Speaking to defence and security chiefs from eight Asean member nations here, the prime minister said Malaysia’s efforts were buoyed by a stronger sense of security understanding among its regional neighbours.
“Much has been said about this unprecedented incident in aviation history,” Najib said in his opening speech at the Putrajaya Forum 2014 here.
“Malaysia has given its all to find the plane; and in this dark time, we have drawn solace from the assistance granted to us by our friends from all around the world.”
Najib noted that Malaysia, like other nations, placed search efforts above national security, agreeing to share sensitive military data in hopes of locating the missing jetliner.
“We have seen assets from dozens of countries combined and deployed in a truly global effort,” he said.
Najib’s remark today on the still-unsolved MH370 mystery comes at a time when Malaysia faces heavy criticism over its handling of the crisis.
Experts the world over have questioned the country’s ability to handle an aviation disaster of such a scale and magnitude, oftentimes suggesting that the Malaysian authorities had acted too slowly in their response to MH370’s disappearance.
Their criticisms were compounded by the angry accusations lobbed at Putrajaya by the next-of-kin of the Chinese passengers aboard the flight.
Among others, the Chinese families have accused Malaysia of deliberately withholding information to hide their alleged failures, and accused local authorities of “murdering” their loved ones.
Malaysia’s image has drooped under the spotlight with international news media report on the delays, twists and turns from officials, which are further shared and dissected on social media sites.
In his response to the scrutiny, acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein repeatedly reminded the world that Malaysian too had lost loved ones.
Today is the 40th day since the plane carrying 239 passengers vanished on March 8 and remains missing despite the combined might of over a dozen nations.
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