Monday 10 March 2014

Fear, sadness and everything in between.

'twas a fateful day for many Malaysians and other passengers on the flight MH370 heading from KLIA to Beijing, China. As most Malaysians and citizens of other ASEAN countries have already known, the MAS (Malaysian Airlines System) aircraft, the Boeing 777 (I'm not good with aircraft models, I only know the largest passenger aircraft to date is the Airbus A380-A, is it?) was expected to arrive at Beijing at 6.30-ish a.m on the 8th of March, China local time. What happened was, after two hours, the plane has not arrived and as I am writing this post now, no news about there plane or its whereabouts are known. This is not what I am about to pen down in this post. This totally isn't.

What is more terrifying than the flight going missing is how people in the world and particularly, Malaysians, are reacting. The moment the plane went off the radar, many people started to spread news over social media. Facebook, Twitter and whatever-you-name-its. I'm not sure if it's a Malaysian thing, but Malaysians love to sensationalize news without first verifying the source. Sure, it's easier to hit the "Share" button or to just retweet whatever you have seen. The thing here is, has anyone even thought about those who are currently in the limbo, not sure whether their loved ones are safe? Not sure if they are still alive? Not sure if they have enough to fend for their lives if they are alive? All these uncertainties. They can haunt you for days, for months and sometimes, scar you for life. These memories and trauma, stick. They don't go off like how you wash mud off your shoes after a football game. It's not that simple. To share false news is akin to saying "Hey, your relative is alive! GOTCHA!". Would you love to get the same kind of treatment if you were in their shoes? No? Yes? How cruel can one be!

Another observation is how Malaysians start to put the blame on everyone except themselves regarding the incident. No, I wield no power to say who is right and wrong, but to play the blame game when times are rough like this, isn't going to make the situation any better. Can't we all be a little more understanding. I saw people saying things like "Aiyah, that person (the officer-in-charge at the press conference) don't know how to reply. Stupid" and blaming MAS for being so lousy and such. Before you start playing "Mr. and Mrs. Perfect", why not take a look at a different perspective? Sure, put the blame on the officers for not being transparent enough to divulge information, blame the airline company for being lousy, blame the army for not being efficient enough in the search of the plane. Blame. Blame it all. Now put yourself in their shoes. Some of these officers may not be sleeping well for days on end. Some of the caregivers are away from their families for days apart. Needless to say, the army has been away for quite some time on the search for the plane. Cut them some slack! Stop being so judgemental! If you're so free dishing out comments as of now, why don't you play a role in helping to find the plane! Pity these people running around for days on end, and yet you have no sympathy to understand. Can't Malaysians be more encouraging. A little positive vibe won't kill anyone. Why hurt when you can heal? Why?

I'm just so disappointed. I love my country.

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