Malaysia’s credibility at stake in search for missing flight MH370, says report

The Malaysian Insider
March 26, 2014

Putrajaya’s handling of search efforts for flight MH370 has set the country on a long road to repair its reputation, The Wall Street Journal said, following a slew of criticism over disorganised search efforts besides the conflicting and opaque information released since the aircraft disappeared on March 8.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said that complaints have stung a government seldom used to such global scrutiny, and this week, authorities appeared to seek a new course.

The business daily cited Monday night’s press conference where Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had explained how foreign experts had concluded from new satellite data analysis that the plane had gone down in a remote portion of the southern Indian Ocean.

WSJ said that Najib’s statement was uncharacteristically forthright, and the new information was released unusually fast – and the backlash was just as intense.

A source familiar with the matter told WSJ that Najib had dismissed the Malaysian army’s warnings that the country shouldn’t reveal sensitive military data to speed up the search, and overruled armed forces chief General Zulkefli Zin, who had opposed the release of the data.

“He (Najib) was quite adamant. He said this absolutely had to be done,” the source was quoted as saying.

Mike Smith, a crisis management expert at Australia-based Inside Public Relations Pty Ltd, told WSJ that Malaysia “swung the pendulum back too far the other way”.

“Malaysia needs to find some equilibrium and control, but that’s not going to happen overnight,” he said.

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had said at yesterday’s press conference that Monday’s announcement was because of Putrajaya’s “commitment to openness and respect for the relatives, two principles which have guided us in our investigations”.

He also said that despite new satellite analysis, physical evidence such as debris would be a more acceptable reason for families to come to terms with the claim that flight MH370 had indeed ended up in the Indian Ocean.

“Until we know that, it is very difficult to have closure for the families,” he had said.

Reuters said today that the prolonged and so far fruitless search and investigation have taken a toll, with dozens of distraught relatives of Chinese passengers clashing with police outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing yesterday, accusing Malaysia of “delays and deception”.

The news agency added that Malaysia’s confused initial response to the plane’s disappearance and a perception of poor communications has enraged many relatives of the 153 Chinese passengers and has strained ties between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.

The Economist earlier, in an editorial, also criticised Malaysia’s handling of the search and said the authorities had provided information “in dribs and drabs, much of it confusing, even contradictory”.

The newsweekly said: “Until parts of the plane are examined, how it came to grief will remain unknown. In the meantime, for the grieving relatives, there is little comfort to be taken from the fact that such mysteries should soon be a thing of the past.”

According to WSJ, some experts suggested that Malaysia and its national airline might still be able to recover from the fallout of the search for flight MH370 if it regains control of the information flow.

“But Malaysia is still in a bad place,” Smith, the crisis-management expert, was quoted as saying.

“They’ll be scrutinised no matter what they do.” – March 26, 2014.

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25 Replies to “Malaysia’s credibility at stake in search for missing flight MH370, says report”

  1. When a plane goes missing, time is essence in identifying where it went for search and rescue (SAR), and valuable 4 day and lots of SAR assets had been squandered in wild goose chase over South China Sea by reason of lack of timely disclosure of Military radar’s registration of air turn back. How can we ever absolve ourselves off that lache? Is that piece of information of a passenger airline air turn back registered on military radar a sensitive military data to be withheld on national security grounds? Perhaps – if lache of sleeping on the job and not being on one toes to spot what’s going on in the radar at that point of time and to double check with control tower is a piece of ‘sensitive’ military data regarding our state of vigilance! Anyway even on the national security excuse, one recollects that in 9/11 it was passenger airliners (not fighter jets) that were used as weapons to crash into the World Trade Center!

  2. Malaysian authorities most damning mistakes.

    When thè control tower realized   that contact with mh 370 had been lost for some time why it didnt take appropriate action to activate follow up action and other authorities such as air force to look out for it?

    While thè military radar is able to detect the turn back of mh 370, it should be able to notice its continued course of flying into Indian ocean and not towards and eventually landing at any Malaysian airports. Why didn’t thè military take immediate actions to follow up on thè planes and alert other authorities?

    Had a jet been scrambled to check and the authorities to activate all other resources to track it, the plane could have been tracked and not lost like now and found much earlier and lives could even have been saved.

    Why is it that the authorities did not act on the information from control tower and military that thè MH 370 flew into Indian oceans for so many days? Is there a basis to consider the information on mh 370 flight path  from the military radar and control tower not reliable?

    The govt claimed that it was taking time to verify the information before announcing it. Anyone in the business of governing ought to know what the right and responsible decision needs to be made in such situation when 239 lives are involved. 

    The authorities should make decision that err on the side of over cautiousness and risk losing some face rather that err on the side of losing the 239 lives and not finding them and thè plane. Which is more important here: not losing face vs not losing the 239 lives and the plane?

    1. There was once a documentary aired by RTM. It talked about plane accidents. Communication between the plane and the ground is not straight forward. It is like a relay. The message is relayed to someone on the ground who will relay it onwards to the control. What happened was this person was absent and the message of help never got through.


    2. When thè control tower realized that contact with mh 370 had been lost for some time why it didnt take appropriate action to activate follow up action and other authorities such as air force to look out for it?

      Tidak Apa-apa-lah!!! Easy going…


      While thè military radar is able to detect the turn back of mh 370, it should be able to notice its continued course of flying into Indian ocean and not towards and eventually landing at any Malaysian airports. Why didn’t thè military take immediate actions to follow up on thè planes and alert other authorities?

      The UMNO authorities denied repeatedly at the press conferences, dude!!!!


      Had a jet been scrambled to check and the authorities to activate all other resources to track it, the plane could have been tracked and not lost like now and found much earlier and lives could even have been saved.

      The authorities are busy counting and sucking money…

      The damn things are terribly messy with denies, challenges, skepticism, distortions, manipulations or hiding information and etc-etc….

      Boleh!!!!!!!!!! Itu-lah Boleh!!!!!!!! Tentu-lah Boleh!!!!!!!!!!

      1. because all this while, we have been good people and good people never cause troubles…the culture of being nice and all that…if you are aggressive, people don’t like…if you are lembut, people sit and goyang kaki…

  3. he will be the biggest international joker! let’s see who will buy his joke.
    —-

    Home Minister blames Chinese papers for anger shown by families of MH370 passengers

    With emotions still running high among families of the Chinese passengers of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi pic) has laid the blame on the Chinese print media for “stoking the anger” of the victims’ families, especially those from China.

    “The prime minister and acting transport minister have tried their best to resolve this but, unfortunately, the papers have manipulated this and played up the sentiments until the families, especially those from Beijing, are upset.

    “This is an accident which no one wants to see happen,” Zahid said when winding up the King’s royal address in Parliament tonight.

    However, he did not specify whether he was referring to China media or local Chinese dailies.

  4. Don’t forget that everything having to do with the government is under the OSA!!!
    So, what has been going on is hardly surprising.
    It’s strange for the foreign media to realise only NOW what we have known about for decades!!!

  5. Dis is 1M’sia MAH

    Just like d well known story abt 4 people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody n Nobody.
    Everybody was sure dat Somebody would do an important job. Anybody could hv done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry abt dat, bcos it was Everybody’s job. Everybody tot Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized dat Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up dat Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could hv.

    Go figure out who is Everybody, Somebody, Anybody n Nobody in dis 1DERful land

    1. but you must try to communicate because if you never communicate, of course, all your bodies just don’t know…if you have tried to say something and yet your bodies don’t care, just wash your hands and say you have done your part

  6. Even b4 d END of d BEGINNING of d SAR efforts, our Perkosa-UmnoB kaki oredi singing his own self-praise, a true SELFIE
    “I think history will judge us well”
    He is mighty pleased dat his image was enhanced by dis event
    OMG, what kinda skin does d kris waving kaki hv

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