Plane crash an international tragedy

Plane crash an international tragedy

JAKARTA (JP): A former Singaporean model and her American
boyfriend, an Indonesian journalist, a businesswoman returning to
her family, an athlete, and a family traveling home after
visiting a convalescing relative, were among those on the fateful
SilkAir flight.

The stories of those on board is not just an Indonesian
tragedy, but an international one because people from 13
nationalities were on board.

Former top Singaporean model Bonny Hicks, who moved to Jakarta
in 1992, was on the plane with her longtime boyfriend Richard
Dalrymple, better known as Randy, for a long Christmas vacation
which would eventually take them to the United States.

After a successful modeling career, Hicks wrote a candid
autobiography in 1990, Excuse Me, Are You A Model?

She was due to celebrate her 30th birthday on Jan. 5.

Friends of Hicks said she set up a creative agency here and
was living with Dalrymple, an architect, in Simprug, South
Jakarta.

Journalist Elly W. Sundari, 40, was on her way to Japan for a
three-month study on fashion.

Her father, Atang Hidayat, admitted that he had ill-feelings
which he could not shake off before his daughter's departure.

"I felt uneasy for several days before she left because she
was wearing a lot of black dresses. She had also told her mother
to donate her clothes to charity," Atang said yesterday at
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport before boarding a flight to
Palembang.

Elly is survived by her 15-year-old son Jimmy Risyandi.

Disbelief was still in the minds of many who knew her.

"We just ignored it when TVRI first broke the news about the
crash. I then ask one of my friends what plane mbak Elly took,"
said fellow journalist Tambrani, who worked with Elly.

Tambrani said everyone burst into tears when they realized
Elly was on board.

She had worked for Bisnis Indonesia for 11 years, starting out
as a photographer.

Elly's pictures now hang on the wall of the Bisnis Indonesia
editorial office above a mound of flowers.

American Suzan Picariello boarded flight MI-185 on her way
home to her husband, Brian McNelis, and 2-year-old son.

Picariello was head of consumer services and area general
manager for Asia and Southeast Asia at American Express Bank.

Winny Soendaroe, American Express Bank's public affairs and
communication manager, said that Picariello had worked for the
company for 25 years.

Winny said Picariello had previously been posted in Hong Kong
before her current assignment in Singapore.

"Everyone here at Amex knew her. She came to Jakarta almost
every week. She'd arrive Friday morning and return in the
afternoon after a meeting with me and Bill Pardos, one of the
Amex VPs," Winnie told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

"We keep praying that she wasn't on that flight. We haven't
heard any news," Winnie said, but adding that she was booked on
flight MI-185.

Ali Simon, a relative of passenger Tjiu Tjong Tjoan, tried to
remain composed in his grief as he summoned the courage to inform
the 42-year-old's wife about the crash.

Ali said here yesterday he was trying to muster the strength
to notify Tjiu's wife in Bandung, West Java. "We are still
discussing the best possible way to tell her."

Tjiu was an automotive spare parts dealer in Bandung. He was
on a business trip to Singapore.

Singaporean Oey Siok Lian, 47, her husband Koh Peng Yam, 48,
and 14-year-old daughter Xu Chue Fern were traveling back to
Singapore after visiting Oey's brother, Wijanarko, who had just
recovered from an illness.

"Oey and her family usually stay at my house in Tebet for
about a month," said Nina, Oey's sister-in-law.

Oey shortened her visit to a week because her daughter had to
attend a school Christmas celebration.

With no news of survivors as of yesterday afternoon, retired
Singaporean Franky was facing up to the fact that he might have
lost his brother, Taiwanese Wang Li Ming.

"He was acting very normal before he left," Franky told the
Post before departing for Palembang yesterday afternoon.

Franky said he was joking around with his brother on Friday
afternoon.

Franky, who often commutes between Jakarta and Singapore, said
Wang came to Jakarta to visit him because they had not met for a
quite long time.

Another of those on the flight was national shooting athlete
Herman Anggoro.

Herman, 36, was known as the nation's shooter in the top
reaction pistol category.

In Singapore, Karim Rahman, 51, waited for word on his
Malaysian son-in-law Abdul Shukor Abdul Aziz, 35, who was on the
flight for a monthly visit to his wife and four children. Abdul
Aziz worked in Jakarta as an assistant manager at an electronics
firm, AFP reported from Singapore.

"He was supposed to be back last week but had to cancel due to
work commitments. It's so unfortunate because he was to celebrate
his ninth wedding anniversary on the 31st of December," he added.

"I had to break the news to my daughter," Karim told
Singapore's The New Paper, his body shaking with grief.

"Every month, when he comes home, his wife prepares dinner for
him. She did the same thing this time. But she waited and
waited ..."

Another relative waiting for news in Singapore was Amy Teo, a
47-year-old finance manager whose brother-in-law Tan Chin Heng,
50, was on the flight for a weekend visit from his job with a
computer company in Jakarta, AP reported.

"My sister is very distraught and she is imagining all kinds
of scenarios. I am trying to comfort her, that he is still alive,
but she is saying the area is very swampy, what if he is attacked
by crocodiles?" Teo said.

George Joseph was at a party when his wife called to say that
his younger brother Joseph, a father of three, was on the flight.
"The news is just devastating," George Joseph said. "I rushed
immediately to the airport." (10/icn/jun/emb/mds)