MH370: Families remember missing loved ones on Fathers' Day

SUNGAI BULOH: It has been 100 days since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing, and the occasion was made more even poignant as about 10 family members of passengers and crew aboard the Boeing-777 gathered on Fathers' Day in memory of the patriarchs on board and the families they left behind.

The families - strangers but united in grief and solidarity - penned heart-felt messages to their loved ones on pieces of coloured paper, folded them into paper planes and arranged them to form the words 'MH370' during the event.

Among the group was 34-year-old Intan Maizura Othman, who came with her four-year-old daughter Iman and 28-day-old son Muhammad, to remember her husband Mohamad Hazrin Mohamed Hasnan.

"It's a tiring task that I have to do alone now. Taking care of my two kids, waking up alone and just coping with all this. It has been challenging.

"I'm okay, but now that it has come to 100 days, it's getting more painful and tiring. I've grown restless of just waiting," Intan Maizura told The Star at the Kolej Perkembangan Awal Kanak-kanak on Sunday.

She said that Mohamad Hazrin, one of the cabin crew on the flight, was her partner in everything at home - from caring for the family to household chores.

"It's excruciating missing him," she added.

For Nicolette Gomes, the worst part of not having her father, MH370 in-flight supervisor Patrick Francis Gomes around, was to see how much her three-year-old son, Raphael, misses his grandfather.

"The most painful thing is my son not having his grandpa to play with him. Last time it was badminton and football, but now its nothing.

Raphael, three, grandson of MH370 in-flight supervisor Patrick Francis Gomes, cries as he releases a balloon to mark the 100 days since the airplane's disappearance. With him is his aunt Michelle Gomes. Starpix/AZMAN GHANI

"My son still talks about him at night, sometimes he'll say 'Grandpa's coming back tonight! 10 o'clock!' And then I just get chills and goosebumps. I do hope that comes true though," said Gomes, 27.

The event was organised by Voice370, a next-of-kin association of around 205 families of the MH370 passengers, which aims to 'seek the truth' behind the incident.