YOURSAY ‘Curse or not, I will leave that for the spiritualists to decide.’

MH17 not a curse or lesson, but test of resolve

Vijay47: When MH370 happened, almost every comment in Malaysiakini was a lament of pain, the common cry was “One of our planes is missing, I hope our people are safe”.

The whole nation stood solidly behind the crew and passengers of the ill-fated plane, hoping and praying. Yet this anguish, within a few days, turned to barbs and slashes directly against the authorities.

But in MH17, the critical comments came from the very start. Why this turn?

First, MH370 brought out the most contemptible in public leaders; Hishammuddin Hussein, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the head of DCA, the Air Force chief - all of them initially spent their time talking rubbish and smugly strutting about with the notion that they were somehow doing us a favour by deigning to speak to us, basking in what they believed was international admiration over their leadership.

To make it worse, our prime minister went missing and when he finally did appear in public, it was only to display his spineless and clueless side.

Most people would agree that in the MH17 tragedy, the government cannot be held accountable. Despite this, from the word go, much of the views expressed here are merciless towards the government. What went wrong?

Many feel that while we all share the grief of the victims’ families, no charity should be extended to the government for its total lack of accountability as reflected in the MH370 case where nobody was held responsible for the loss, if not the misfortune itself.

Secondly, Malaysian Airlines (MAS). The name itself is a monument to unbridled cronyism with unfettered freedom to do as it pleased.

The mere mention of this miserable company reminds us of Mahathir Mohamad and Tajudin Ramli and how they connived to bring what could have been a great successful entity to its knees.

And far from being answerable for the rot that was the company, Tajudin was actually rewarded with the bones being repurchased at the price he bought the shares.

Yes, we indeed grieve for the passengers and their families, but if the government and any public corporate giant refuses to learn from painful experience, let us not waste our tears on them. Save them for the victims and their loved ones.

Quigonbond: It is precisely because of diversity that we have the potential to tap the best talents for the job regardless of race, religion or gender, so that the right things get done.

The tragedy may have been avoided if we value merits. If anyone thinks this tragedy is wholly the fault of Ukrainian separatists, think again. Various airlines stopped flying that route because of concerns over safety.

MAS appears to have decided that if no one told us it was dangerous, we don't have to exercise our own judgement and can continue taking the risk.

In the end, the tragedy is just symptomatic of a larger Malaysian issue. It is lust for power and profit (and therefore disabusing the electoral process and institutions of governance) that has reduced Malaysia into a land where talent, meticulous planning and execution; and candour are not appreciated and valued - leading to this, and perhaps various other tragedies in the days ahead.

Ferdtan: Writer Ram Anand said MH17 is neither a curse nor a lesson; arguing that the people should not depend on escapism in an effort to justify a tragedy. He added the tragedy is beyond our comprehension or prediction.

That, the strange coincidence of our two planes going down in a matter of four months, my friend, is precisely why most people are looking upwards for answer. A curse or divine intervention?

Sorry, this is not meant to be disrespectful to the victims. Try to put the frequent, yet unexplained, ‘bad luck’ occurrences in your personal perspective and see whether you still hold to the view that there are no higher spiritual forces operating around us.

If you have suffered such personal losses, will you still put it down to escapism? Nah, we are only human - including the writer.

Klangite: Ram Anand, it’s a good effort to reflect on why we are having so many incidents.

Can we also view that we need more capable leaders in politics, institutions, companies and every avenue of life so that we all grow together rather than just focus on race, religion and politics?

When people are led by intuitive leaders and when brainstorming is done at every level of management exercises, only then we can produce excellence which will arm us with more capable teams that will avert disasters.

If prayer and religion is bringing us success, then all people who continuously pray the whole day should be very successful but this does not happen in real life.

Most of these very religious people live in utter poverty and are relegated to a fate of confronting civil wars, dictatorship and try to migrate to less religious countries where when their numbers grow they want to impose their religious values on others.

Something is amiss in the thinking. Does race and religion determine who is good and who is bad?

Drngsc: Whether it is a curse or not, I will leave that for the spiritualists to decide. Resolve we do not have. We are much better at denials, blaming others and throwing up smoke screens, lying and the like.

I certainly hope that after two unprecedented tragedy, MAS will learn the lessons so that there will be no repeat. Weak management decision, poor risk taking, ‘tidak apa’ attitude, playing with peoples' lives, will eventually cost you.

Negarawan: How can Malaysia be blessed by Almighty God, when His holy books are confiscated wrongfully and desecrated, when innocent lives are lost due to lust for money and power, when mothers lose their children due to forceful conversion, when racial and religious hate is propagated in His name, when justice has been severely tainted and denied to the righteous, when keepers of the law do not keep the law themselves, when leaders keep silent on matters of grave concern, when the guilty are not accountable for loss of precious lives, when Satan and his works are adored by the powers-that-be?

I tend to believe - and perhaps many will share the same view - that the unfortunate events and disasters that we have been experiencing in our beloved country for so long are not mere coincidences or bad luck, but rather, are repercussions.

Call it negative karma, or God's retribution, or some religious term. It's up to us to correct our mistakes for a more blessed future.

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