Copyright Notice


Sakmongkol ak 47

Monday, 17 March 2014

United by Grief and Anguish.

I see a touching message purportedly from Sweden going viral on smartphones. The short heart-touching message laments the criticisms heaped on the handling of the missing MH370. That short message quickly gained adherence and adoption by the emotionally overwhelmed.
The author of the message misses the point; the issue here isn’t the need to unite behind the government. We ought to be more united in our grief and concern. Those critical of the government’s handling of the crisis isn’t deficient in their concern for the missing 239 people on board. They are no less anguished and traumatised than those who don’t speak ill of the government’s handling of the situation. Except they have chosen to be vocal about it because they empathised with the anguish and frustrations felt by the families of those missing.
One section of our community chose to be vocal about it. We don’t question the conduct of those who chose to keep a silent vigil for the plane. It’s a question of difference in expressing our anguish. For the Swedish person- please do not take the high moral position to infer those critical of the way the government manages the crisis, are less fervent in their payers and desire to hope the 239 people on board are safe.
We have different ways to express our unity behind the government in this particular instance. And being critical of the government’s handling does not reduce our affections for the missing persons.
Criticisms are directed at the inept way of handling the situation. As to the SAR actual operations, the RCC must be doing or ought to be doing a fantastic job assigning the assets from all over the world to carry operations in their respective spheres of responsibility.
Until this crisis comes to a closure we can only ask why and state the ifs. Why not this? If that has been done, if this was done. For example, what if our military has reacted fast. The plane left at 12.40 am. It was reported missing on radar 2 hours later. The report was revised saying the plane went off radar at 1 something. After the plane was found missing after 1-2 hours, what were the steps taken?
The air force general stated their radar detected a possible turn back. Which radar captured the turn back? The commercial radar at Pengkalan Chepa or the Aerial Surveillance Radar set up by one Zetro Aerospace Corporation. That radar cost us RM72 million and it can’t track the turn back? Was that radar capable of continuous tracking or it lost the plane as quickly as it catered it on its system? Was the radar functional at all?
Then there is the issue of a possible security lax on the TUDM and in particular the air force general. At the time whatever radar captured an intrusion into our space by an unidentified plane, why did TUDM not do anything. Where were our 18 Sukhois, our MIG and all that.
I read a report from the Indian Military saying that, typically if an unidentified plane intrudes into Indian airspace, the response would be an immediate scramble of its fighter jets to intercept. That is how we confirm whether the object is hostile or not- not by waiting for people in the flying object to say- hello general, we are evil people with evil intentions.
Now in Malaysia’s case, the intrusion was taken lightly or in the worst case of possibilities, our fighter jets were not on standby 24/7. That would have important ramifications on our nation’s security.
Now, those concerns are less appreciated by the Swedish author of the sms.


Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 09:18  

Thank you, Dato. You have explained those same feelings on our behalf. Most of us a regular travellers and we know what it means to lose an aeroplane with 239 on board.
As for Military, I would say it is washout and a disgrace. I think the military chaps are all UMNO politicians - with no brains.
So now every enemy aircraft can fly over Malaysia and nothing will happen to then because our military will just watch and wonder what it was.
This country is being led by fools.

Navi 17 March 2014 at 09:28  

Dato, If this Swedish bloke had stopped to think he would have realised that the people are frustrated with the mishandling of the SAR and the setting back of the SAR by more than 8 days. How long do we have to go on praying and hoping when the people in charge are bumbling and creating more and more confusion? If my kin had been on the plane and I had to hear Najib on TV giving his 100% bull...after 8 days of sheer waste, I would have shouted blue murder.

the gaffe guy who know's,  17 March 2014 at 09:55  

Dato,when boys are put into men's shoes and pushed to do the jobs of adults,pure common sense tells us what results to expect.When a major event like the missing jetliner with 239 people aboard went missing,with children carrying these heavy responsibilities,panic and turmoil is bound to happen.That is what is happening now.

And if the airforce is caught napping when UFO's are entering our airspace,and unable to scramble our aircrafts in time because the operators are playing video games,then the next best thing for the gomen to do is to buy two more submarines.At least we know that the submarines cannot swim,dive or sink.

the mean machine,  17 March 2014 at 10:33  

Dato,the fumbling and panic mood by the people in authority with the "I do not know what to do so plese help me" people in charge,all hell broke loose with anything they can bombard to the press and public.

All bad mis-information fed to the countries joining in the SAR operation wasted days of manpower,looking at the wrong locations hundreds of miles off course.

Whether it is bad intentions by the pilot or pilots,hijacking or what not,it is not right to with hold vital information by the gomen.Now there are some reports that the jetliner might be in Parkistan or Iran,that is if it do not crash into the ocean.

One thing for sure if the jetliner were to crashed on land or sea there is bound to be fire ,debris or wreakage.But since there is no evidence of fire,debris or wreakage we have to take it at value that the jetliner did not crash.So it must be some place on land.Iran?

the gugu guy,  17 March 2014 at 10:41  

The US armed forces have the most advanced monitoring radar equipment on this planet.If they cannot locate the missing 747 MAS jetliner,who can?The "VVIP BOMOH"?Maybe.

Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 10:44  

Dato ,

The government owes the rakyat an explanation of why our air force did not deploy its assets when an unidentified blip was detected by the radar. The PM himself confirmed that it was the MH370. They seem to ignore this issue with a hope that it fades away.

It is interesting to note that disaster seem to follow our current stand in minister of transport. I thought this sad situation would have been a perfect platform for him to rectify his bungling ways from the Lahad Datu intrusion. Sadly its an opportunity missed for him.

Oh well ....

Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 10:50  

Sudah lah Sak, jangan cuba nak lari dari kenyataan yang kamu ni tali barut DAP dan akan cuba mengutuk kerajaan walau apa cara sekalipun. Kamu sanggup jual mak bapak asal dapat duit!!

the three amigos,  17 March 2014 at 10:58  

All the mistakes caused by the Ministers and air force chief and now the government is going to play their last card,the blame game on the two poor pilots who are not here to defend themselves.In Malaysia,the accused are guilty until proven innocent.

Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 11:28  

I can't imagine why our Hornets, Fulcrums, Sukhois weren't scrambled for an intercept!
I believe MH370 never entered Thai or Indon airspace. If it had, the Thai and Indon airforce would have intercepted it.
The conclusion to this is that our RMAF radar operators were having a tea break (as usual) or they were just blinking at the blinking dot like blinking idiots not knowing what to make any blinking sense out of it.

Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 12:05  

Is this what happened in Lahad Datu?
That should have been a warning to our armed forces! But apparently it was not.
I understand there are a lot of equipment and machinery that are in cold storage because the "engineers", doctors and other professionals did not know how to operate them.

nick 17 March 2014 at 12:32  

That's the problem with these "ketuanan Melayu" bottle fed people, they completely missed the real issues and instead lock-on to the irrelevant and useless points. Just like the anon 10:50, who could not defend Najib and his "kabinet dapur" mishandling of the incident with facts and figures or even accepted reasoning, he goes for ad hominem against Dato Sak.

The "Swedish guy" too couldn't provide adequate reasoning or explanation to the ineptitude and sheer "clueless" of Malaysian government, so he opted for the "sympathy and patriotic" bait. It could have worked if Najib is exactly like his father in term of leadership quality or maybe even Tun Hussein Onn but Najib is Najib and his handling of the entire episode is nothing less than what can be expected from someone who talks a lot but don't really have a clue about making things happen. So the people have taken him to that a sin? Or treachery?

Patriotism isn't about loyalty to a political party but it is loyalty to the King and country. SO..if the government of the day is doing a huge DISSERVICE" to the nation that would have huge repercussion to the nation's standing and economic well being both internally and internationally, then we the people, HAVE the right to take them to task. After all, we (I'm using WE in a broader term) elected them to be our servant and if the servant aren't doing their job then can't we give them a reprimand or better yet, a kick on the back side? It is our right because it is the people who constitute the nation and not a political party and especially not an elected government.

By the way, does UMNO people understand the meaning of democracy and elected government? I'm asking because it seems that most of them cannot differentiate between the ruling political party and the government of Malaysia! And worse of all, they truly believed that the national coffers belong to the political party that won the election! Are all of them that ignorant? That's a rhetorical question by the way!


Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 12:42  

It was reported in China last week, one of the most widely forwarded messages was a posting that read: "Vietnam keeps discovering. Malaysia Airlines keeps denying. China keeps sending rescue teams."

Today, the meme had taken a new twist.

"Malaysia has been telling a week's worth of lies. Vietnam has fished out a week's worth of rubbish. China has forwarded a week's worth of news," read the latest viral message. – AFP, March 17, 2014.

Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 12:45  

Assalamu'alaikum Dato'

I beg to differ. One word that describes the current situation is 'unprecedented'. It is not only Malaysia but the whole world was taken by surprise. Admittedly we could do without the initial hiccups but I think those in charge are doing pretty well on this very steep learning curve. I am a Pakatan supporter and I am so thankful that the Pakatan leaders are not the ones tested. Meanwhile just concentrate on winning back Kajang and getting a good water deal for the rakyat.

Dato' mentioned about the Swede being on moral high ground. I could say the same thing of you. For me, this is a period for humility, not for scoring points. I am waiting for closure, either way. Once we have that, then it is time to move on. If you ask me, a royal commission on our air defence system is in order.


Emer A.H 17 March 2014 at 13:31  

Brainless people that always trying to act smart resorting on nothing but cocky attitude! Read! Not everything of this country is about politic. Managing conflict is about competency & leadership

Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 13:41  

Dato..this is what we call hukum karma
di mana major air force di hukum kerana kes dakwat kekal. Sekarang boss dia dato general lagi besar kesalahannya di mana tidak membuat tindakan yang sewajarnya untuk scramble bagi " menengok" pesawat yang kat atas kepala tu samada " friend
Or. For " Saya rasa kezaliman terhadap major ni telah di balas secara " cash" oleh Allah...wallah hualam....

Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 14:27  

Askm tok
Mohon dibuat usul pd dewan rakyat untuk memecat jeneral tudm kerana gagal untk menghantar pesawat pemintasan apabila ada subjek yg tidak dikenali masuk ke ruang angkasa negara....
Kalah org nk bom Malaysia maknanya dah lama kita hancur.....

elizabeth 17 March 2014 at 14:40  

After more than 40 years of NEP, meritocracy giving way to mediocrity, people of lesser ability being put in position of power, etc, the fiasco and confusion we see in the past week is not surprising at all. Just think, when you have bosses and chiefs who are of so so calibre, would they put capable people as their second in command? Do they have the confidence that they will not be done in by their second liners? We at the working level, at most times dare not be seen to be too smart, and if we want to be thinking, well, we got to do that 'under cover'. Ideas are being shot down if they dont come from the 'right' people... If this carries on for another 40 years, Malaysia will be back to the stone age!

Unknown 17 March 2014 at 18:20  

"It is not only Malaysia but the whole world was taken by surprise."

is written by someone who claims to be a PR supporter. Be it as it is, the understanding of this person is incomplete.
The misery only came about through half-hearted measures of the Malaysian side, sorry to say. Please, remember, the very first day a Sepang aviation controller had said MH 370 was 'available' until 2:40. Some high-ranking military / marine chap talked about a plane crossing the peninsula towards the Straits of Melacca at that very same time of disappearance. Remember, again, please, all on the very first day! - Both were 'shot down' in the metaphorical sense, and the officials rubbished these statements respectively had them withdrawing those.
As a result, instead of searching the Indian Ocean, 12 countries were scouring the South China Sea!!

So, where was the handling of the Malaysian side anywhere close to proper?? It would have been much simpler to start searching the right area from the very start, instead of losing one week.

And to you, Ariff Sabri: The trouble didn't start with the flying path and the data; it likewise started with a tidak apa on the side of Sepang. The transponder was turned off deliberately just off the coast of Trengganu. Noticeable by Sepang. The pilot wished a 'good night' several minutes later, and then more communication equipment was shut down another 20 minutes later. Heck, that would have been the time for Sepang to raise the yellow card and find out what all this is about!! It is nothing short of 'tak apa', when you comfort yourself with the visual 'ping' of a radar image that the plane is 'still up and flying'. Or is it common practice that pilots make their planes disappear during overnight flights, from all normal communication? Maybe at MAS, but not elsewhere! Elsewhere, someone would raise a cautious alarm and set wheels into motion.

Manang Layu,  17 March 2014 at 21:23  

Lizzy(14:40), this is the reason ex-Chief Judge Hamid has joined PERKASA to better protect the Malays from incompetent public servants who can't be given any label.

Those who work smart are those who work the least but be seen to work when the boss is around. Most times this is OK with the 'wrong' people working 'underground' so as not to be seen as ambitious. When does it become 'not OK'? When those underground workers join company with the smart group above ground and pretend like everyone else what has never happened in the last 20 years will never happen in the next 20.

So if someone can say a blip on the radar screen is not a hostile aircraft just by looking at it, we know our skies are safe.

So, we just keep praying for the safe return of all those in MH370.

Anonymous,  17 March 2014 at 22:02  

Datuk Sak,

It's time for the Malaysian Cabinet to be "re-calibrated".
By this I mean to replace the incompetent Ministers with others of higher calibre.

Phua Kai Lit

Greenbug 18 March 2014 at 01:19  

The journalist at the press conference for MH370 today asked: Is there any hazardous cargo on MH370?

Answer: No but we have 3-4 tonnes of mangosteens on board destined for Beijing...

A simple "NO!" would have suffice but this is the sign of trying to show the world he does his homework but sorry to say it made him look stupid!

Anonymous,  18 March 2014 at 02:27  

TUDM are either sleeping or lazy to do their duties. What a bunch of fools & useless people. A big waste of tax payers money. The chief of TUDM should be fired.

Anonymous,  18 March 2014 at 02:29  

Agree. This person must be having a PHD. (Permanent Head Damage).

Anonymous,  18 March 2014 at 08:03  

22:02, setuju 100% pasal seburuk-buruk UMNO buat sekarang masih ada wira Melayu seperti Nur Jazlan, Saifuddin, dan beberapa orang lagi yang tidak semewah dan seiring dgn mereka yg tak paham apa itu maksud pimpinan adil dan bersih.

Doakan saja mereka semua dalam MH370 pulang ke tanah air.

Anonymous,  18 March 2014 at 08:58  

Extract from Malaysia Insider news report today:

After eleven days and more than 200 hours of searching, investigators are now baffled by the absence of distress calls from mobile phones of those on board missing flight MH370, said The New York Times.

The report said this was in contrast to when hijackers took over four aircraft on September 11, 2001, where passengers and crew members had scrambled to make phone calls to their loved ones, airline managers and the authorities.

Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahaya said that there have been no evidence "of any number they’re (passengers and crew) trying to contact, but anyway they (investigators) are still checking and there are millions of records for them to process".

The absence of communications from the 227 passengers and 12 crew members has sparked a debate among pilots, telecommunications specialists and others, The New York Times reported.

"Most of the people aboard the plane were from Malaysia or China, two countries where mobile phone use is extremely prevalent, especially among affluent citizens who take international flights," it said. – March 18, 2014

Solve this puzzle and the mystery would likely be solved too !!

Anonymous,  18 March 2014 at 09:05  

Extracts of letters from writers to Malaysiakini:

One of the major culprits in this
disaster is the RMAF. The excuse (that the radar blips were revealed only five days later as they needed to verify whether the airborne object was in fact MH370) given by its chief, Rodzali Daud, is not only a very lame one but is just totally unacceptable.

At the time when the blips were displayed (at 0121 hours on March 8) on their radar screens, the disappearance of MH370 was not yet known. When the blips appeared on their radar screens, they should have immediately scrambled their jet fighters to intercept/investigate the airborne object.

They cannot simply assume that it was a non-hostile aircraft.

The blips would not have indicated the nature or the identity of the object. But it is obvious to us that they did not do anything because they did not monitor their radar screens all the time or in real time.

If this had happened in any country with principled senior government officials, they, and the head of its air force, would have already resigned by now.

This one is even more disturbing:

An UFO (unidentified flying object) entered Malaysian space from the east, went across the peninsula and left Malaysian airspace heading northwest.

It means, we might have lost major towns like Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bharu, Gua Musang, George Town, Prai, Sungai Petani and Langkawi.

And it would have managed to fly away without us knowing who or what hit us.

And if the intention was to fly into the Petronas Twin Towers?

Anonymous,  18 March 2014 at 10:02  

09.05 your last few sentences indicated too much of wilderness, an UFO ??? next zooming into P Twin T. Absurd.

ALtPJK,  18 March 2014 at 22:35  

I posted this on another blog but I might as well post it here too.

The whole world (except perhaps the perpetrator/s, if any) is intrigued by this mystery of missing MH370 plane.

That the doomed plane having left no trace of its whereabouts more than 48 hours after its last contact is already tragic enough. Any search taking a period longer than that can only be attributed to difficulties related to extreme conditions like terrain, weather, reach or even capabilities. But this search has been made unnecessarily longer by 4 days thanks to the utter incompetence of the Malaysian defence forces (more so of its big wigs).

It has already being questioned here in this blog and also elsewhere as to how the defence forces of a country can possibly just lay placid to the intrusion into its airspace by an unknown object. Had fighter jets immediately scrambled to intercept the unknown flying object, the whole world would by now be poorer of this gripping story. But no, this mystery (of the plane taking a westward course) within a mystery (missing plane) had to manifest itself in a form of an inadvertent blurt out to the media only to be denied then forced to admit again 4 days later and in the process laying open an embarrassing lapse of duty and hence the damning failure of reporting up the defence hierarchy. So the real search started 4 days late (or at least some resources could have been allocated to the current search area earlier).

What might be the reason/s for such a lapse in the alertness of the Malaysian defence forces?
1) engines missing on the fighter jets (stolen and sold off overseas)?
2) jet fighters aircraft themselves missing or cannot take-off? (just as some submarines might not be able to submerge so some aircraft might not be able to take-off).
3) pilot/s missing (AWOL – it's Friday night)
4) fighter jets not in a maintained condition? (if screwdrivers could have costed almost RM100, jet fuel might costed RM500/gallon?).
5) superiors up the hierarchy not contactable? (too busy with xxxxxx?).

And of course we all remember about a year ago there was a not too dissimilar lapse in the form of some “friends” having a picnic at Lahad Datu.

Really! Truly Can!

Suci Dalam Debu 19 March 2014 at 14:17  

I thought in the early days Vietnam already mentioned that they thought MH370 made a left turn.

Anyway, so much time was lost searching the South China Sea when the info needs corroboration.

Suci Dalam Debu 19 March 2014 at 14:18  

In the early days, Vietnam already indicated that MH370 turned left.

So much precious time was lost SAR in South China Sea.

Anonymous,  19 March 2014 at 20:43  

Would this following scenario be considered far-fetched? That the 2 pilots of MH370 were flying the plane under duress and deliberately flew over our own Malaysian military radars (3 of them?), hoping that this 'intrusion' would be noticed and trusting that our military could scramble fighter planes and guide them to safety? Sad to say, although MH370's flight path was tracked, there was no one from our airforce taking the appropriate action to intercept MH370.

Anonymous,  20 March 2014 at 23:49  

Salam Dato,

Please read my comment before believing 100% a report from 'Indian Military'.

0107 hours - ACARS OK (Malaysian Airspace - Msia control)
0119 hours - ACARS OK (Vietnam Airspace - Vietnam control)
0122 hours - ACARS KO (Vietnam Airspace - Vietnam control)
0240 hours - ACARS KO (MAS was informed by the Vietnam control MH370 is missing)
*Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS)

-Between 0122 and 0240 MH370 appears as a blip on many ASEAN Air Force radar (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore n others). Air Force/Defense radar coverage is very wide because jet fighters travel at supersonic speed. The MiG-29 can travel at speeds of up to 2,400km/h at high altitudes. TUDM's MiG-29 can jet from Perlis to Johor in less than 15 minutes.

-The officers in charge of military radar (RTAF, TNI–AU, TUDM, RSAF etc) determined the commercial plane MH370 as a non threat.
"Most military radar isn't concerned with commercial air traffic on standard routes flying at 30,000+ feet. The skies are full of jetliners. Most just appear as a contact on a tracking scope, watched briefly as they trundle along in a straight line across the sky, and are then ignored. Military people are concerned with threats. Threats typically move in a ballistic trajectory, or a flat fast powered arc, or much closer to the surface. Military radar records might be helpful in figuring out what happened, but unless Flight 370 was behaving like a threat while passing through somebody’s radar envelope, it’s unlikely that anybody would notice or bother to identify it. Also military people charged with defending their airspace don’t like showing people from other countries their radar systems, and for damned GOOD reasons, so it’s going to take some time to get those records. It’s going to be a while before a complete search those recordings can be done" CWO US Navy (R) Jim Wright.

-Nobody informed the respective ASEAN Air Force/Defense to look out for a particular missing plane between 0122 and 0240 that's 1 hour and 18 minutes. Boeing 777 cruise speed is 905km/h

-MH370 turned back from IGARI waypoint to VAMPI waypoint through Segenting Kra in Thailand and never reentered Malaysian airspace. MH370 needs less than 45 minutes to get from IGARI waypoint to VAMPI waypoint.

-The Gov of Malaysia took time before announcing MH370 turned back because analyzing raw data from various ASEAN and other undisclosed country military radar is a tough and time consuming task. Almost 6 days after MH370 lost of contact, London-based satellite firm Inmarsat confirmed on March 14 that "routine, automated signals were registered on the Inmarsat network from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. With corroborating evidence from Inmarsat the Government of Malaysia made the official announcement that MH370 turned back.

flyer168 27 March 2014 at 02:08  

Just to share this...

"2508 times since 2008"

You be the judge.


  © Blogger templates Newspaper III by 2008

Back to TOP