‘Chaotic’ handling of tragedy - MH370 A plane full of passengers has gone missing and the Malaysian authorities continue to struggle to make sense of what really happened. The government is also unable to get a grip on how to deal with the shocking disappearance of MH370. This is clearly seen in the press conferences where Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, director-general of Department of Civil Aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya continue to find themselves in a tight spot trying to tackle ‘real’ questions from the foreign media. The fumbling and contradictions from the Malaysian authorities continue to ‘add fuel to fire’, especially on the issue of two passengers on board the ill-fated flight who were said to be in possession of forged passports. Matters were made worse when Khalid said that travelling on a stolen passport was not an offence under the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the Malaysian Immigration Department. This matter-of-fact remark by Khalid is both scary and alarming. With the ever looming threat of terrorists, Malaysia’s Immigration Department is not the least worried about individuals making their way to Malaysia to board flights using fraud passports. It had to take the disappearance of a jet full of people to reveal the shortcomings and loopholes that must be immediately addressed by the Immigration Department. Apparently the passports had been reported as stolen a year earlier and were registered in the global police organisation Interpol’s online databank. While Interpol insists the duo used their own passports to exit Iran and enter Malaysia on Feb 28 before using the stolen passports to travel on flight MH370 to Beijing on March 8, the Malaysian Immigration Department is claiming both passengers had used the stolen passports to enter Malaysia on Feb 28. What is the real story then? ‘Chaotic’ handling of tragedy Ironically, the same department is amazingly ‘efficient’ in detecting Malaysian activists who are deemed ‘persona non grata’ by its computers as what happened to Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong. In 2007 Kua was barred from setting foot into Sarawak after the Immigration Department desk at the Kuching Airport cited ‘persona non grata’ as the reason for his being denied entry. The poor handling of the missing MH370 tragedy has earned the Malaysian government criticism from the international media and experts who say it has been ‘chaotic’ from day one when the Malaysian military spearheaded operations to locate the jet which seems to have vanished into thin air. The lack of transparency and clarity on what has happened and the scarcity of information from the Malaysian authorities has also angered families of the affected passengers. Six days after the disappearance of MH370, there are more questions than answers. There were reports that the co-pilot, first officer Fariq Abdul Hamid, had breached flight safety when he allowed two foreign female passengers into the plane’s cockpit in 2011 and had later invited them to spend time with him in Malaysia. The allegations were posted by Australian television network Channel 9 News on its website on Tuesday. In an article entitled “Woman remembers cockpit fun with missing pilot” on the network’s website, a young woman claimed she was entertained by the co-pilot in the cockpit for an entire flight, back in 2011. MAS says it is shocked over the allegation. As to how the Malaysian government and the national carrier will tackle this news remains to be seen, given the fact that there are pictures showing the two women passengers posing with Fariq inside the cockpit. Don’t condemn social media Earlier, the Malaysian authorities warned the people not to believe everything reported by the social media regarding the missing MH370 plane. However, when the mainstream media offers little consolation by way of information, does Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak expect Malaysians and the world not to update themselves on the latest concerning the tragedy that has befallen Malaysia? Or does the Malaysian government expect the mourning families and the public to wait for ‘miracles’ from the ‘bomohs’ (shamans)? Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom on Monday said the government welcomed help from ‘bomohs’ to trace the missing plane provided their methods do not contravene Islam. As for the pro-government media, their modus operandi remains the standard ‘ask mundane questions to avoid rocking the boat’. This ‘play safe’ approach by the ‘conventional’ media has left the grieving families livid for they feel the Malaysian government continues to disrespect the emotional and mental anguish they are experiencing. Would the mainstream media have the guts to grill the local authorities over the latest information – that the MH370 flight transponders were switched off? Patience is fast running out among Malaysians and all those affected by the disappearance of the MH370 jet, no thanks to the inconsistencies shown by the Malaysian authorities in their relaying of information. From discrepancies about passengers, off-loaded baggage and the hush-hush about the plane’s last known position, the confusion created by the Malaysian government has caused embarrassment for the country. As of Monday, the DCA was so sure there were five passengers who did not board the flight and had their baggage off-loaded. However, on Tuesday, Khalid made a contradictory remark which was later collaborated by MAS. This despite the fact that the national carrier could have clarified matters pronto when Azharuddin disclosed the matter earlier. Inaccurate information a big problem Then came the revelation that the missing jet could have actually turned back and flown to the Straits of Malacca before disappearing from radar. The breakdown in accurate information prompted the Vietnamese authorities to yesterday freeze temporarily its search and rescue activities for the missing jet. Vietnam’s deputy transport minister Pham Quy Tieu complained that a Malaysian official with whom Vietnam was liaising did not provide sufficient information. How many more blows does it take the Malaysian government to endure when there are hundreds of lives at stake? Twelve nations, including the US and Australia, have mobilised aircraft and ships to locate MH370. Does the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) not owe them an answer as to why it dragged its feet in disclosing this crucial detail, never mind that until then search and rescue was focused in the wrong area? There is clearly a lot of unhappiness on the part of experts wanting to help out but who have not been approached by the Malaysian government. Looks like the Malaysian government is not perturbed that resources are not being deployed to the right place and at the right time. Would the mainstream media dare report such ‘inefficiencies’ shown by the Najib government? Instead of demonising the social media for relaying the inept handling of the entire episode involving the missing jet, it would save the Malaysian government and all those involved in the search and rescue mission a whole lot of time and effort if Najib sees to it that only the truth is told. This is no time for the Malaysian authorities to be domineering, with 239 lives on board the MH370 at stake, time is definitely not on our side. Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 04:37:09 +0000
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