Search for MH370 is self searching

         
                  The loss of MH370 still remains a mystery .The recovery of the aircraft has become  a part  of our national life .It is a tragedy that we know very little about as to  how it began and how it is going to end .Many questions remain unanswered .Up to now the exact location of the remains of the disaster is still a continuing  mystery . There  is no ending to the speculation of the entire saga  and these speculations have added more  confusion to the situation .
                  No one knows the exact story of the disappearance of MH370 and the  response to the confusion had been badly managed .As an example ,Plan A was to gather the families of  the affected passengers in KL or Beijing in order that they could be shown, at the earliest opportunity, the remains of their loved ones once they are recovered  .Plan A was a crash programme of sort and was going to be over in a matter of days.Now that the search is still on going after more than three weeks there is no Plan B  in place to redress the problem  .The affected families remain camped in KL or Beijing with nothing to do except to go through the agonising wait for some relevant news.
                             The only thing definite that they had was an announcement by the PM that flight  MH370 had ended in the Indian Ocean . It was a non conclusive statement that did not satisfy anybody ,least of all the families of the passengers. . The PM did not say anything that  could shed light on the fate of the aircraft or the passengers The statement had only added  more anxiety than ever was before. The crucial question of whether the passengers are dead or alive had not been answered. .It was elusive , intended to avoid deeper questions on the causes of the tragedy .The statements like these , although well intended, had caused more harm than good . They raised more suspicions and mistrusts  . Given the circumstances of an ongoing search operations the PM could not say more.
                  The families of the  Chinese  passengers who were already  disillusioned by the slow pace of the search started to voice their frustration by an open defiance of protocol when they stormed into the media room in KL. They carried with them unsightly banners demanding more information from the Malaysian authorities . .To add more fuel the Malaysian embassy in Beijing became a target of protests and demonstrations.
                   If everything possible was being done correctly,what then went wrong ? Why the show of anger ?Why has our credibility and competence put into question ?   The search was being conducted with an  international collaboration ?  why finger point at Malaysia alone ?
                       It is true that the disappearance of MH370 is mysterious but the  fact remains that it was an air accident .Air accidents happen  .The only differences  between one and the other are the causes of the accidents and the damages caused .From that stand point alone therefore the incident of the missing aircraft  MH370 is not that unique after all  .There are past experiences that we  fell back on , and on the expertise of other nations that went through similar tragic events .
                  We have not heard of fatal air accidents that brought  about such show of anger (by families  of affected passengers ) on  national governments that flew the aircraft .We have yet to hear of embassies being stormed at by the families of affected passengers when  air accidents happened .
                    We should be commended for our ability to rope in so many countries round the globe to join in the search at their own cost and to bring with them the use of the latest state of the art technologies in search and rescue operations .
                       If our good deeds are returned with such scorn and malice and  unappreciated the only reason that could be attributed to is our failure in the area of public relations .Our presentation of what had being done has not been properly executed .The media conferences had not been properly managed.The facts had not been properly and professionally presented to all .
                    The search is being conducted by highly technical and professional personnel .But the related media conferences looked like a social media conferences normally held at the conclusion of a company's AGM .
                   The presence of  ministers added stature to the conference but the technical personnel need to be around too to answer technical questions  . Put simply ,the media briefings lacked the benefits of a PR exercise .
                     The aim of a PR exercise is to establish rapport with the clients ,whoever they may be ..The members of the press are not the clients ..The clients are the world outside the conference room .The briefs must be given by those responsible for the technical details .If the details were given by other parties, the information therein becomes suspect and  less credible particularly so if they are uttered by politicians.   .
                  We have shown a high degree of concern for the families of the passengers on board MH370 but in our haste to demonstrate these concerns  there are things that are done prematurely . Take for instance the bringing of the relatives of the passengers to KL and camped them in   hotels away from their homeland .There  are no  definite time frame and no scheduled activities for them. These had added on  to their misery and griefs .It would have been more meaningful if they are allowed to be in their homes and yet remain ready to travel to anywhere required at a moment's notice. As it is now the whole episodes of transporting and feeding them have become a mockery and  counter productive where good intentions now become bad. .
                A display of a good PR is extremely important now that the "clients " are so varied and all over the globe .It is not an easy task and it requires  the professional advice and hard thinking inputs .
                 An engagement of renowned PR consultants could have saved us from the brickbats that had been thrown at us .
               As it is now,because we bungled in our PR exercise, despite the mountains of sacrifices that had been made, the safety of our nationals abroad has now become a talking point . What a pity !

A note on Balingian

       It is never easy to predict the  exact results of any election . It is not always the question of who wins or lose .   Winning can mean different things to different people .Losing the election with a smaller majority than the previous one can sometimes mean a victory worthy of a celebration .
Therefore it is amusing that on the announcement of an election result it is the losing candidate that jumps to celebrate because he has reduced the winning majority of the winner . .
        In Balingian the PKR is the underdog and hope to do just that. Their mission is to reduce the majority of the BN .When that happens they will tobe able demonstrate that support for the BN is declining and the PKR be is gaining more foothold not just in Balingian but in the state of Sarawak .
         With the help of political leaders from Semenanjong ,which were never there before ,the guess is that this will happen come 29 March .I believe the BN camp is looking at this possibility with a lot of scary fear  for many reasons  ,among which is the fact that Balingian is the former constituency of Taib the political icon of Sarawak for more than three decades .For this reason alone the BN will spare no effort whatsoever to prevent this from happening .With the banning of top PKR leaders from entering Sarawak the playing field is no longer level ,what more with the traditional vote buying which is the inherent part of Sarawak's political culture .
          But the growing awareness of the  voters to the rights and wrongs of the political leaders from the BN ,voting in Balingian can be an unexpected shock come 29/3 .

All about Taib

Its more  than two years since my last posting .Its a shame when there is so much that could have been written over the last two years  Indeed those were the times when our national history was in the making .Over the same period we also went through the 13th GE where we saw for the first time in our history the emergence of a new power source in the form of a united opposition .Anwar Ibrahim will go down in history as a controversial politician respected by all , a man feared by his opponents and loved by his supporters for being able to do the impossible .In the 70s and 80s who ever could think that PAS and DAP ,two distinct contrasting ideologies could come together to wage war against a common enemy .Anwar has built the foundation of a multiracial political platform that is acceptable and workable within the confines of the social and cultural diversity that exists in unique Malaysia . What Anwar did and is currently doing in the Malaysia political arena will continue to astound all .
                         In my latest post on Sarawak I said that Taib Mahmood will not find it easy to hand over the reign of his office when the time comes for him to do so .I said then that Sarawak since  the day it joined Malaysia in 1963 had always been a land of the "theatrics ". It is a land that is unreal where what you see are not what they actually are . I said that democracy in Sarawak is a freak because the majority does not rule . I said it is only a matter of time that the majority that is the Ibans and their brother natives will take over the task of governing the state . And when that happens it will not be without turbulence  I see that  things are happening right now . Taib's successor singlehandedly chosen by Taib himself is already in a disputed position where the rhetoric's of democracy does not seem to apply . Being a Melanau he does not represent the majority of the PBB party where the native Ibans and others form the main bulk of the two party coalition that has ruled Sarawak for the last three decades .He is not the most senior member of the Bumiputera party either . .One cannot find the rationale for his appointment except that he is a puppet of Taib who want his influence to continue in Sarawak .Already ,there are heated questions asked for the reasons that Alfred Jabu the Dy Chief Minister not being appointed or for that matter why someone deserving from  Pesaka not being considered .It is more than logical that a member of Pesaka be given its due turn now .For  Taib   ,Adenan's appointment as the chief minister is all about saving and protecting himself from his thirty years of wrong doings .