MARCH 13, 2014 What a few days we have had! The world now sees what was beneath the tempurung that is Malaysia. All the jaguh kampung have had a rude awakening on the worlds stage. As a Malaysian, I was embarrassed. Why? Lets be brutally frank and look at some issues: 1) Most of the VIPs involved in the various press conferences did not have a presence. Our Defense Minister was grinning when talking down to the media as though he was on some campaign trail. Granted, most were speaking English but they lent little confidence to the audience. Maybe in the Malay dailies they may have been portrayed as heroes of sorts (other than Ultraman). Clearly, a nation with a chip on its shoulder. 2) Conflicting reports - one report says the Iranians came on their own passports and left on the stolen European ones. Today, Hisham says they came and left with the same passports. DCA chief said that 5 passengers missed the flight and the baggage off loaded. Then we are told it was 4 (and that they were replaced by standbys) and no baggage was unloaded. 3) Vietnam is reported to have said twice that the plane turned West and that we never responded to those reports. If we do not have the courtesy to respond, how do we expect them to assist? 4) Our air force says that the plane possibly flew across the peninsula and headed towards the Malacca Straits. Does this mean that foreign intruder aircraft could have done the same and we would not have known? Do our radars work or are they so sophisticated that we are unable to properly use them? Or are they overinflated purchases with obsolete technology? 5) It was telling that MAS sent one Caucasian and one Malaysian Chinese to face the brunt of the hostile Chinese crowd in Beijing. No senior Malays available? 6) As in most political crises that we have faced, the PM has rarely been showing his face. If the plane is found intact and the passengers all alive in some some remote island, I have no doubt that he will use that opportunity to take centre stage to make the announcement. 7) We were treated to the farcial judicial proceedings involving Anwar and Karpal recently. Could they not move with the same haste and urgency in trying to locate the plane? Are our police still preoccupied looking out to prevent Chin Pengs ashes from being brought in? 8) Incompetence and corruption. Say what you like, but beneath the tempurung, our immigration is something. Mongolians can come in without any trace. Iranians and others can leave on stolen passports. The Home Minister says European passport holders ought not to look like Asians (like him for example). If we apply his logic, the burly Sikh in our press conferences must be from India (or Southall ) and the Minister himself could pass off as a migrant from Java. Also tellingly, the Home Minister is not in any press conference. I dread to imagine him answering questions put forward by the BBC, CNN or Reuters. He wont get away with his famous quotes like DONT PLAY FIRE WITH ME. 9) When we have submarines that cannot do what they are supposed to do, radars that do not pick signals, security that dont detect stolen passports we resort to something brilliant - the Raja Bomoh. Wont these confuse Muslims or is it just one word that does. Jakim, Mufti Perak, apa macam? These are but some of the consequences of the policies we have clung on to in the name of wealth redistribution and new economic order. If this episode had happened 40 years ago, we would know that we we would have the best team to tackle the challenge. Unfortunately, the same are more likely to make up the team if this were to happen in Singapore today. Can we reflect on this and admit how badly off tangent this country has gone from where its true potential dictates? You can only talk down to your citizens for a limited time. With your tempurung blown away, all the naked incompetence, haughty talk, plain insecurity go on show to the whole world. Yesterday Dr Mahathir was lamenting that maybe Malaysia may not achieve (his) 2020 vision. Well, you can put that vision on MH370 and lets just wake up lah face the reality! The world & I know inside-out years ago that 2020 will pass without any Hooha!
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 01:12:18 +0000
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