SINGAPORE: When Noraini Ibrahim found out on May 10, which was also Mother’s Day, that her son Shahin Muhrez Abdul Hamid had died atop Mount Dukono, she said it was like a wall had collapsed.
Speaking to Malay-language daily Berita Harian on May 10, Noraini said: “Losing Shahin was like the wall I was leaning on was collapsing.”
Shahin, 27, was the youngest of four siblings and the family’s cheerleader, said the 64-year-old teacher.
He was also a pious child who prioritised his family, she said in a WhatsApp message to the news outlet.
“All his devotion and love is irreplaceable,” she added.
Shahin was one of three hikers – two Singaporeans and one Indonesian – who were reported missing after the active volcano, located on the remote Halmahera island in North Maluku province in eastern Indonesia, erupted on May 8.
The eruption sent hot rocks and ash raining down on the climbers.
The bodies of Shahin and Singaporean Timothy Heng, 30, were recovered three days later next to each other, about 50m from the summit.
The body of the Indonesian victim – a woman – was found earlier, on May 9.
Shahin, who was a technician for energy company ExxonMobil, was expected to return to Singapore on May 10 after hiking the volcano.
He had just gotten married in October 2025.
His wife, Nurina Iffah Jusmani, 27, described his passing as a heavy loss.
“God only lent him to me for six months, but in that short period of time, I gained an incomparable love,” she told Berita Harian in a WhatsApp message on May 10.
“We were supposed to start a new phase in our home in Sengkang, but I accept that God is the best planner.”
She said her husband was a nature lover who had summited Mount Kinabalu in Sabah a few months ago.
He had also climbed three mountains in North Maluku, where Mount Dukono is located.
Following confirmation of his death on May 10, two family members have travelled to Tobelo, North Maluku, to manage his remains, according to Berita Harian.
Shahin and Heng were part of a group of 20 – nine Singaporeans and 11 Indonesians – who climbed the volcano on May 7.
The seven Singaporean hikers who were evacuated are believed to have returned to Singapore on May 10.
When The Straits Times arrived at Changi Airport’s Terminal 3 arrival hall on May 10, airport staff were seen taking six large backpacks off the baggage carousel for Flight SQ963, which had arrived from Jakarta at about 9pm. The bags resembled those the hikers were seen carrying in photos.
From about 9.15pm to 9.30pm, four people emerged from the arrival hall carrying hiking bags and wearing masks.
It is unclear if all seven hikers were on the same flight. The four declined to comment when approached by ST.
On April 17, Indonesia’s volcanology agency had issued an advisory temporarily banning climbs on Mount Dukono because of increased volcanic activity.
The group’s Indonesian mountain guide, Reza Selang, said that neither the local guide nor anyone in the village at the foot of Mount Dukono had told him that the mountain was off limits. - The Straits Times/ANN
