BANTING: S. Puspanathan's elderly parents are still pining for their son and hoping for some closure seven years after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
They are praying for a miracle.
Speaking to the New Straits Times today, the IT expert's father, G. Subramaniam, 67, from Telok Panglima Garang said they have struggled to accept that their son may be dead.
"Not a day goes by that we don't think of our eldest son. Not a day goes by that we don't miss him, especially my wife.
"Every year, even before the anniversary of the plane's disappearance, which is on the Maasi month of the Tamil calender, she will start missing him. She will talk about the things he did in 2014, before the disappearance."
Puspanathan was among 239 passengers on board Flight MH370, which disappeared on March 8, 2014. The flight was carrying passengers from 14 countries.
Subramaniam said he and his wife, A. Amirtham, 67, are still holding on to some hope deep in their hearts to see Puspanathan alive and well.
He said in the past seven years, so much has changed, but as parents they are still unable to accept that he's no longer around.
"Ask any parent. I'm sure they would feel the same because we never had the chance to bid him a proper farewell or see him one last time.
"For us, we still want to believe that he's alive, living somewhere. One day, when the time comes, he will come back," Subramaniam said.
He said Puspanathan's wife and two children aged 10 and seven relocated to Kuala Lumpur a few years ago so that just leaves him and Amirtham here.
"Even after so many years, I can't understand why they have not found the plane.
"Unlike decades ago, today we have so much advancements. We are so far ahead that some countries are conducting space explorations and have high-tech research.
"But why haven't we found more of this aircraft's wreckage anywhere?" he said referring to the puzzling question on their minds.
The retiree raised concerns over the many unsuccessful searches costing billions of ringgit carried out over the past few years to locate MH370.
Subramaniam said he and his wife have little time left as both of them are old and sickly. They want proper closure to their son's disappearance, before they pass on.
"In this age and time, finding the aircraft or the wreckage is not impossible. Especially considering a few parts of the aircraft have already been found and washed ashore in several countries," he said.
Puspanathan would have turned 40 this year.
MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, on an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
In January 2018, under a contract with the Malaysian government, Ocean Infinity undertook a 90-day survey to find the wreckage and this effort was later extended to 138 days.
That search was on a no-find no-fee basis. The same offer is still on the table for Malaysia, which has so far said "no" to a new search for the time being.
This put a halt on any new search efforts. However, the government has assured it will resume the search if there were new and credible leads to pursue.