There hasn’t been a day since the disappearance of Flight MH370 when the befuddled trio of Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, Hishamuddin Hussein and Azharuddin Abdul Rahman have been able to present their findings in a confident and reassuring manner under the watchful eye of the world.
Far too many questions have risen, only to be left unanswered. Information is scarce for the public, as it has been deemed either ‘sensitive’ or ‘under investigation’. Although we cannot deny the extent of secrecy to protect the integrity of our national security and the law - the results just aren’t there to warrant the unconditional acceptance of a ‘cannot ask, cannot tell’ policy.
The patience of families and relatives, who are in desperate need of any single piece of evidence that might lead to the answering of questions regarding their loved ones aboard the MH370 flight, has been wearing thinner as the days go by.
While the Malaysian authorities are “looking into all angles”, the thought of the lives (of those on-board), dwindles with every second and every day that passes. Just recently, the families and relatives of the missing passengers in Beijing have seemingly planned a hunger strike, in a request for honesty, urgency and greater transparency from Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government. Have their anguish truly been heard?
The blind leading the blind
Unrelated pieces of what seemed to be possible debris left behind by MH370 in the assumed-to-be crash site were merely false positives that kept families, relatives and the public on the edge of their seats for an entire week.
Furthermore, the extraordinary search and rescue operations conducted in the South China Sea comprised of Indonesia, Taiwan, the US, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, New Zealand, India and Thailand represented a coalition that would otherwise, be thought impossible to be realised.
As much a spectacle as it had been for a whole week, the Malaysian Air Force chief, Rodzali Daud, would later confirm their suspicions that the missing flight MH370 had indeed, steered off its intended course to Beijing, after denying it. This prompts the hardball question - do MAS, RMAF and Malaysia make informed decisions or are they merely poking around in the dark?
In consequence, the multi-nation search and rescue operation had to be re-coordinated and re-deployed toward the Indian Ocean, at the further cost of precious time. Not only has this revelation truly confounded the families and relatives of the missing passengers, but it has also left the world with more questions regarding the delayed developments of crucial information pertaining to the actual flight path of MH370.
Intervention urged
As valiant it might be for Malaysia to take a leading role in the search and rescue operations for MH370 - we must simply concede to our limits. These limits include the apparent lack of relevant technical expertise, communications, and search and rescue capabilities.
Instead of narrowing down precise areas, the possible destination sites have only been growing larger and larger. In fact, it has just recently been announced that the operation could involve some 2.24 million square nautical miles across the Indian Ocean, consisting of both suspected flight corridors in the north and south.
Other countries need to step in and delegate a lesser, and more supportive role to our RMAF, Malaysia Airlines and Malaysia.
There is no doubt that a country such as the US, comprised of the latest technology can produce far more qualified disaster and recovery efforts. Even China, with more of an urgency to rescue and recover their missing nationals aboard MH370, would exhaust all efforts to ensure significant progress every day.
As baffling an incident as MH370 had been, there is no justification in the fumbling of pertinent and crucial information at the expense of so many lives at stake. Let there be an intervention. There is no shame in admitting what you are not capable of.
