KLUANG - "My son has been missing for almost two months, but our family has never given up hope on finding him besides continuously praying for Akmal's safety," said Ishak Kamis, 58.
Ishak is the father of Muhammad Akmal Hakimi, 20, who was reported to have not returned home after he went hiking alone in Pulau Mawar, Mersing.
He also said RM50,000 in reward money will be given to anyone who can find and retrieve his son.
"My wife Saniah Bidin, 53, and my eldest son Muhammad Mirza Qusyari, 26, and I are always looking for Akmal, who is the youngest child.
"After the search and rescue operation (SAR) had ended, we still came to Pulau Mawar to look for him.
"I also went with Mirza to Pulau Mawar to look for Akmal, two days before Ramadan," he said when contacted today.
Further, Ishak said several volunteers and an Islamic medical practitioner from Kuala Lumpur also helped search for his son.
"So far, there are no new clues about his disappearance but I still hope Akmal can be found.
"I once dreamed that Akmal was right behind me before he disappeared. Mirza also dreamed about Akmal where he told him not to be sad," he said.
Ishak said the beloved son's disappearance has resulted in celebrating Ramadan in a sad emotional state.
"Akmal had asked his mother to cook 'lemak tempoyak' a few days before he was reported missing.
"Thank you to those who helped search for Akmal until now, especially the villagers near Pulau Mawar," he said.
Akmal is a marine engineering student at Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) in Lumut, Perak who was on semester break before he was reported missing.
He was believed to have gone hiking alone in Pulau Mawar, Mersing on Feb 1.
The police then received a report about the discovery of a motorcycle believed to belong to the victim in an area near Pulau Mawar at about 11.30 am on Feb 3 and launched a SAR at 5pm on the same day.
The SAR operation involved members from the police, the fire and rescue department (JBPM), the JBPM tracker dog unit (K9), the Malaysia Civil Defence Force, Mersing district council, mountain rangers, and residents.
On Feb 9, Mersing district police chief superintendent Abdul Razak Abdullah Sani said the SAR involving various agencies and assets had ended after six days of operation with no clues found even though the search covered land and coastal areas.