KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 ― MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who was appointed as the new transport minister in a Cabinet reshuffle today, said the crisis of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 will be his primary focus.

Liow said the plane’s disappearance incident was a national tragedy that affected all Malaysians, and as such, needed the utmost attention.

“It is a tragedy that must be attended to immediately and dealt with well and I will certainly give extra focus on this issue,” he told reporters at the party's headquarters here.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced earlier today a Cabinet reshuffle with fresh appointments for ethnic Chinese ministers.

In line with expectations, Liow will be made transport minister, replacing Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who has held the post temporarily since the May 5 federal polls last year.

All eyes will now be on the MCA president as he takes over Hishammuddin's role as Putrajaya's frontman in the crisis.

Beijing-bound Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar on March 8 slightly more than an hour after departing from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Malaysian authorities said radar data indicated that the plane with 239 people on board had diverted from its intended path and headed towards the southern Indian Ocean, the projected location of the Boeing 777.

Putrajaya and Malaysia Airlines have been heavily criticised domestically and abroad for  handling of the disaster, with critics pointing to the government's slow response and lack of coordination in the search and rescue operations.

The plane's disappearance has been touted as civil aviation's greatest mystery.