As Malaysia mourns MH17, MH370 kin plead for remembrance too

Families of the crew and passengers on board MH370 hope the government will continue its efforts to search for the missing aircraft. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, August 23, 2014.

As the nation observed a day of mourning yesterday for the 43 Malaysian victims of Flight MH17, the families of those on board Flight MH370 which vanished more than five months ago pleaded with Putrajaya not to forget the 239 people who remain lost without a trace.

In an impassioned plea to the government, Lee Khim Fatt, the husband of Flight MH370 flight stewardess Foong Wai Yueng, said the search for Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 which vanished from radar screens on March 8 should not be halted as they have yet to find closure unlike the families of MH17 that was shot down in Ukraine last month.

“In two weeks, it will be six months since MH370 disappeared. We are grieving along with MH17 families for their loved ones. They at least have closure while ours are still not found.

“The families of the crew and I hope that the government is not shifting its focus on finding MH370 to the hunt for the culprit of the MH17 tragedy,” the father of two told The Malaysian Insider.

Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, killing all 298 people on board including 15 crew members.

Lee said the families of those on board MH370 were not envious of the dignified ceremony held to mark the return of the remains of the Flight MH17 victims as they deserved it.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, together with Cabinet ministers and MPs, had attended a sombre ceremony at Kuala Lumpur International Airport yesterday. A minute's silence was observed nationwide following the arrival of the first batch of remains.

Remains of nine MH17 crew members were among the 20 which arrived home yesterday on a Boeing 747 jet.

Yesterday was declared a national day of mourning and Malaysians donned black attire with the national flag flown at half-mast. Businesses, government agencies and the public were told to refrain from festive activities out of respect for the victims.

"This is another tragedy that has befallen Malaysia. They, like our loved ones, are innocent souls.

“I will observe the minute’s silence along with the nation although I will be involved in training at my workplace,” Lee told The Malaysian Insider prior to the arrival of the special Malaysia Airlines flight bringing the remains of the 20 victims.

Lokman Mustafa, whose sister Suhaili was on board Flight MH370, was among those who wore dark attire and observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for the victims.

“MH17 families have found their ending while we are still waiting for news of ours. It is sad what happened, but at least they know what happened to their loved ones,” he said.

Lokman said his mother and sister were still clinging to hope that one day Suhaili, who was an engineer, would return home.

“After all these months, they are still hopeful. We do not know what happened to the plane.

“We do not know where they are (the passengers and crew), unlike MH17 families who knew from the first day what happened to their loved ones on the flight.

“As for MH370, it took days before we had an idea of what was going on but up till today they (the authorities) have not found the aircraft,” he said.

He hoped the Malaysian government will continue with efforts to find the plane.

Dr Mohd Ghouse Mohd Noor, friend of Flight MH370 pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, echoed the sentiment and said everyone needed closure to move on.

“MH17 families have found their closure but we are still waiting for ours. The search has to continue,” he said.

The disappearance of Flight MH370 over the South China Sea remains one of the biggest aviation mysteries, with no sign of its wreckage despite more than two months of air, sea and deep water search in the southern Indian Ocean.

The search operation was suspended in May pending a study of the ocean floor.

A new phase of the search for Flight MH370 is scheduled to begin next month involving a much larger area of the ocean where the Boeing 777-200ER was believed to have crashed.

Earlier this week, Putrajaya had announced that a delegation of senior government officials would leave for Australia next week to attend a tripartite meeting on Flight MH370.

The delegation will comprise Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin and Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Rahim Bakri.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had given the assurance that Malaysia would continue to be involved in the search.

He had also said that a towed Prosas Side Scan Sonar would be deployed to join the search for Flight MH370.

He had said it would depart in the first week of September for the search site after the bathymetric analysis of the area was completed.

- TMI