KUALA LUMPUR – Family members of Joanna Felicia Rohna, who was killed in the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) helicopter tragedy in Perak yesterday, were shocked upon hearing the tragedy that befell her.
When met by The Borneo Post at Kg Sumpas, Tampek Jalan Batu 11 here last night, her grandparents – Tumbo Usen and Rindung Milo, both 65 – could not control their sadness as they recalled their fondest memory with her.
“We have been taking care of Joanna since she was 3. She was a bright student at SMK Balai Ringi. She was very helpful and hardworking in helping us with the work in the village’s padi fields and the palm oil plantation,” they said.
Rindung, the grandmother, said Joanna was supposed to buy her a new home telephone as the current one was faulty.
“Just recently, before her death, I called and asked if she could help buy me a new telephone.
“Now with her death, I don’t think I’ll ever get to enjoy that,” she lamented.
Tumbo said his granddaughter was a cheerful girl who loved her grandparents very much – so much so that she would sleep with them at night.
“Whether we brought her to the padi fields or the palm oil plantation for work, she never once complained and happily helped us carry the rice paddies with her ‘tambok’ (rattan basket).
“Even when she continued her studies, she would still help us. That was before she was drafted into the navy,” he said, adding that when she was in the navy, she still helped in renovating the ceiling of his house in the village.
Joanna’s uncle, Johny Manyi, also recalled that she would visit her grandparents when she had the opportunity to take her leave.
“She even planned to return (to Sarawak) this coming Gawai after a phone call last week. It is a shock to find out the incident that befell her this morning,” he added.
Joanna’s younger brother, Rodric Rohna, 20, said her body will be brought to her husband’s village at Kg Engkaroh Tebakang here.
He said navy personnel came to the house to pick up his parents, and they were flown to Ipoh at around 3.30pm yesterday afternoon.
He said Joanna was the eldest of the five siblings.
“When I was working at a supermarket in Serian today, suddenly I heard the news about my sister. I was shocked – it was so sudden for me and my three other younger siblings,” he added.
The news of her tragic death has also shocked her cousin and schoolmate, Shafiza Sasah, 24, who has been with her since they were little and when she was studying at SMK Balai Ringin.
“She did not manage to complete her lower Form 6 studies, as at that time, she attended the open interview and was drafted into the navy in 2016,” she added.
Joanna, 24, was among the 10 navy personnel killed in the helicopter tragedy involving two helicopters in Perak yesterday.
She was with six other crew members on board the HOM M503-3 helicopter that crashed during the incident. All of them died.
The other helicopter, a Fennec M502-6, which carried three other personnel, had also crashed and killed the personnel in it.
The two helicopters collided mid-air and crashed over the naval base in Lumut, Perak, while rehearsing the fly-past in conjunction with RMN’s 90th anniversary, scheduled early next month.
The HOM helicopter crashed in the Navy Stadium, while the Fennec crashed near the pool of the Navy Sports Complex.
The bodies of the crash victims were brought to Ipoh Hospital in Perak at about 6pm yesterday for a post-mortem. – April 24, 2024