It has been more than four years since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March, 2014.
Among the 239 passengers and crew on board was Wancheng Wen’s son Yongsheng Wen -- A young businessman and father who would’ve turned 34 the week after MH370 vanished. His two children, aged five and 11 years old, are still waiting for their dad’s return -- their grandfather has been telling them for the past four years he's "learning English in America”.
“My son is not dead,” Mr Wen told SBS Mandarin.
“If he’s dead, you’ve got to show me the evidence.”
Even as the latest search for Flight MH370 was called off on Tuesday, Mr Wen said he will not accept this empty result as a conclusion to what has been a long and painful journey. Like most of the friends and families left grappling for answers over the fates of missing loved ones, Mr Wen has only anger and frustration where grief should be.
33-year-old Yongsheng Wen was the father of two small children when he disappeared along with 238 other people aboard MH370. Source: Supplied
Flight MH370 was carrying 152 Chinese nationals, 50 Malaysian nationals, seven Australians and passengers from India, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine and the United States.
Yongsheng Wen was a project manager with the Shandong Province-based company, Hi-Speed Group. He had been on his way home after a business trip to Malaysia when 38 minutes into the flight, MH370 vanished from radar screens.
Data from military radar and satellites suggested the Boeing 777 suddenly turned around and flew south towards the Indian Ocean, before crashing with all those on board.
In the years to follow, the international search for the missing passenger jet has become the largest and most expensive underwater search in history.
Yongsheng Wen's mother, Jinping Li and his five-year-old son. Source: Supplied
On January 17, 2017, the Malaysian government suspended its search after 1,046 days and caused outrage among the relatives of missing victims.
Australia's transport minister defended the suspension of the undersea search, adding that it could resume if "credible new evidence" emerges.
One year later, the private US company Ocean Infinity took over the search on a "no find, no fee" basis and briefly reinvigorated hope. On Wednesday, Malaysia's transport minister Anthony Loke told reporters Ocean Infinity would conclude its search on May 29 and there would be no more extensions.
Malaysian Airlines offered compensation to the affected families with 2,520,000 Chinese Yuan ($522,000 AUD) for each missing passenger. In return, families needed to sign a document to affirm they agreed to close their case and would not to sue Malaysian Airlines in the future.
Relatives of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 wail on the road while waiting for an expected meeting with Malaysian officials in August 2015. Source: AFP
Mr Wen has refused to accept this compensation. Someone must answer to the injustice of his son's death -- even if he won't admit the probability of this to even himself.
“Some people received the money and gave up prosecuting those responsible,” he told SBS Mandarin.
“[But] I will not take the money and they cannot get rid of their responsibility in such a way.”
Mr Wen had previously been the spokesperson for the 300-strong group of relatives that used Chinese social media platforms, Sina Weibo and Wechat to keep the issue in the spotlight. But constant strain had seen the group fall apart and their social media accounts go silent.
"Different families have different ideas," Mr Wen said.
Relatives of missing Chinese passengers aboard MH370 a day after authorities announced the end of search operations for the aircraft in January 2017. Source: AFP
“They have various backgrounds. They [the missing passengers] are businessmen, ordinary tourists, and government officials. They [the affected families] are pursuing different interests,” he said.
The group's official Weibo account for MH370 missing passengers hasn't posted since June 2017.
The search won't go on, so now what?
As the latest search wrapped up Tuesday, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the fate of the ill-fated flight might remain a mystery for some time.
Mr McCormack pointed out the Titanic took 70 years to find, even though they had the co-ordinates of where it sunk. The MH370 flight was four times smaller.
"This is a very deep ocean, this is a large aircraft admittedly, but not that large that it was obviously easily detectable," he told Sky News.
Mr Wen acknowledged life needed to go on, but he wouldn't stop hoping his son might one day return.
“Life still needs to move on," he told SBS Mandarin.
Wancheng Wen was the spokesman for the Chinese relatives of the missing MH370 passenger plane until the group disbanded. Source: AFP
“We have to trust that my son will come back.
"My grandson, granddaughter, and daughter-in-law have to continue their lives. [I] shall not bring depression and pain to them."
But while his five-year-old grandson continues to think his father is still "learning English in America", Mr Wen's 11-year-old granddaughter appears to have discovered the truth. He often hears her praying to the tiny Buddha statue in her bedroom, asking for the Buddha to bring her dad home.
