Tears of joy as Sabahans return home after two years

KOTA KINABALU: Tears of joy fill the eyes of those at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here as the Air Asia flight AK1794 from Singapore carrying 119 passengers, the first international flight into Sabah after more than two years, landed at 2.30 pm today.

Huziah Siwis, 35, from Telupid, Tongod said she started working as a kitchen helper in Singapore back in 2019 and could only interact with her family especially her parents through online teleconferencing since then.

"I can't still believe it, my hands are still shaking. I cannot go home since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and of course I'm happy to finally being able to set foot in my home state of Sabah.

"I have two weeks off from work that I will use mainly to spend time with my family here. I have my sister and her husband waiting for me and tears of joy started flowing when I saw her here," she told reporters when met at KKIA today.

Malaysia is entering the Transition To Endemic Phase starting April 1 with some concessions being given including the opening of national borders after it was closed for about years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hendry Andus, 28, the youngest of three siblings from Inanam here said his wish to shout out "We are home!" came true today when he finally be able to embrace and hug his family members.

"It's a challenge for people working abroad like us, while other countries maybe better but there is no comparing to our own Sabah and Malaysia. Like they said 'hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri' we still choose our own beloved home," said Hendry who works as a technician in Singapore since 2017.

Jacques Franck, 70, a tourist from France said he was glad to finally be able to enjoy Sabah for his holidays.

"I always love Sabah and had been coming here for years for holidays, of course I was very sad when I was not able to come here, but now I'm planning to go enjoy the beautiful islands and forests here," said the retiree.

Meanwhile, state Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said the Sabah government had been working tirelessly with all parties to keep Sabah on top of tourist and travellers' minds.

"Welcome home to our very own Sabahans, while to tourist and travellers, welcome to our home and do enjoy your stay here," he said.

-- BERNAMA