MH17: What Malaysians need to do — Tay Tian Yan

JULY 22 — I received a message at near midnight on Thursday: a MAS flight had crashed in eastern Ukraine.

My first reaction: “Oh, the missing MH370 has finally been found. But how could it be found in eastern Ukraine, instead of the southern Indian Ocean or the South China Sea?”

After some verification later, I found out that instead of MH370, it was actually MH17. It was not the flight that flew to Beijing a few months ago, but a flight flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur instead.

The plane might have been shot down by a missile, and all on board were killed.

My heart sank. How could it be? Two deadly and bizarre incidents in aviation history have actually happened to the same airlines in the space of only four months.

No one can explain why it happened to Malaysia Airlines, hitting the country twice.

Aviation experts said that the whereabouts of MH370 and the cause of the incident are still unknown. It’s as if the flight has disappeared from the universe. The probability of occurrence is one out of a few million.

There are similar incidents in which civilian aircraft had been shot down by missiles, but most of them had flown out of route. As for MH17, it took a fixed route at the permitted height but was still shot down. I suppose that the probability of its occurrence should also be one out of a few million.

What about the probability of the occurrence of two tragedies happening to MAS?

I’m not a fatalist and thus, I don’t believe that it is MAS’ doom and Malaysia’s destiny.

I’m not a believer in conspiracy theories either and thus, I don’t believe that it is an international power game that has made Malaysia a victim.

However, I have no answer to it. Perhaps, no one will ever have the answer.

As a citizen of the country, in addition to grieving and blaming, what else can we do?

Some people have chosen to continue assigning blame.

They blame MAS for still taking the route even though it knows that it is flying over a war zone.

They blame the government for being incompetent and not doing well in management, causing a number of disasters.

And they blame the country for being cursed.

It made my heart hurt more. Have they blamed the correct subjects? Would it actually help?

The route taken by MAS had also been taken by many other airlines and flying at an altitude of over 10,000m is permitted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). It was considered as a safe flight zone.

It became a dangerous flight zone only after MH17 was shot down. Unfortunately, MH17 has become a guinea pig.

Is the MH17 incident related to the government’s capability?

It is hard to link the two. Of course, we can criticise the government. But must it be at this time? Over this incident? I doubt it!

As for blaming the country for being cursed, I cannot understand why. Aren’t these people Malaysians? If it is really the case, aren’t they being cursed as well?

If we really want to blame someone, shouldn’t we blame the culprit causing the crash?

Who fired the missile? Who provided the weapon?

If Ukrainian insurgents fired it, if Russia provided the missile, they are then the killers who should be blamed.

Malaysia and the international community should jointly denounce the killers and make sure that they are subject to sanctions and punishment.

Malaysians are feeling sorrow and angry, but it is not the time for mutual accusations, or venting anger through abusive words.

We can only hold each other tightly to mutually comfort and encourage, as well as build confidence and consensus, while giving the country a new impetus.

Tolerance, understanding and friendliness have always been the merits of Malaysians and such spirit have enabled us to overcome difficulties, create harmony and prosperity.

At this very moment, we should cherish the spirit more. Bad luck has no way to knock us down and Malaysia must recover and rise again.

In addition to grieving and blaming, I believe that there is a greater need for us to surge upward. — MySinChew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.