Jiang Hui remembers her mother waving goodbye to him as she prepared to board a Malaysia Airlines flight, with a bag slung over her shoulder and a promise to come back with souvenirs from the trip.
When flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, 72-year-old retiree Jiang Cuiyun was one of the 239 passengers on the flight.
Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found, and its enduring mystery continues to cause lasting pain to the victims’ loved ones.
“Who would have thought that such an impossible thing would happen to one’s own family?” Jiang Hui, 52, told AFP at his home in Beijing.
For more than a decade, he has been searching for answers along with relatives of other victims in China, who accounted for two-thirds of the passengers.
The Malaysian government recently announced that it will resume the search for the missing plane at the end of December.
A Beijing court this week ordered the airline to pay more than 2.9 million yuan ($411,000) in compensation to the families of some passengers.
But Chiang and other relatives of the victims remain frustrated by the lack of “openness” from the Malaysian government and airlines.
Jiang now runs a social media group where family members share updates on MH370 and support each other.
They asked for information, including the coordinates of new search areas and the types of equipment and vessels being used, he told AFP.
“But so far we have not received any response,” he said.
He added that some families believe the search may be “just for show and will not lead to anything”.
-Years of pain-
Jiang Zemin has launched campaigns around the world calling for the investigation to be resumed in the hope that one day the whereabouts of his mother will be revealed.
In 2017, when the search for the plane was suspended, “I think that was the toughest period,” he said.
His home is filled with memories of the tragedy.
His bookshelf is filled with books about the disaster, as well as a model of a Boeing 777, which he says has helped him understand the structure of the plane his mother was on when she disappeared.
Jiang showed AFP an old T-shirt he had worn at MH370 family gatherings over the past decade, along with a collection of documents including letters to China’s foreign ministry, court records and maps.
“All of these are historical records,” he said, pointing to his archives.
There are currently no ongoing legal cases in Malaysia, which lost 12 crew members among those killed in the disaster.
-“inhuman”-
Beijing’s compensation award this week applies to every family member of the eight passengers who were legally declared dead.
However, the court stated that 23 cases, including Jiang’s case, are still under review because some passengers’ family members have not yet made similar statements.
Jiang said the court statement implied that if he did not do so, he would not receive compensation.
“I feel like I’m being asked to declare my mother dead without any evidence, and that’s very difficult for me to accept,” he said.
“I think it’s very inhumane.”
He remains committed to finding answers.
“Finding the plane, finding the people I love, finding the truth – I believe this is what I have to do in my life,” he told AFP.
He was driven by the bond he had with his mother, an ordinary but strong woman who he said worked hard for her family.
“I imagined that when the children were grown and we traveled together as a family, she would be able to enjoy her retirement,” he said.
“I feel like finding her and exposing the truth is the best way I can show my respect for her right now.”
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