BY RAZAK AHMAD, MAZWIN NIK ANIS, LEE YEN MUN, NICHOLAS CHENG, ZUHRIN AZAM AHMAD, LOH FOON FONG,CHAN LI LEEN, PATRICK LEE, SARBAN SINGH, WANI MUTHIAH, ZAZALI MUSAM IVAN LOH, BEH YUEN HUI, DESIREE TRESA GASPER, A. RUBAN, MANJIT KAUR, HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM, YU JI, JEANNETTE GOON, LIM CHIA YING,NATASHA JOIBI, NATALIE HENG, T. AVINESHWARAN, TAN YI LIANG, KATHLEEN ANN KILI, DINA MURAD, TASHNY SUKUMARAN, AMANDA YEAP, AND ANN-MARIE KHOR.
Then a hush settled over the crowd as its engines started to power down. It was about 10.15am and as soon as the engines fell silent, 20 white hearses drove onto the tarmac led by a military motorcade.
The hearses – one for each victim – assembled in a neat row in front of the aircraft as pallbearers, formed by members of the Malaysian Armed Forces, stood at the ready.
The plane’s bay door opened and military personnel nearby entered its cavernous interior with the help of a mechanical platform on the tarmac.
After that, the caskets – draped with the Malaysian flag – were brought out in pairs.
As these reached the tarmac below, the smartly dressed pallbearers in white ceremonial uniform carried each casket into the hearses.
Every step they took along the way was with their heads held high and the caskets firmly shouldered.
They showed no concern for the hot sun beating down on them; their intent firmly fixed on giving the victims a dignified homecoming.
Tears flowed freely amongst the family members and others in the crowd by this time, and there were also the sounds of quiet sobbing coming from a few.
As the doors of the 20th hearse shut on the casket within at about 10.55am, it signalled the start of the nationwide one-minute of silence.
Leading the nation in this moment of respect for the victims was Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah.
Also there with the families were Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Cabinet ministers and their deputies, ambassadors, government officials and politicians.
The rest of the gathering comprised MAS pilots, cabin crew and other personnel, with many of the women covering their heads with black scarves.
“Last month, 43 Malaysian lives were taken over eastern Ukraine. We mourn the loss of our people and today we begin to bring them home,” Najib said in a statement issued after the ceremony.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives. Today we stand with you, united as one.”
Tears again flowed when the hearses started making their way to the victims’ final resting places in their hometowns.
Those caskets that had to be ferried to states that were too far to reach in a few hours by road and to Sarawak were taken in the hearses to waiting military helicopters and transport planes.
There were 43 Malaysians on board MH17, including 15 crew members, when it was hit by a surface to air missile.
No one has claimed responsibility for the crime, which happened during the conflict between Ukraine and Russian forces.
Sombre mood at Nirvana Memorial Park
KUALA LUMPUR: It was a solemn affair at the Nirvana Memorial Park in Sungai Besi.
The family of the late MH17 passenger Ng Qing Zheng, 30, wept and clasped their hands in prayer as they watched the casket lowered from the hearse.
Ng’s brother-in-law, who declined to be named, said the family would be bringing his remains to Shah Alam before the funeral rites and cremation tomorrow.
Ng’s body was among the remains of four victims that were carried in a convoy to the park yesterday.
The other victims were Foo Ming Lee and couple Paul Rajasingam Sivagnanam and Mabel Anthony Samy.
Foo’s remains are scheduled to be brought to the Nirvana Memorial Park in Shah Alam for cremation tomorrow.
Nirvana Memorial Centre deputy general manager Teh Khai Lin said there would be a Buddhist ceremony for both Foo and Ng.
The remains of Paul Rajasingam and his wife arrived within minutes of each other.
Their nine-year-old son, Matthew Ezekial Sivagnanam, also perished in the tragedy but his body had yet to be identified.
Their family members, who have hired their own undertakers to handle the remains, are reportedly waiting for the authorities to identify the boy’s body before deciding on the next course of action.
At the Xiao En Centre in Cheras, MH17 passenger Elisabeth Ng Lye Ti’s eldest sister arrived carrying the urn containing her ashes.
Ng, 30, her sister Shi Ing, 33, and the latter’s one-year-old son Lee Jian Han were on Flight MH17.
A Xiao En staff member said Ng’s parents Ng Pae Soon, 67 and his wife Tan Ah Chin, 62 were not present yesterday, but would be at the centre when all the three bodies were there.
In Klang, the ashes of stewardess Angeline Premila Rajandran’s were taken to her home in Bukit Tinggi.
It is learnt that the family will be holding a wake tonight.
In Shah Alam, the family and friends of passenger Karamjit Singh, 54, gathered at the Nirvana Memorial Park.
His wife Harbinder Kaur, 52 fought hard to hold back her tears, as her two sons Amarpal and Melvinderjit Singh held her hands tight.
Karamjit’s childhood friend Kulvinder Singh, 50, said Karamjit was very active in organising national level camps for Sikh youths every year in the past decade and would often call from Nigeria, where he worked, to ask about the preparations of the camps.
Kulvinder said during the camps, Karamjit would be the first one to wake up at 2.30am and prepare tea for the participants.
“At night when everyone slept, he would wash the toilets. That is the side of Karamjit that people did not know,” he said.
Karamjit’s ashes would be scattered in the sea in Port Klang today.
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