MH17: Chief Steward apologised to his mother

The Chief Steward on board the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 that crashed in Ukraine, Mohamad Ghafar Abu Bakar had the opportunity to apologise to his mother for not being able to return home this Aidilfitri as he would be on duty.

His mother, Maimon Sarpan, 74, said no one would have thought that the eldest child out of three siblings would not be able to celebrate the joyous day with his family forever.

She said, the last time she saw her son, fondly known as Salem, was last Monday when they broke their fast together at their family home at Kampung Seri Tanjong, Masjid Tanah.

At the time, she was told that Mohamad Ghafar would not be able to celebrate Aidilfitri with the family as he would be one duty in Beijing, China.

“I didn’t know what to say when I heard the news, my heart broke to pieces when I think about him.

“My son had already provided me with some money in preparation for Aidifitri and also for his nieces and nephews because he already knew he wouldn’t be around for Hari Raya,” she said.

She added her son had served as a MAS steward for 25 years as it was his childhood dream to travel the world.

He had also just returned from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Maimon has also appealed to all not to publish pictures of the plane fragments and the victims as it will only add to the suffering faced by family members.

She also described her son as a friendly person who like to joke around but prefers to keep quiet when he is angry.

She said, she found out about the tragedy through her daughter-in-law Normi Abdullah, 54, at around midnight.

“My daughter-in-law called and told me to switch on the TV and watch the news, she said my son’s plane had crashed. I was really shocked but I accept his fate,” she said.

Mohamed Ghafar, 54, was among the 15 crew members and 283 passengers on board Flight MH17 which was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed close to the Ukraine-Russia border.

The flight had department from Amsterdam at 12.15pm (Dutch time) on Thursday and was expected to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 6.10am (Malaysian time) on Friday.