Sofuan Ibrahim, 33, received an exciting international posting from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and was on his way to report for duty in Beijing. And now he has been missing for six days.
Kranti Shirsath, 44, was about to fly enroute Beijing to meet up with her husband, Pralhad Shirsath, whom she had been living apart from for the past 17 years due to different career schedules. They are planning to settle down as together as a family in India. And now she has been missing for six days.
Tan Wei Chew (left), 19, had recently graduated from junior college and was going on a holiday with his parents before applying for a university place in the US. And now he and his parents have been missing for six days.
Andrew Nari spends a lot of time away from home as his job as a chief flight steward meant that he travels a lot. He has a family back home with a loving daughter who misses him. And now he has been missing for six days.
Noorida Mohd Hashim, 57, had just retired as a KL City Hall employee and enjoyed a happy farewell party at her office less than 12 hours before heading off to Beijing on a holiday. And now she has been missing for six days.
Datuk Mohamed Ramli Abbas, chairman of Kumpulan Modal Perdana, did not go to Beijing with his wife and two daughters. Norida Mohd Hashim is his sister-in-law. And now he has been missing his family for six days.
These are just a few of those 239 passengers on the ill-fated Boeing 777-200 aircraft which flew from Kuala Lumpur heading to Beijing on the morning of 8 March. It never made it to Beijing. All contact with the aircraft was lost approximately one hour after its departure from KLIA.
With the search and rescue operation for the missing flight MH370 entering its sixth day, so much focus has been given to so many issues, from the inefficiency of the authorities handling the crisis to all kinds of conspiracy theories (including one comedic religious cult led by a Raja Bomoh) to the whereabouts of the plane.
The media around the world are now dominated by satellite images, video footage of official press conferences, of planes flying everywhere, and faces of very important people talking based on very important intellectual knowledge, as everyone debates about the different possibilities of what could have happen.
So much so that it can easily lead to people forgetting the ultimate fact that this incident of the missing plane involves 239 real people with real lives who have real loved ones. And at the end of the day, whatever the outcome of this incident is, be it positive or negative, will mean that it could be someone’s tragedy or miracle.
