Sabah quake: Sonia 'found the stairway to heaven', say parents

Jaidipsinh Jhala, 48, and his wife Karen, 48, lost their daughter, Sonia in the Sabah earthquake. At their home, a table filled with photos, trophies and other items belonging to Sonia was put up in the living room, but the candle will be blown and the items kept a month after the tragic event. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

SINGAPORE: Rising above swirling mists and billowing clouds, Mount Kinabalu is regarded by Sabahans as a sacred place where the spirits of the dead rest on their way up to their creator in the sky. 

For Singaporean Jaidipsinh Jhala and his wife Karen, the mountain in Sabah, east Malaysia, is where their little girl, Sonia, “found the stairway to heaven”, they wrote in her obituary.