Get our act together. Don’t make things worse for VMY 2014
V Shuman, The Ant Daily
The disappearance of MH370 couldn’t have come at a worse time for Malaysia – especially when this is also Visit Malaysia year 2014.
Criticisms against how the Malaysian authorities handle the search for the missing MAS jet have put the nation in a bad light in the outside world. For example, the Chinese did not hide their displeasure at the Malaysian authorities for the flip-flop SAR operation. A total of 153 Chinese passengers were on the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight.
It has come to a level where relatives of the missing Chinese passengers – after throwing water bottles at authorities as a sign of frustration for not getting timely updates – are now demanding to speak directly to Malaysian leaders.
Tensions are sky high and negative reports about the incident are making headlines across the globe.
This does not, however, include the laughing stock we have become, thanks to the flying carpet riding bomohs. The antics of the group of shaman have gone viral worldwide, with various parodies of it being posted on the Internet, including one which features a trio of policemen from the United Kingdom.
Experts in the aviation industry and its related sectors have been quoted by foreign media, bashing the way our authorities are handling the matter “left, right and centre.”
Personally, I think there is nothing much that our authorities can do to “enlighten” the hungry pack of journalists who descend on the daily press conference, as they (the authorities) are also equally clueless about the fate of the flight.
If that is indeed the case, a simple “We are not in the position to reveal any new information for now as we are also working on whatever little lead we have, and we will update you when he have a breakthrough” would suffice. Yes, I am referring to Acting Transport Minister (and Defence Minister) Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
Saying things like “That is classified information, I cannot reveal it to you” are just adding fuel to the fire. The people – distraught relatives, journalists and the general public – want answers and not more diplomatic statements from the government. To us, the authorities are the only source of reliable information and when that fails to come, that is when journalists start looking elsewhere – like talking to sources and industry experts.
On that note, can a single person or two take charge of the press conferences and talk to the press? Right now, it is the typical case of “too many cooks spoil the broth”.
For example, it was just a few days ago that Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was quoted as saying that Bukit Aman had visited the homes of the flight’s crew members to “add value to the investigations”.
