorrow, I will be in Asia for two weeks! Pap and Mom calls! Finally Home!” he wrote.
The remains of Kevin’s mother, Malaysian-born Dutch citizen Loh Yan Hwa, 54, and his father, Fan Shun Po, 60, will be laid to rest at Loh’s hometown in Penang.
Loh’s mother, Tan Siew Poh, 85, was also on board MH17.
However, her remains have yet to be found.
Besides Sanjid and Loh, the remains of both MH17 pilots will also arrive in Malaysia today, 48 days after the aircraft was shot down in eastern Ukraine.
A friend of Captain Wan Amran Wan Hussin, 50, said the body of the pilot would be buried in Section 21, Shah Alam.
Wan Amran leaves behind a wife, Mariam Yusoff, and two sons, aged 11 and 10.
As they watch the remains of the loved ones of other families being brought back in batches, there are still families who are waiting patiently for the return of the remains of their own loved ones.
In Bintulu, as the wait for news of her husband, Meling Mula, grows longer, Simbut Kedit is getting edgier by the day.
“All I was told was that they were still trying to identify his remains.
“I can’t imagine the condition of my husband’s remains, as I have been hearing this for quite a while now,” said the 39-year-old housewife yesterday.
“Each time I read or watch the news on MH17 in the papers or television, I pray that my husband would be one of those coming home.
“All I can do now is pray that his remains will be in the next batch to be flown home,” said Simbut, as she recalled the day when the family anxiously waited for Meling to return from Amsterdam.
Meling’s aging mother, Simbut added, had also expressed hope of seeing her son for the last time and laying him to rest here.