Tag: MH370

Valuable Lessons From MH17

AUGUST 25 — If someone were to ask if there was a silver lining to the MH17 tragedy, it would be that the incident has taught us how to pause for a moment, and appreciate life and those around us.

Although we may have not known those on the plane personally, stories of them which have been shared by their loved ones and friends have enabled us to get to know them a little better.

For instance, take 30-year-old Angeline Premila Rajandaran, who was the youngest cabin crew member on board the plane.

Many of us may not have personally known how much she was loved by her neighbours. They had described her as a kind-hearted soul who would never fail to flash a smile at those around her.

We also learned how much she respected others, regardless of their status in society.

Her neighbour Low Chee Kim said whenever she left their gated community to board the Malaysia Airlines shuttle van, she would never fail to ask if the guards had eaten.

“If she was wearing her sunglasses, she would make sure she removed them before speaking to them,” he said.

We’ve also learned how first officer Ahmad Hakimi Hanapi, 29, would rush home to be with his then eight-month-old son Abderrahman whenever he returned from duty.

His wife, Asmaa Aljuned, said her husband “Kimi” would relieve her from babysitting chores, and would insist that when he was at home, it was he who is in charge of his child’s needs.

“When Kimi was at home, he would always hold on to Abderrahman. He wouldn’t put Abderrahman in a high chair or a stroller but carried him all the time,” she said in an interview with an English daily.

We have also been given an insight into the lives of Shell employee Paul Rajasingam, his lecturer wife Mabel Anthony Samy and their nine-year-old son Mathew Ezeikial who were on board the plane.

Matthew’s former church teacher, Maria Lorena, had related to the media about the close bond shared by the family.

Maria had said Matthew and Mable would always follow Paul whenever he travelled abroad and Mabel would never let Matthew out of her sight following the death of the boy’s twin brother a few years ago.

So deep was her love for little Matthew that she even volunteered as a teacher at Sunday school so she could be with him.

Then we were given an insight into Noor Rahimmah Mohd Nor who was travelling to her hometown in Tambun to celebrate Hari Raya with her family for the first time in 30 years.

The 67-year-old mother of two, had made extensive plans with her sister Noor Aini to travel around Malaysia and to also visit Thailand and Bali.

We also got to know Noor Rahimmah was young at heart when she told Noor Aini through an earlier phone conversation that her younger sister should get down to fencing up their family’s land and build two houses next to each other so they could pass food to each other every day.

Through a timeline of events, we learned those on the plane were served their last meals by crew members who took care of their every need throughout the journey. The crew members and pilot would probably have done everything they could for the passengers throughout the last moments of their lives.

We have come to learn about their lives, their bonds with their loved ones and their good deeds for others, but these are just some details of the lives of those Malaysia has lost.

Many of us had held on to our loved ones a little tighter on the night of July 17. I’ve also heard how certain people had been affected by the incident so much that they have put their jobs on hold to spend more time with their families.

On Friday, Malay Mail editor emeritus Frankie D’Cruz had in our front page asked: “How do you mourn the death of a stranger? How do we say goodbye to someone we’ve never said hello?”

While we have all said our goodbyes to those on MH17 in our own way, it’s time we cherish those around us a little more by saying more than just hello.

Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/opinion/pearl-lee/article/lessons-from-mh17#sthash.JyWDH98N.dpuf

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August 26, 2014
Two British Medical Students Murdered After Pub Quarrel

PETALING JAYA: The identities of the two British medical students stabbed to death by four local men in Kuching have been disclosed in a heartfelt posting on their university’s official Facebook page.

Neil Dalton and Aidan Brunger, were named by Newcastle University acting vice-chancellor Prof Tony Stevenson in the post which added that the students were on six-week work placement in Kuching.

“Neil Dalton and Aidan Brunger, both 22, were on a six week work placement along with five other medical students to put the skills they had learnt during their time here at the university into practice.

This has come as a huge shock to us all and our thoughts are with their families and friends at this very difficult time,” the posting read.

Stevenson added that two staff members from the university were flying out to Kuching and working with the British High Commissioner to provide support to the other students there, and to arrange for their flights home.

The comments section of the Facebook post were filled with messages of condolences.

Dalton and Brunger were found murdered at 4.15am Wednesday with stab wounds on their chest and back after an early morning quarrel with four local men at Abell Road.

A restaurant worker had alerted the police after witnessing the incident.

A quarrel is alleged to have taken place between the victims and suspects while both parties were drinking at a pub. When the students left the pub on foot, the suspects pursued them in a car and one of the suspects attacked victims.

At 6am, police arrested three of the suspects at their homes and seized the car, a knife, mobile phones. They have been remanded for seven days. The fourth suspect was arrested at 4.45pm and will be remanded today.

The main suspect is a 23-year-old fishmonger. One of the suspects is a 29-year-old mechanic while two others are unemployed, aged 19 and 35. Two of them have previous convictions for a drug-related offence and armed robbery.

Dalton and Brunger arrived in Sarawak in June to undergo a six-week placement at a local hospital there. They were due to complete their placement on Thursday and planned to return to Britain later this month.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/08/07/University-discloses-names-of-students/

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August 7, 2014
Malaysian Airlines Plane MH17 Shot Down By BUK Missile, Crashes In Ukraine

Kiev, Ukraine: A Ukrainian official said a passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down on Thursday over a town in the east of the country, and Malaysian Airlines tweeted that it lost contact with one of its flights over Ukrainian airspace.

Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on his Facebook page the plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher. A similar launcher was seen by Associated Press journalists near the eastern Ukrainian town of Snizhne earlier Thursday. The Buk missile system can fire missiles up to an altitude of 22,000 meters (72,000 feet).

Malaysia Airlines said on its Twitter feed that it “has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.”

The Ukrainian interior ministry adviser reportedly said 280 passengers, 15 crew were dead in the crash.

The Boeing passenger liner came down close to town of Shaktarsk in the rebellion-wracked region of Donetsk after disappearing from the radar and teams from the emergency services were trying to reach the scene, an unnamed security source told Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

The region has seen severe fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatist rebels Donetsk People’s Republic in recent days.

On Wednesday evening, a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by an air-to-air missile from a Russian plane, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday, adding to what Kiev says is mounting evidence that Moscow is directly supporting the separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Security Council spokesman Andrei Lysenko said the pilot of the Sukhoi-25 jet hit by the air-to-air missile was forced to bail after his jet was shot down.

Pro-Russia rebels Donetsk People’s Republic and their leader Igor Girkin , meanwhile, claimed responsibility for strikes on Wednesday on two Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 jets. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the second jet was hit by a portable surface-to-air missile, but added the pilot was unscathed and managed to land his plane safely.

Donetsk People’s Republic, Igor Girkin

Through his VK.com account, Russia’s version of Facebook, the self-proclaimed defense minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Igor Girkin — who goes by the nom de guerre Igor Strelkov — boasted about shooting down a plane.

“We did warn you — do not fly in our sky,” he wrote.

Thinking it was a Ukrainian transport plane, Strelkov added that “a plane has just been downed somewhere around Torez, it lays there behind the ‘Progress’ mine,” referring to the mining town of some 80,000 people.

“And here is the video proving another ‘bird’ falling down,” he continued. “The bird went down behind a slagheap, not in a residential district. So no peaceful people were injured,” Strelkov wrote, adding that there is also information about a Ukrainian military plane shot down.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CtdMtrmSTA]

However, Strelkov deleted the post when he found out it was actually a commercial jetliner carrying 295 innocent people — not a military aircraft.

Moscow denies Western charges that is supporting the separatists or sowing unrest in its neighbor. The Russian Defense Ministry couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday about the Ukrainian jet and Russia’s foreign ministry didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

Earlier this week, Ukraine said a military transport plane was shot down Monday by a missile fired from Russian territory.

The rebels are known to possess portable anti-aircraft rocket launchers, but Ukrainian officials say that kind of weapon would have been unable to reach Monday’s plane at the altitude at which it was flying Monday. Aviation experts, however, have questioned whether the stricken transport plane was flying at the altitude Ukrainian officials had claimed.

Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on his Facebook page the plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher.

FlightAware map showing Malaysian Airlines 777 which reportedly has crashed near Russia border.

MH17 malaysian Airlines

FIRST PHOTO: Eyewitness’ alleged photo of debris of #MH17 Malaysian Airlines plane in #Ukraine

Malaysian Airlines flight #MH17 reported to have been shot down by BUK-M1 [aka SA-11] surface-to-air missile system

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July 18, 2014
Malaysian Politicians are Blinded and In Denial

OUTSPOKEN: A very wise old man a long time ago had told the story about a shoal of swordfish that had attacked Singapore. The ruler of the day ordered the people to line up by the shore and asked them to offer their legs for the swordfish to ram through and they could then kill the fish while they were still dangling from their legs.

A young boy, however, told the people that they should instead go and cut banana trees and stick them along the shore so that the fish would poke through these trunks and the people could then easily slaughter them.

The people followed the boy’s advice and were happy that nobody got hurt and there was plenty of fish to eat. The boy’s brilliant idea caused the ruler to be very angry and disturbed. The boy was too clever for his own good and he had him killed. This anecdote has of course entered into Malay folklore under “Singapura dilanngar todak” (Swordfish attack on Singapore).

The narrator had to remain anonymous as during that period of time, stories told must only glorify the ruler. Stories must be told how brave he was and how full of mysticism his character was. No one else must surpass his standing, be it the mind or the might of his power.

Today Umno Baru is suffering from this very same syndrome. No member should be cleverer than the leader. Thus Khairy Jamaluddin, the Oxford educated head of Umno Youth, had to act stupid so as not to offend the leadership. Forthright personalities who could not pretend to be stupid to accommodate the lack of intellectual culture of the leadership would simply be passed by like Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, the former Temerloh MP and a liberal. The party must simply be happy that he lost in the 13th general election.

Today, we witness the result of this cultural trait.

The loss of MH370 had brought out the most bizarre array of contradictions ever displayed by any group supposedly responsible for the investigation into this loss. The Inspector General of Police contradicted the Director General of the Department of Civil Aviation and also that of Malaysia Airlines.

Read more here…

Source: The Ant Daily

April 22, 2014
Anwar Ibrahim Lambasted Singapore for Supporting Malaysia

Photo Credit: smh.com.au

He described Singapore as “sometimes inconsistent” with its own belief, saying that the country had often championed meritocracy but would settle for “mediocrity” in terms of what was taking place in neighbouring countries including Malaysia.

“We the opposition are not totally against the initiative taken by the Malaysian government, but we question the lack of transparency.

“And Singapore should not infer us the opposition as being irresponsible in its criticism.”

Read more here

Source: New Straits Times

April 16, 2014