Families, friends pay last respects
> Remains of victims to be cremated or buried as early as tomorrow
BATU PAHAT: Family members and friends of the 13 Malaysians killed in a bus crash in Thailand paid their last respects to the dead yesterday before their cremation or burial as early as tomorrow.
The remains of Ong Pek Ming and his wife Chua Ah Kim will be buried at the Jalan Minyak Beku cemetery on Saturday, said Ah Kim’s brother, Ah Chuan.
“The last time we met was on the morning before they left for Chiang Mai. Our family gathered that morning to commemorate the anniversary of our mother’s death,” he told reporters when approached at the Koon Yew funeral parlour in Jalan Fatimah here.
Ah Chuan said he remembered that his sister was so excited to join the five-day, four-night tour, Bernama report.
Ah Kim, 55, and Pek Ming, 61, are survived by two sons and a daughter, who are in their 20s.
Meanwhile, the remains of a retired teacher of SJK (C) Yeong Chang here, Wong Yoke Ying, will be cremated in Pagoh, Muar, tomorrow. Her ashes will be kept at the Banang Memorial Park.
Yoke Ying’s younger brother, Kok Heng, said the death of his sister, the second of seven siblings, was deeply felt, after losing his eldest brother last year.
The death of Ker Ah Hwee, a furniture businessman, was a shock for his two teenage sons.
The boys, aged 17 and 19, often followed their parents on short getaways on weekends, but could not do so this time, said their uncle Ker Kiang Leong.
The remains of traditional Chinese herbal tea trader Lum See Seng, 63, will be cremated tomorrow in Pagoh and his ashes will be kept in a place to be determined later by his family.
See Seng’s daughter, Lum Ker Xin, 23, said she still could not believe that the pictures sent by her father upon arrival in Chiang Mai with the caption “Happy Landing” were the last images of him.
Teo Shih Theng, 28, daughter of Ong Chui Hoe, passed out when she heard about the incident which also claimed the life of her aunt, Ong Chai Hong, while her father, Teo Chien Chor and uncle, Goh Bak Chai, were injured.
The bus carrying the 22 Malaysians crashed at about 11.30am (12.30pm in Malaysia) on Sunday after an accident with a pickup truck while going from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai.
Meanwhile, crane operator Goh Chia Wee, 38, who lost his mother and sister in the bus crash, is grateful for the assistance rendered by the Johor Sultan during their difficult times in Thailand and in Batu Pahat.