KUCHING: As of today (Mar 8), nine years have passed since the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously went missing but 75-year-old Catherine Tamoh Liom is not giving up hope that her son would one day return home.
“I’m not giving up hope yet… I still believe that my son Andrew Peter Nari and all the other crew and passengers on board the flight will one day be found and safely return home.
“I accept the incident, which saw the flight sudden disappearance from the radar and was nowhere to be located until today, with a steadfast and calm heart, and submit everything to God Almighty,” she said in between sobs when interviewed ahead of the 9th anniversary of the disappearance of MH370 today (Mar 8).
Tamoh, who hails from Sungai Aup in Sibu division, said since the flight went missing on March 8, 2014, there was not a single day that would go by without her thinking about her son.
Peter was a chief steward of the flight and the only Sarawakian among the 12 crew members and 227 passengers on board the Boeing 777.
Most of the passengers were Chinese with the rest, 38 Malaysians and others from Indonesia, Australia, India, France, Iran, Ukraine, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Russia and Taiwan.
The flight went missing from the radar over South China Sea. It had earlier departed Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. The disappearance of the aircraft was described as the worst in aviation history.
The incident triggered an international search effort said to be the largest ever. The search and rescue operation, however, was to no avail and was called off three years later.
Tamoh, who is a widow, said Peter was his eldest child of two boys and two daughters.
Commenting further on the search operation for the missing plane, she said it must be continued by the federal government and other relevant agencies.
“My hope is also that the Sarawak government will show more concern for our family despite one of the missing persons being from Sarawak, of who is my son,” she said.
She said the least the government can do is to show that they really care and to provide some assistance to the family.
Peter was born in Feb 1965, and married to Melanie Antonio. They are blessed with two children Maira Elizabeth and Malcolm.
Meanwhile, Minister of Transport Anthony Loke recently said that the government will give due consideration to the future search operation of the missing plane should there be new and credible information on the potential location of the aircraft’s final resting place.
“As the Transport Minister, I will not summarily close the book on this tragedy,” he said.
On the other hand, Voice370 – an association for families of the passengers and crew on board of MH370, is also appealing to the federal government to resume the search for the missing plane.
“Ocean Infinity, over the last 12 months, has made real progress working with many people to understand what happened, enhancing their knowledge of the event in 2014.
“Ultimately, this has greatly improved their chances of conducting a successful search on a ‘No Cure, No Fee’ basis, which they hope to resume as early as summer of 2023/2024.
“It is our fervent hope that 2023 will lead to a search that marks the beginning of the end of the search for Malaysia’s missing MH370,” it said in a statement.
