MH17: Remains of family of three brought back to hometown

Gloomy weather greeted the remains of three family members who were victims in the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 tragedy when they arrived in their hometown of Muar for burial yesterday.

The ashes of lecturer Ng Shi Ing, 33, her one-year-old son Benjamin Lee Jian Han, and her sister Elisabeth Ng Lye Ti, 30, were brought to the Seu Teck Sean Tong Funeral Parlour near here from the Xiao En Bereavement Centre in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur at 10.23am for Buddhist rituals.

Accompanying the remains was Shi Ing's husband, Lt Commander Lee Vee Weng, a Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) officer working in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The sombre occasion at the funeral parlour was attended by more than 200 people, including Shi Ing's father Ng Pae Soon, 67, mother Tan Ah Chin, 62, as well as relatives and friends.

Also present were several RMN representatives led by RMN Headquarters Operations Division's Communications and Corporate Affairs director Captain Chan Peng Cheong.

Tan, who walked with the help of family members and Pae Soon, who was in a wheelchair, could not hide their sadness during the religious ceremony.

Bernama has learnt that after the ceremony, the ashes will be kept at a columbarium behind the Seu Teck Sean Tong Funeral Parlour.

Pae Soon, who is a retired medical assistant, told reporters that he was relieved that the remains of his daughters and grandson have returned home.

"I am happy that all of them are finally home," he said.

Meanwhile, Vee Weng, who looked calm throughout the ceremony, asked that the media respect his wishes not to be interviewed.

However, he was still friendly towards the media in the hope they would understand the family's grievances.

Shi Ing, a lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sabah's Faculty of Psychology and Education where she taught Teaching of English as a Second Language (TESL), had attended a conference at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, to present a working paper before heading home with her son and sister on MH17.

The remains of her sister, Elisabeth Ng, was among the earliest sent back to Malaysia on Aug 22 and was kept at the Xiao En Bereavement Centre, followed by Shi Ing's on Aug 24 and Benjamin Lee's two days later, which were all kept at the same centre before they were sent to Muar yesterday.