ALOR STAR: Over the past 10 years, Habibah Ismail, 75, has never missed driving for about two hours in a Honda Jazz car to get to a cemetery in Taiping, Perak, where her daughter, Azrina Yakob, is buried.
Yesterday was no exception. She drove to Taiping, accompanied by a neighbour's daughter, and spent about two hours at the cemetery.
"The car was bought by Azrina not long before the (MH17 plane crash) tragedy.
"I remember how excited she was when she returned home with her family in the car for the first time.
"She insisted on taking me for a ride in her new car, but I said 'no' as I was busy preparing meals for our children and grandchildren at that time.
"I still feel bad that I did not fulfil her wish back then," said the mother of four at her home in Kampung Kelompang here today.
Azrina, a Malaysia Airlines chief air stewardess, was one of the 298 crew members and passengers who died when Flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.
The Boeing 777 jet was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Since the crash, Habibah has been driving the Honda Jazz with a registration number that reflects Azrina's birthday on Feb 3, 1973.
"The car makes me feel that she is here with me. Every day, it reminds me of the day I gave birth to my second child.
"Although she has been gone for a decade, there hasn't been a day where I haven't said prayers for her."
Azrina was the second child of four. She is survived by a husband, a son and a daughter.
The children, now teens, live with her husband in Taiping.
Habibah lives by herself after her husband, Yakob Selamsudin, died two years after Azrina's death.
Her three other children, who live in Sungai Petani and in the Klang Valley, are constantly in touch with Habibah.
"Before the tragedy, (Azrina) had told her siblings about her wish to become a ground crew after serving as a stewardess for 24 years.
"But alas, it was not meant to be," said Habibah, who was composed during the interview.
While the family members have come to terms with the loss, Habibah said their desire to see those responsible for shooting down the plane pay for their crime had never died.
"We will not be at peace for as long as those responsible are not punished.
"I don't understand how the justice system works in other countries, but one thing is for sure, we want justice to prevail no matter how long it takes.
"It is not just for my daughter, but also for the crew members and passengers who died in the despicable crime."
In November 2022, a Dutch court sentenced three men to life imprisonment in absentia for their roles in bringing down the aircraft.
However, the trio — Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko — had refused to take part in the legal proceedings or acknowledge their roles in the incident.
International investigators suspended their work last year, saying there was not enough evidence to prosecute more suspects.