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MH17: I forgive them, says victim's daughter [NSTTV]

KUALA LUMPUR: Diyana Yazeera Yazli, 24, has found it within her to forgive those who caused the death of her mother, Dora Shahila Kassim.

Dora was chief stewardess of the doomed flight MH17, which on July 17, 2014, was brought down by a Buk missile fired from rebel-controlled territory in Ukraine.

"I hope they will never feel the pain I felt," said Diyana of those responsible for bringing down the plane.

"And I wish that you have time to repent and I forgive all (of you) because I don't think I will be able to carry this hate and vengeance and revenge in me because that's not the way I want to live my life.

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"I want to be able to make my mum proud and I don't think being vengeful or hateful is going do it," she said.

Diyana, who is now doing her master's in the United Kingdom, has one hope in her lifetime: To see an end to war.

"When I was 15, I wondered why adults do this when they are supposed to be leading by example.

"From MH17 alone, 298 lives were lost. What about those who lost their parents, grandparents and children from wars in Iraq or in Palestine?

"Everyone should just stop the war ... calm down, sit down and have dialogues," she said

Diyana said the MH17 tragedy was still vivid in her mind.

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"I believe that it is the result of trauma ... I can remember every single thing from (that day)."

Diyana said she was at assembly in her boarding school that day, when a teacher announced that Malaysia Airlines had been hit by another tragedy, just four months after the disappearance of flight MH370.

"I was at the far end and noticed some teachers onstage pointing at my direction. At that point, I got a little anxious because (my mum) had a flight that day," she said.

Diyana rushed to her class to look for her mother's working schedule, which Dora usually provided, on a monthly basis.

"I checked my bag for the roster, but it was not there as I had left it in the dorm.

"I was shaking ... I couldn't breathe. I was anxious. Then a teacher I bumped into offered her condolences."

She said her worst nightmare came true when her grandmother turned up at school to break the news.

"I remember breaking down, I screamed and cried. I refused to follow her home as I wanted to believe that my mum was going to pick me up that Sunday for buka puasa and Hari Raya shopping," she said, adding that she suffered bouts of depression for years afterwards.

"My grades fell, I lost a lot of weight as I was not eating at that point. I was also self-harming and went to many psychiatrists for help.

"It took me a few years to get back on my feet and actually do something with my life," she said, adding that the turning point for her was when she realised that this was not who her mother had raised her to become.

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Diyana was reunited with her mother on Aug 22, 2014, when Dora's remains, along with those of 20 other Malaysian victims, arrived in Malaysia.

"At the airport, we were supposed to travel in separate cars, but when I saw my mum's hearse, I just rushed to the car and entered it. I was determined to be with my mum then, as that would be the closest I could ever be with her again," she recalled, adding that Dora's words that she lives by every day, was the importance of humility.

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