MAS 'very responsive' to MH370 probe

It is now Day 26 in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, and yet there is still no sign of the aircraft apart from strong yet vague clues provided by an analysis of satellite communications.

The Australian vessel ADV Ocean Shield has left Perth for the search area on Monday, carrying with it two pieces of equipment that are vital to the search effort.

This includes a US Navy towed pinger locator that can detect signals from the aircraft's black box from 1.5kilometres away.

However, aircraft black box pingers that emit this sound signal are only certified to last some 30 days before its batteries run out, meaning that there is about four days left before the search becomes considerably more difficult.

It remains to be seen if Ocean Shield can make it in time, although acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussien has repeatedly pledged to continue the search even after the pinger expires.

Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:

Skali tries lays down the facts, sort of

 

11pm - E-business firm Skali Group has come up with a one-stop website - www.thefactsmh370.com - for news regarding the search for MH370.

 

According to the company's CEO Tengku Farith Rithauddeen, the website contains for segments: "facts, being verified, false and the unusual".

 

"From facts news based on the information issued by the authorised, being verified refers to news that are credible but yet to be confirmed by the authorities.

 

"Another two segments are false news basically those not released or made up by others while the unusual refers to interesting facts or side stories pertaining to the aircraft," he says, according to Bernama.

 

At the time of writing, www.thefactsmh370.com is, in fact, unaccessible.

 

Khazanah offers help

9.03pm: Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the major share holder in Malaysia Airlines (MAS), have always cooperated with the government to do all it can to assist in the case of the missing MAS flight MH370, Bernama reports.

Khazanah Nasional managing director Azman Mokhtar says the government-linked company would do everything possible in its capacity to assist.

"From the day the flight went missing, we have been working closely with government and MAS. In the event of a tragedy like this, everybody need to work together and move forward.

"If there are weaknesses we must be brave enough to face and rectify them. We must take such experiences as a lesson. I certainly do," he is quoted as saying.

Comprehensive caring programme

8.12pm: A more comprehensive caring programme for the families and relatives of passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 needs to be formulated, says Chew Mei Fun.

Chew, who has been appointed as a special officer to represent Malaysia in China to meet with family members of MH370 passengers, sys the comprehensive caring programme was to ensure that the families were taken care of.

In her statement today, she says this was the outcome of the meetings she had recently with several parties including the Chinese authorities and the Family Members Committee (FMC) in China.

Families in recovery phase

8.03pm: The Malaysian Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT) is now focusing on the fourth counseling phase for families of passengers and crew of flight MH370, reports Bernama.

Its deputy chairperson Dr Abdul Jalil Hassan says the team would conduct regular home visits to provide counseling to the affected families who were beginning to recover from the impact of the trauma.

"The incident has now entered the 26th day. Their emotional state is very good, compared to more than a week ago when they found it difficult to accept the tragic news announced by the prime minister.

"They are accepting reality, are calm and have returned to their daily routine," he tells the national news agency.

'No effort and no expense spared'

7.20pm: DCA director general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman in his opening statement to families of Chinese passengers at a briefing today, continues to assure then that Malaysia is doing all that it can.

"Throughout the process, I want to assure you that we have done everything in our power to locate MH370. We have spared no effort and expense," he is quoted as saying in a statement released by the government in lieu of a press conference today.

'Develop tech for better transmission of plane data'

6.28pm: Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek says the government believes data from aircraft, including from the black box, can be continuously transmitted and stored in data centres on the ground.

Hence he says International Telecommunication Union (ITU) must develop cutting edge technology to facilitate transmission of flight data in real time, Bernama reports.

"I believe that this simple change may have brought a different outcome today... I cannot help but note that whilst communications technologies have evolved drastically in the past five years, the story of the black box remains unchanged for more than 30 years," he is quoted saying.

MCA to hold mass MH370 prayer

6pm: MCA will be holding a mass prayer on Sunday for the crew, passengers of missing Flight MH370 and their loved ones.

According to party secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan, the prayer will be held at Dewan San Choon, Wisma MCA at 10am.

He says the prayer will be led by Buddhist organisations, among which are the Buddhist Maha Vihara, Buddhist Missionary Society, Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia and Fo Guang Shan Malaysia.

"This event is to let the world, especially the families and relatives of the crew and passengers, know that we Malaysians do care deeply about them... We hope there is a chance of a miracle and we pray for their survival," Ong says in a statement.

M'sia-China ties still good

5.52pm: Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang says anger in China over the Malaysia’s government will not stop its plan to send to two pandas over.

He says the animals are to arrive at KLIA on April 15, via MAS Cargo.

The ambassador also blamed Western media over its coverage of the MH370 tragedy, which fanned the emotions of families of Chinese nationals on board, causing their dissatisfaction against the Malaysian government.

Blogger questions Scorpene's SAR absence

5.25pm: A blogger and MP Mohd Ariff Sabri Abd Aziz is demanding to know why Malaysia has not sent its two Scorpene submarines to assist the search and recovery operations for Flight MH370.

Mohd Arif also questions what the country has to show after its defence spending shot up from RM13.8 million in 2011 to RM16.1 billion in 2014.

Read full story here.

'Accidents do happen'

5pm: Bernama reports that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has credited MAS for being "very responsive" to investigations into the disappearance of Flight MH370.

Quoting ICAO air navigation bureau director Nancy Graham, the news agency states, however, that the organisation would have to wait for the outcome of the probe into the plane’s disappearance before considering any possible corrective action to be taken.

"Despite all our good intentions and wonderful safety initiatives, accidents do happen," she is quoted saying from the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association Ops Conference 2014 in Kuala Lumpur.

New cockpit security

4.40pm: Following the MH370 incident, MAS has updated its procedures to boost its cockpit security, reports CNN.

Quoting two unnamed sources, the report claims that the pilot or co-pilot will no longer be allowed to sit alone in the cockpit.

“If one or the other leaves the cockpit, a senior cabin steward must remain inside the cockpit until the pilot or first officer returns,” the report claims, with one source describing it as a positive development.

Checks with a MAS staff, who has requested anonymity, confirms the measures being introduced.

According to Singapore’s Straits Times, The Star had previously reported that Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is also tightening security, requiring international travellers to remove their shoes, belt, jackets and any electronic devices such as cellphones and laptop computers for separate scanning.

France pledges support

3pm: France assures Malaysia of its continued support and assistant in the form of expertise as the search for missing Fligt MH370 continues, Bernama reports.

It states this was expressed by French Ambassador to Malaysia Martine Dorance when she called on Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia at his office at Parliament House.

Dorance also expressed her understanding of the feelings of Malaysian leaders as France was in a similar predicament during the 2009 Air France 447 tragedy.

Visibility 'favouring' SAR

2.05pm: The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) says that the sea conditions are moderating and visibility is favourable for the search effort.

Oceanograpger explains methods

1.50pm: An oceanographer helping to find MH370 explains the methods used in the search in an interview with Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

The Australian government’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Marine and Atmosphere Research (CMAR) centre scientist David Griffin says instead looking all along probable flight path, searchers are taking advantage of the Indian Ocean’s tendency to swirl and form eddies.

“It’s a matter of working along that line a segment at a time and then going with a hypothesis - if it was at this point along that line, what area of ocean needs to be searched?

“By looking at where the eddies are and what we know about their impact on aggregation, we hope to actually find regions within the larger region that are higher priority for searching because of the possibility of aggregation,” he is quoted saying.

However, as time go by, he warns it will be increasingly difficult to trace any wreckage found back to its source - the likely crash site.

Report on Malaysia's mistakes

12.50pm: CNN lists six mistakes Malaysian authorities have made in the course of its handling of the MH370 crisis since the plane went missing. These are:

• MH370 diversion from its original flight path went unnoticed on military radar until it was long gone, and only saw it when the recording was reviewed.
   
• Early briefings were chaotic with no clarity as to who was in charge.
   
• Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman initially describes two passengers that boarded the flight with stolen passports as black but turned out to be Iranian asylum seekers.
   
• MAS initially tells the next-of-kin on those onboard MH370 that there were no survivors, but acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein later says he has not given up hope following backlash from the families.
   
• Authorities initially claim co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid made MH370’s last communication, “Alright, good night,” but this is later revised to “Good night, Malaysian 3-7-0”, while the identity of who made this transmission is still being confirmed.
   
• Search in the south Indian Ocean was in the wrong area for three days, according to Wall Street Journal quoting anonymous sources, due to poor coordination between groups of investigators.

Search efforts to contend with fog, thunderstorms

11.25am: Perth-based Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) says 10 planes and nine ships have been deployed for today's search, spanning 221,000 square kilometres.

"The weather forecast for today's search is for marginal conditions, with areas of broken cloud, sea fog and isolated thunderstorms, reducing visibility," it says in a statement.

LOTR director's jet used in SAR

11.05am - A personal jet belonging to Oscar-winning movie director Peter Jackson (right) has been used to facilitate communications between searchers looking for MH370, his spokesperson confirms.

A report in The New Zealand Herald today says the Gulfstream G650 jet's operator had received a charter offer, which it accepted with Jackson's permission.

However, spokesperson Matt Dravitzki refuses to disclose the remuneration and adds the 'Lord of the Rings' director would like to avoid seeking publicity for this.

Many of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's (Amsa) previous statements had mentioned the jet playing the role of a 'communications relay' but did not mention its owner.

170 questioned, with more to go

10.55am: Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar says the investigation into MH370 disappearance is now classified as a criminal investigation, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Quoting Malaysia’s police chief, the Wall Street Journal reports that 170 statements have been recorded so far with still more people to be interviewed.

However, Khalid (left) says he will not reveal the findings now as it may affect any prosecution process later.

As for MH370 Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's flight simulator, he is reported saying he is still waiting for experts' report, but findings are thus far inconclusive.

Read more here.

Briefing for families taking place today

10.30am: To recap, the government has released a full transcript of radio communications between MH370 and air traffic controllers yesterday.

It revises the final transmission from "Alright, good night", to "Good night, Malaysian 3-7-0," which it says reveals nothing abnormal.

Nevertheless, the Transport Ministry says investigators remain convinced that the aircraft was deliberately diverted, and it is still working to confirm whether the sign off was made by co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, as initially claimed.

Meanwhile, relatives of Chinese families will be attended a closed-door briefing on the crisis in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur today with officials from the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and MAS, and technical experts from Malaysia, China and Australia.

Britain's theguardian had earlier reported that British experts - satellite company Inmarsat and UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) - will not be taking part in a technical briefing. Inmarsat has said it was not invited and was only an advisor to the AAIB.

PM to observe SAR first hand

10.05am: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will depart to Perth today for a two-day visit to observe the search and recovery operations, Bernama reports.

"The visit is appropriate to record the appreciation to the Australian government, teams and members who were involved in the search, including from Malaysia," the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says a statement.

The premier is scheduled to meet his Australian counterpart Tony Abbot, before departing to Vietnam for a three-day visit.

Australia is heading the search efforts. Its Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), led by Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, is tasked with overseeing the operations.

Search radius closer to Perth

9.30am: According to maps circulated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) today, the search area is shifted slightly closer to Perth.

It is now about 1,490 kilometres from Perth, compared to 1,950 kilometres away when search began in this area on March 28.

The search has thus far turned up only fishing equipment and rubbish from the sea.

UK nuclear sub joins search

9am: Nuclear submarine HMS Tireless joins the search for Flight MH370. According to UK’s Ministry of Defence yesterday, the vessel arrived in the south Indian Ocean while the hydrographic survey vessel HMS Echo is still on the way.

"HMS Tireless’ sophisticated underwater listening equipment can detect the underwater locator beacon of MH370 black box," tweets Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) deputy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin this morning.

To calls on Twitter to send RMN's own Scorpene class diesel-electric submarines, Kamarulzaman curtly replies, "HMS Tireless is a nuclear submarine".

Search resumes

8am: Search and recovery operations across the south Indian Ocean resume today in the hopes of a positive sighting and recovery of any MH370-linked debris.

However, after several false hopes in which objects sighted over the past few days turned out to be nothing but rubbish, hope seems to lie in the arrival of the vessel Ocean Shield, fitted with a pinger locator.

Background:

• The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.
   
• Authorities have determined the plane intentionally made a turn-back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons.
   
• Its whereabouts is now narrowed to the southern Indian Ocean after employing "new analysis" methods to deduce the location based on six pings the aircraft sent out to British satellite communications provider Inmarsat's satellite.

Police not god, fumes 80-year-old ex-teacher

After C Sugumaran lost his father at an early age, his paternal uncle A Kuppusamy had raised him like his own son.

But the 80-year-old retired Tamil school teacher was dealt a blow when his 40-year-old nephew, whom he refers to as his son, died after he was assaulted by the police at the roadside while his hands were cuffed behind his back last year.

However, the post mortem stated that he died of a heart attack.

The inquest into his death is ongoing but it started only after the family buried Sugumaran’s remains upon failing to get a second post mortem months after his death.

Vowing to fight for justice, Kuppusamy (left) said: "Sugumaran was not cattle or a bird. He was a human being... I want rights for all, not just for my son.”

"Police are not God. The government is not God. (Only) God can give and take life...

"Police have no power to kill people. They can only guard people," he said in halting English.

Kuppusamy was speaking at launch of the Human Rights Watch's report on police abuse in Kuala Lumpur.

Will an inquest bring back my brother?

Also present was  D Ranjan, 30, who in August 2012 lost his youngest brother, Dinesh, 26, in a police shooting.

“A life is gone. Why is an inquiry done only after? Can I get back my brother back?" he asked.

More than a year on, Ranjan said the ongoing inquest into his brother's death now appears to be a "cover up" to find more reasons to justify the summary killing.

For example, he said, police testified that there is no need to lift fingerprints off the parang allegedly used to charge at police, resulting in the shooting, to prove Dinesh had used it.

"It is just another cover up. There are more excuses given for the cause of the death,” he added.

Rajan (left) said even getting an inquest into the death also took many months, while police have already decided his brother was a criminal.

"They say he was part of some gang but the supposed gang members were arrested separately and no charges made...

"The day after the shooting when Dinesh was fighting for his life in hospital, they cuffed him to the bed and did not allow family in.

"We will not give up. He will not be remembered as a criminal," he told Malaysiakini after the press conference.

Today, on paper torn out of notebooks, both Kuppusamy and Rajan wrote impassioned appeals to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar seeking the same.

The letters will be passed to Khalid later by HRW Asia deputy director Phil Robertson who will meet the IGP to discuss the report.

Robertson will also meet representatives of the Prime Minister's Office tomorrow to urge the government to implement lengthy recommendations listed in the report.

"Abuse by police make Malaysians weary of trusting the police and make it difficult for police to build local relationships...to do their job.

"Hence draconian laws like the Prevention of Crime Act (are used)," he said.

The 102-page report found little political will to address systemic issues, which stem mostly from lack of oversight and has led to prolonged abuse and leave victims with little recourse.

‘MIC did not ask for Tamil secondary school’

A DAP MP claims that the largest Indian based political party in the country failed to champion Tamil school issues.

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC failed to push the Barisan Nasional (BN) to construct a Tamil secondary school although the Penang state government had allocated land for the purpose, Batu Gajah MP V. Sivakumar said today.

Sivakumar said he was disappointed with MIC secretary-general A. Prakash Rao for not pushing for a Tamil secondary school in Penang.

He said he was surprised to see the high-ranking MIC official saying that “the time has not arrived to build a Tamil secondary school in the country.”

He added that there were about 1,000 Tamil schools during British rule but only 523 now under the BN government.

Sivakumar said MIC had failed to champion the uplift of Tamil schools in the country.

“MIC should be the voice of the Indians and be bold to champion the rights for the community, especially in education,” said Sivakumar.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to look into the matter as the Penang government was offering a land in Butterworth to build the school.

Last September, Lim had sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, but Kamalanathan called on the Indians to enrol their children in Tamil primary schools first before asking for a secondary school.

Education Ministry director-general Khair Mohamad Yusof rejected the state’s application for a Tamil secondary school in a letter dated Jan 8.

Lim had said that the state government would appeal to Muhyiddin to build the Tamil secondary school.

He said the state government would write to the Prime Minister’s Office if the appeal failed.

Earlier this month, Indian NGOs and PAS leaders have called the federal government to approve the state government’s application to build a Tamil secondary school in Penang.

Shahidan shoots down MH370 briefing for Pakatan

Shahidan Kassim denies that he confirmed the special MH370 briefing for the opposition will be held next Tuesday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister Department Shahidan Kassim said that he cannot confirm next Tuesday’s special MH370 briefing for opposition MPs because Pakatan Rakyat has yet to send him an official notice on the matter.

“I have not yet said that I agreed to the date. I have to refer to Hishammuddin Hussein’s schedule first, to see if he is free on that day,” Shahidan told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

He said that once he received the note from Pakatan, he would pass it to Hishammuddin for the latter to confirm his attendance.

“Of course, they can send their notice directly to Hishammuddin if they wish. As the minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, I am just acting as the intermediary to facilitate their briefing.”

His statement contradicted DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang’s claim this morning that the minister had already agreed on the briefing to be held Tuesday.

The Gelang Patah MP said the briefing should only be conducted by Hishammuddin or Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Shahidan today urged Pakatan to stop politicising the matter, adding that the government was not hiding anything.

“All information and latest developments are delivered transparently in press conferences that are broadcast to the entire world,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shahidan defended Hishammuddin’s trip to Hawaii on Monday to attend the US-Asean Defence Forum, stressing that the defence minister had long ago agreed to be present at the forum.

“The forum is important to Malaysia because it is a platform for defence ministers from Asean to interact.

“It indirectly gives Hishammuddin a chance to express the Malaysian government’s appreciation towards America and the Asean nations, who have come together to help in the search and rescue mission for MH370,” said Shahidan.

Yesterday morning, Pakatan MPs claimed Hishammuddin’s trip to Hawaii was his attempt to “run away” from the briefing, which they claimed should have been held last night.

But Shahidan had clarified later that evening that no briefing was scheduled for that night because the opposition lawmakers had failed to provide him a notice confirming the date.

China: Najib was right to say MH370 ‘ended’

Ambassador Huang says the world "crash" or "lost" would have upset family members.

KUALA LUMPUR: China’s ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang today said that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak chose the right word when he announced the last position of flight MH370 in a briefing last week.

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Huang defended Najib for using the word ‘ended’.

He said Najib had to use the word to avoid repercussions as the families of the Chinese passengers on board the plane are hoping that their loved ones are still alive.

“Najib Razak has chosen the word ‘ended’ instead of ‘crash’ or ‘lost’. I fully understood why because the purpose is to avoid any harmful meaning,”

“Chinese family members are still hoping that their loved ones are alive thus if Najib chose the word ‘crash’ or ‘lost’ it will be a big blow to the family members,” Huang said.

Huang is not the first to defend Najib as last Monday, Acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said that claims of the plane having crashed was “totally erroneous”.

“There was no mention of a crash or that there were no survivors at all,” said Hishammuddin.

On March 24 Najib announced that new satellite analysis has concluded that the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 has ‘ended’ in the southern Indian Ocean, bringing to end a 17-day mystery of the fate of the runaway jetliner.

‘We are like brothers’

The newly appointed Huang stressed that the focus now should be on the search and rescue effort and that China was in full support of the Malaysian government in its effort to locate the ill fated aircraft.

“I think it is best for us to focus on the effort than to argue about the word. All of us want hard evidence as soon as possible,”

“China is in full support of Malaysian government and we will do our best to offer our help in order to locate the missing flight,” Huang added.

Huang then clarified that the Chinese government has never been angry with Malaysia and refuted claims that they were dissatisfied with the way Malaysia is handling the investigation.

“We have been good friends for many years, we are like brothers.

“We never said that we are angry with Malaysian government nor did we say that we are dissatisfied with them. All of the accusation is not true,” he disclosed.

MH370 went missing from civilian radar an hour after takeoff when it was flying over the South China Sea. The aircraft was picked up by Malaysian military radar an hour later on the west of Peninsula Malaysia flying towards the Andaman Sea but it was assumed to be on the direction of the air traffic control.

The flight transponder which tracks the plane was switched off. Investigators now believe that the plane was last flying over the Indian Ocean, based on the ‘pings’ sent out by it which was picked up by the Inmarsat satellite.

The plane is suspected to have flown some five hours before its “pings” went missing. Majority of the passengers on board were Chinese nationals. The focus of the search is now centered some 2,500km southwest of Perth, Australia.

Scientists date Moon at 4.470 billion years

(AFP) - The Moon was formed about 95 million years after the birth of our Solar System, in a collision that also settled the structure of Earth as we know it, according to the latest attempt at dating that impact.

A study in the journal Nature said the crash between an early, proto-Earth and a Mars-sized object that dislodged what would become the Moon, happened some 4.470 billion years ago — give or take 32 million years.

Apart from creating our satellite, the event is also believed to have marked the final phase of Earth’s core formation from molten metals sinking to the centre from a superhot surface.

Previous estimates had ranged from an “early” impact about 30 million years after the start of the Solar System, to a later one as much as 200 million years after.

The Solar System itself is known to be 4.567 billion years old thanks to accurate dating of some components of meteorites — the oldest materials to be found on our planet.

Earth is believed to have formed at some time during the first 150 million years.
Many earlier age estimates had been based on measuring the rate of radioactive decay of atomic nuclei found in rocks.

For the new study published in the journal Nature, a team of planetary scientists from France, Germany and the United States created a computer model of how dust and rock accumulated in the early Solar System to form tiny planets called planetesimals.

These grew into “planetary embryos” that ended up as the rocky planets we know today — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars — through a succession of giant impacts, according to the new model.

Each massive collision allowed the planets to “accrete” or accumulate matter. In Earth’s case, the lunar impact would have marked its final major growth event.

The team also looked at the chemical composition of the Earth’s mantle to trace the amount of material the planet accumulated after the impact — only about 0.5 percent of its total mass.

If the impact had happened early in the Solar System’s history, there would still have been many free-floating planetesimals for the Earth to sweep up, and if it was later, fewer.

The evidence suggested Earth took 95 million years to form, “which confirms it as the planet in our Solar System that took the longest to form,” study co-author Alessandro Morbidelli told AFP by email.

Malaysia Government Approval Dips

Bad news for Najib

Respected poll says a plurality thinks the country is going in the wrong direction

Malaysia’s government, beset with inflation, political infighting, faltering attempts to find a missing airliner and other problems, continues to face serious headwinds in public opinion, with only 38 percent of the electorate saying the country is going in the right direction against 49 percent who say it’s not, according to the latest poll by the respected Merdeka Center polling organization.

The poll of more than 1,000 voters across the country was taken between March 7 and March 20. It found that at least 15 percent of voters said the country was going “strongly in the wrong direction,” primarily because of rising costs from the termination of subsidies last year for a wide variety of consumer goods including sugar, gasoline and electricity in an effort to corral the government’s fiscal debt, which had come close to 55 percent of gross domestic product.

The Barisan Nasional, the ruling national coalition, lost the popular vote in the May 2013 general election, by 47.38 percent to 50.87 percent for the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition, but held onto parliament with 133 seats to 89 by dint of the first-past-the-post electoral system and extensive gerrymandering of districts.

A troubling problem is that the trend seems to be unrelievedly down. The government’s popularity topped out in February 2013 at 59 percent, briefly recovered to 54 percent in September when fuel and other price hikes went into effect, and has plummeted since, to a low of 38 percent as disapproval has steadily risen. Najib became the butt of ridicule when, in discussing food prices, he said the price of kangkung, or morning glory, had actually fallen. Kangkung grows wild throughout Southeast Asia and is ubiquitous and cheap.

Corruption, inflation, public safety and security and affordable housing topped the list of public concerns. A strong majority of 60 percent said they were dissatisfied with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s attempts to rid the government of corruption, with only 8 percent saying they were “very satisfied.” Another 25 percent said they were “somewhat satisfied.” Of the 60 percent total, a full 33 percent said they were “very dissatisfied.” An almost equal percentage said they were dissatisfied with waste in government.

As is habitual in Malaysia, ethnic Malays – the power base for the United Malays National Organization and the prime minister – gave significantly higher ratings than either ethnic Chinese or Indians, a continuing illustration of the country’s uneasy racial relations. On the economy, however, the government has taken a relative beating from all three. Overall, 51 percent of voters said they were dissatisfied with the prime minister’s handling of the economy against 46 percent who were satisfied. On Najib’s understanding the people’s burden in facing rising costs, 57 percent said he didn’t understand. Surprisingly, given the country’s troubled race situation, 58 percent of voters said they approved of his handling of racial issues against 39 percent who said they didn’t.

Malays score the government best, with 53 percent approval to 43 percent unfavorable. A decisive 81 percent of Chinese were critical of the handling of the economy with only 14 percent favorable. Among Indians, who make up about 8 percent of the electorate, 59 percent were critical against 33 percent who were favorable.

The poll found that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s popularity is skidding as well, from 62 percent in December to 52 percent today. In the meantime, the premier’s negatives are skewing up equally rapidly, from 32 percent in December to 44 percent today, by far the highest point in his five-year tenure. His approval rating with ethnic Malays, both his and the United Malays National Organization’s base, has fallen from 76 percent last August to 65 percent today. For the 31 percent of voters who are Chinese, Najib’s approval rating has fallen from 36 percent in August to 21 percent in December before rebounding slightly to 23 percent in the current poll.

The electorate gave a failing grade to the government’s handling of the crisis involving the loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 with 129 passengers and crew on March 8, with 50 percent overall saying the government had done a poor job against 43 percent approving. The country has been the subject of widespread international disapproval of its performance over the disappearance of the jet.

Those unhappy with the government overall reached a high of 48 percent against 42 percent who said they were happy. Fully 7 percent said they were angry.

A Timeline of the Malaysian Government’s Many, Many MH370 Screw-Ups

 

Mistakes were made: Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak

Three and a half weeks after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished from the sky, the world is still waiting to find out what happened. Searching millions of square miles for broken plane parts is, of course, no simple task, but it’s only been complicated by the Keystone Cops routine put on by the Malaysian government. Upon news that officials couldn’t even correctly quote the four words uttered by the co-pilot before all communication with MH370 was lost, here’s a timeline of Malaysia’s mistakes since the plane disappeared.

March 8: Immigration officials allow two passengers to board flight MH370 with stolen passports.

March 8: The Malaysian military fails to notice that that the plane has made a sharp left turn, even though it flew over a radar facility.

March 8: The Malaysian government confirms reports that two people boarded the plane with stolen passports, then says it was actually four people, before revising it back down two.

March 9: Five hours after it happened, state-owned Malaysia Airlines finally confirms that MH370 has disappeared.

March 11: Malaysia’s chief of police withdraws the story that baggage was taken off the flight before takeoff because five people didn’t board. Turns out, all those who checked in boarded.

March 11: China calls out Malaysia for the slow pace of its search. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang says Malaysia needs to “step up their efforts and speed up their investigation.”

March 11: The search begins in the Malacca Strait, three days after military radar captured MH370 turning from its path and flying over the body of water.

March 12: Officials admit they’ve known all along that a mysterious plane, likely MH370, appeared on military radar flying on a westerly course. Still, they diverted resources to search east of Malaysia.

March 12: Vietnam suspends part of its search for MH370 after Malaysia’s government fails to respond to its repeated requests for information.

March 12: Malaysian police release photos of the two men who boarded MH370 with stolen passports and they both seem to have the same legs. A photocopying error is blamed.

March 13: Malaysian Transport Minister Seri Hishammuddin Hussein denies a WSJ report claiming the plane flew for as many as four hours after disappearing from tracking systems. The government would later accept that version of events.

March 15: Investigators finally confirm that the mysterious flight captured by military data is MH370 and call off the wasted searches underway in areas Malaysian officials already knew were not possible crash sites.

March 15: A week after the flight’s disappearance, authorities search the homes of MH370’s pilot and co-pilot.

March 16: India suspends its search as it waits for Malaysia to say whether it should be searching at all.

March 16: American officials tell the Washington Post that FBI agents are ready to go to Malaysia to help investigate the crash but their assistance hasn’t been requested.

March 17: Officials change the sequence of events concerning the switching off of the plane's communications system. Rather than insisting it happened before the co-pilot signed off with the words "Alright, good night," they said it could have happened after, which puts a damper on terrorist-pilot theories.

March 19: Family members of passengers stage a small protest at a press briefing and are forcibly removed by police who are accused of “manhandling” them.

March 24: Malaysia Airlines sends a text to the families of passengers that says, “We deeply regret that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board have survived.”

March 28: Four days after the above text, an official tell the families of passengers that he hasn’t discounted the possibility of survivors.

March 28: Malaysian officials tell the passengers’ families there is “sealed evidence” they cannot know about.

March 31: The Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation corrects early reports that the last communication from MH370 was "Alright, good night." The actual words were "Good night, Malaysian three-seven-zero."

In loving memory of Irene Fernandez

The Sun Daily
by Annie Freeda Cruez

SHE was a human rights activist till she breathed her last at 10.58am today.

That is none other than Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez (pix), 68, who died after complications due to a heart failure.

She was admitted to the Serdang hospital last Tuesday, after complaining of breathing difficulties, while on her way to attend the Bersih People's Tribunal on the 13th General Election.

Having interviewed her on several occasions, her demise is a loss as she has been known for her outstanding and courageous work to stop violence against women and abuse of migrant and poor workers.

She is never afraid to be in the forefront to fight her cause and this was clearly seen when she continued working, even when a conviction and year's prison sentence hung over her head on a charge of "maliciously publishing false news."

Born in 1946, Irene has three children and several foster children. She began her career as a high school teacher and was involved with the Young Christian Workers Movement (YCWM), based in Brussels, and in 1970 gave up her teaching career to become a full-time organiser for young workers.

She became national president of the Malaysian YCWM in 1972-75 and was a member of the international committee from 1973-75.

During that time, she organised the first textile workers union and began programmes to create trade unions in the free trade zones. She also focused on the development of women leaders in the labour movement.

In 1976, she joined the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) and worked on consumer education, launching the consumer clubs for secondary school children to teach them about basic needs, safety and protection of the environment.

She also began a consumer programme for rural women, linked to a breast-feeding campaign and the Nestlé boycott.

In 1986, she led campaigns to stop violence against women. Various women's groups mushroomed as a result of these campaigns. One was the All Women's Action Society, of which Fernandez was president for five years.

It is now one of the strongest women's advocacy groups in Malaysia.

The Domestic Violence Act, Sexual Harassment Code and changes to the laws related to rape are all a result of its work.

That same year, she was the founder member of Asia Pacific Women Law and Development (APWLD). This regional organisation was designed to bring together women lawyers and activists to look at women's law across the Far East. She was director for more than 10 years.

Irene's campaigns for the rights of foreign workers, up to three million of whom are in Malaysia, began after she founded Tenaganita in 1991.

The organisation also runs a half-way house for prostitutes with HIV, and a number of other programmes relating to migrant and poor workers' health, education, awareness and human rights.

It also works with organisations in neighbouring countries to provide health, legal and pre-departure information for workers.

In 2005 Tenaganita drew attention to controversial plans by the Malaysian government to deport more than a million foreign migrants.

In 1995, Irene Fernandez published a report on the living conditions of the migrant workers entitled "Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Conditions of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres.

In March 1996, Fernandez was arrested at home and charged with "maliciously publishing false news". Her trial became the longest in Malaysian history and in 2003 she was finally found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison, having by then appeared in court more than 300 times.

By 2005, she was still on bail pending an appeal.

Finally, in 2008, after 13 years of battle in court, she was acquitted.

Despite all this, Irene never stopped doing what she wanted to do and I am sure she found lots of satisfaction and happiness in her work and success.

Najib Arrives In Australia For Working Visit

PERTH, April 2 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak arrived at the Perth International Airport, here, at 11pm Wednesday for a two-day working visit to Australia to have a first-hand look at the search operation being conducted out of this western Australian city for the missing Malaysian airliner believed to have gone down in the southern Indian Ocean.

Accompanying him are his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Department of Civil Aviation director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and chief of Air Force Tan Sri Rodzali Daud.

Advisor in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamaluddin Jarjis, Malaysia High Commissioner to Australia Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad and Malaysian officers welcomed their arrival.

Earlier, Zainal Abidin at a press conference said that Najib was scheduled to meet with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott on the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 and also to discuss strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries tomorrow.

Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, left the KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea. It was to have landed in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.

A multinational search was mounted for the aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then, after it was learned that the plane had veered off course, along two corridors - the northern corridor stretching from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand and the southern corridor, from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.

Following an unprecedented type of analysis of satellite data, United Kingdom satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) concluded that Flight MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia.

Najib then announced on March 24, seventeen days after the disappearance of the Boeing 777-200 aircraft, that Flight MH370 "ended in the southern Indian Ocean".

Zainal Abidin said Najib and Abbott would meet after a visit to the Royal Australian Air Force Pearce base.

He said the two leaders would discuss strengthening of bilateral relations in the areas of investment, trade, common regional issues, defence and education, and would hold a joint press conference after their meeting.

Zainal Abidin said Najib and his delegation were scheduled to leave Thursday evening for a three-day official visit to Vietnam.

Taklimat MH370 batal kerana pembangkang tak hantar nota

Girls raped after Facebook 'grooming', court hears

By BBC

A gang of men from Peterborough sexually exploited vulnerable teenage girls after targeting them on Facebook, a court has been told.

Five men are on trial for trafficking and raping eight girls, aged between 13 and 16, between 2008 and 2013.

Prosecutor Patricia Lynch told Cambridge Crown Court the girls were singled out "because of their vulnerability".

She said they were given alcohol and used as "sex objects".

Opening the case against the defendants, Ms Lynch said the men liaised with the girls via Facebook, Blackberry Messenger and text messages.

After being "chatted up", the victims would be collected from near their homes in towns and villages around Peterborough, Rutland and Lincolnshire before being driven to secluded spots in Peterborough, Ms Lynch said.

She said many of the girls had "extremely troubled backgrounds".
'Sex objects'

"Their very young age, their vulnerability, the grooming process and the use of alcohol negates any consent that they may have given," she told the court.

"They were effectively used as sex objects by these defendants."

Yasir Ali, 28, of Grange Road, denies six counts of rape, two of making indecent photographs of children, one of sexual activity in the presence of a child, seven of trafficking and one of witness intimidation.

Daaim Ashraf, 19, of Almoners Lane, denies three counts of rape, one of sexual assault, one of sexual activity with a child, one of sexual activity in the presence of a child, seven of trafficking and one of witness intimidation.

Akash Yasin, 18, of Gladstone Street, denies one count of sexual assault and two of trafficking.

James Daly, 25, of Grange Road, denies one count of rape.

Mohammed Aslam, 24, of Grange Road, denies one count of rape and one of sexual activity in the presence of a child.

The trial, which is expected to last up to eight weeks, continues.

Two churches set ablaze in northwestern Nigeria

LAGOS – Two churches were set ablaze by angry Muslim youths in Nigeria's northwestern state of Katsina on Monday in response to an alleged blasphemous comment on Islam's Prophet.

"There are contradictory accounts," Ismail Tafida, a resident, told Anadolu Agency.

He said that the churches in the Funtua district were reportedly set ablaze over a "blasphemous" question about the Prophet Muhammad.

"The other narrative is that the crisis began when students at a school named Ideal School, a private secondary school in the community, reported to youth outside the school that a teacher was teaching some lesson that were blasphemous in Islam," he added.

"I am at pains to make sense of the whole scenario that could warrant anyone burning down church," Tafida said.

Another witness, Mustafa Tanimu, said the angry youths had tried to set ablaze the secondary school but were repelled by soldiers who had already arrived at the scene.

"But they had already torched the two churches especially St. Theresa in Funtua," he said. "They vandalized properties and looted shops too."

Tanimu said the teacher believed to have made the purported blasphemous comment is a fresh university graduate on the mandatory National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), a scheme established by the Nigerian government to foster national integration.

Other witnesses spoke of indiscriminate attacks on people and businesses by the rampaging youths, a phenomena feature in some parts of Nigeria's north during crises.

Movement has been restricted and security forces have been deployed in Funtua, accordance to police spokesman Aminu Abubakar.

The spokesman, however, said that calm has been restored to the area.

Copyright © 2014 Anadolu Agency

Putrajaya now lashes at Boeing, Rolls-Royce as MH370 search remains fruitless

In a sign of the huge strain in hunting for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has expressed frustration at the failure of international agencies, and the makers of the missing Boeing 777 and its engines, to explain what went wrong.

The acting Transport Minister suggested to Chinese television channel CCTV that it was unfair for Malaysia Airlines to be singled out for criticism in the way they communicated to the families of the missing 227 passengers and 12 crew.

"MAS will have to do a better job in engaging those families.

"But just putting MAS on the witness stand [is not enough] - we also need to bear in mind what is the role and the responsibility of Rolls Royce, of Boeing, of all these expert agencies. Where is their voice?," Hishammuddin said in an interview carried by CCTV yesterday.

The video clip (see below) of the interview was uploaded to CCTV's YouTube video sharing account yesterday.

Flight MH370 was carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early March 8 when it lost contact with air traffic control within an hour of its six-hour flight. It has not been found yet.

Hishammuddin also questioned why the airline sent out a text message in English last week stating there were no survivors but said other agencies will also have to provide answers to the plane's mysterious disappearance.

"It is easy to target people. I'm not defending MAS. They will have to answer about the SMS and how they translate things and how they engage with the families.

"But at the same time I want to see the international agencies also stand out there, because we paid millions of dollars to buy the aeroplanes, fly the engines, pay for their expertise. And now those technology is being questioned by the world," he said in the interview.

Both Boeing and Rolls-Royce, which supplied the engines for the twin-jet, have not made any public statements about the lost aircraft although it is understood that they are cooperating with US air safety investigators.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that American officials and others said Boeing was upset that it took about three hours – much longer than would be typical – for Malaysian authorities to inform company representatives the jet hadn't been heard from.

Boeing's team remains "quite frustrated and doesn't trust the process", according to one person familiar with the company's views.

Hishammuddin also said in the CCTV interview that Malaysia was still looking at a criminal motive for the plane's disappearance due to either terrorism, hijacking, or a crew member with a personal or psychological problem.

He said in a statement today that both the international investigations team and Malaysia were still in agreement that MH370's movements were consistent with deliberate action by someone aboard.

"Up until the point at which it left military primary radar coverage, MH370's movement were consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane," the minister said. – April 1, 2014.

Growing dissatisfaction with PM, survey shows - Malaysiakini

A growing number of Malaysians are dissatisfied with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's leadership, according to a survey by independent pollster Merdeka Centre.

Its survey showed that 44 percent of the 1,005 respondents, surveyed between March 7 and March 20 are dissatisfied with Najib's leadership, up four percent from December.

Despite this, Najib's approval rating remains unchanged at 52 percent, which is an all-time low.

This is because the number of those who were unsure or had refused to respond to the question had gone down.

At 44 percent, the level of dissatisfaction against Najib is the highest since Merdeka Centre first tracked his performance in May 2009, a month after he took office.

It is likely driven by concerns over the economic situation, followed by crime, racial issues and political issues.

Most of those surveyed believe that corruption is the top-most issue to be addressed.

Despite Najib's dismal ratings, more people surveyed said they are happy with the government and the BN.

While 42 percent said they are "happy" with the government, up four percent from December, another 38 percent are happy with BN, an increase of three percent.

"In our opinion, the improvements could be attributed to the BR1M cash transfer payments to 5.4 million recipients nationwide which began at the end of February and through March," Merdeka Centre said in a statement today.

BR1M - or Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia - may have raised happiness levels, but pessimism over the nation's direction continues to grow.

Since June 2013 - a month after the 13th general election - fewer and fewer believe that Malaysia is heading in the right direction.

In March, only 38 percent of those surveyed believed Malaysia is going the right way, compared to 54 percent last June, 49 percent last August and 42 percent last December.

Those who feel that the nation is headed the wrong way remained at slightly under half of those surveyed in 12 states and 165 parliamentary constituencies.

'Indians in a state of disillusionment'

Interestingly, compared to other communities, Indian Malaysians appear to be in pronounced headlong disillusionment over Malaysia’s direction.

Only 30 percent of Indians believe Malaysia is moving in the right direction, a deep plunge from 52 percent in December and 63 percent in August.

A huge 63 percent believe Malaysia is going the wrong way.

The dip was not as steep among Malay and Chinese respondents. On the whole, however, more Malays think the nation is heading the right direction. Only 33 percent think the nation is going the wrong way.

Most of those surveyed are employed in the private sector and earn below RM3,000 a month.

However, it is noted that more civil servants or employees of government-linked companies and those who are not formally employed are happy with the government.

Most - or 63 percent - of private sector employees take a dim view of the government, while those who are self-employed are split down the middle on their perception of the state.

Australia warns of lengthy, difficult search for MH370

The search for MH370 is not something that's necessarily going to be resolved in the next two weeks.

PERTH: Australia today warned the hunt for missing Flight MH370 could be long and frustrating as a vessel equipped with a specialised “black box” locator raced against the clock to reach the Indian Ocean search area.

Despite an extensive multinational search southwest of Perth, no wreckage has been identified since the Malaysia Airlines plane vanished on March 8, with objects retrieved from the desolate seas turning out to be fishing gear or flotsam.

Retired Australian air chief marshal Angus Houston, who is heading a new coordination centre in Perth, said it was the most challenging search and rescue operation he had ever seen and cautioned against expectations of quick success.

“I say that because the starting point whenever you do a search and rescue is the last known position of the vehicle or aircraft. In this particular case, the last known position was a long, long way from where the aircraft appears to have gone,” he said.

Houston noted it took more than 60 years to find HMAS Sydney, which was sunk in the Indian Ocean in 1941 by a German warship, and the search for MH370 is “not something that’s necessarily going to be resolved in the next two weeks”.

“This could drag on for a long time but I think at this stage that it’s very important to pursue all the leads,” he added, as 10 planes and nine ships, some with helicopters, resumed the search in worsening weather.

Black box

Malaysia believes the flight, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard, was deliberately diverted by someone on board and that satellite data indicates it crashed in the Indian Ocean.

Houston’s appeal for patience contrasts with the angry demands of Chinese passengers’ relatives who are desperate for firm information on what happened to their loved ones.

Australian vessel Ocean Shield, fitted with a US-supplied black box detector, left Perth Monday but is three day’s sail from the search zone.

The battery-powered signal from the black box — which records flight data and cockpit voice communications that could indicate what happened to the plane — usually lasts only about 30 days.

Australian Defence Minister David Johnston admitted there was only a slim chance it would be found since any crash site remains unknown.

“We’ve got about a week (left), but it depends on the temperature of the water and water depth and pressure as to how long the battery power will last,” he told Australian radio.

Authorities are scouring a massive expanse of ocean for floating MH370 debris. If found, they plan to analyse recent weather patterns and ocean currents to track back to where the plane went down.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is expected in Perth on Wednesday to tour the air base being used as a staging post.

Last words spoken

Malaysia’s civil aviation department said late Monday the last words spoken by one of the pilots on the doomed flight were “Good night Malaysian three seven zero”.

The phrasing was different to the more casual “All right, good night” originally reported.

Aviation experts said the correction to the cockpit wording did not raise any red flags about possible pilot intent.

“There is plenty about Malaysia’s handling (of MH370) over which questions may be raised, but I think in the scheme of things this is inconsequential,” said Scott Hamilton, managing director of US-based aviation consultancy Leeham Co.

Shortly after the final message, communications were cut and the Boeing 777 vanished from civilian radar.

Malaysia insists it has been transparent, rejecting Chinese relatives’ accusations it is guilty of incompetence or even a cover-up.

But there have been notable about-turns, including on the crucial sequence of events in the cockpit before the plane veered off course, and Malaysia’s air force has been criticised for failing to intercept MH370 when it appeared on military radar.

Social media critics said the revised cockpit narrative raised further questions.

“The Malaysian government can’t even get the cockpit sign-off right. Why would we expect they get anything else correct?” said one posting on Twitter.

A survey released Tuesday by Merdeka Center, Malaysia’s leading polling firm, said less than half of Malaysians — 43 percent — were satisfied with the government’s handling of the crisis, while 50 percent were dissatisfied.

The survey was conducted over two weeks to March 20. More recently, many Malaysians have rallied around the government, hitting back against criticism, particularly from China.

MH370 should lead to improvements in how aircraft are tracked in flight, International Air Travel Association head Tony Tyler said Tuesday in a statement released at an aviation conference in Kuala Lumpur.

“We cannot let another aircraft simply vanish,” he said.

-AFP

Was someone sleeping on the job?

With the capabilities and systems that Malaysia has in place, our authorities should have been able to track MH370's path after it veered off its course.

PETALING JAYA: Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri deserves commendation for being honest enough to admit he was wrong when he told Parliament the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) had assumed Flight MH370 was under orders to return to KLIA and therefore did not react to the extraordinary blip on its radar.

But his candour, though admirable, cannot stop concerned Malaysians from harbouring doubts about the integrity of the country’s national defence system.

Retired First Admiral Mohd Imran Abdul Hamid told FMT it was inexcusable for RMAF chief Rodzali Daud to wait nearly two days before revealing that the blip appeared on radar about a half hour after the plane reportedly veered from its course.

“It looks like they noticed the blip only after reviewing their radar monitoring records,” he said.

Imran, now a PKR member and MP for Lumut, said it was normal practice for the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) to furnish RMAF with details of incoming commercial planes a day in advance.

“So there is no way an alien object could be flying in our air space without being noticed by civil and military radars,” he added.

A former RMAF radar expert agreed. Speaking on condition that his name be kept confidential, he said that whenever an unidentified object is detected in Malaysian air space, the first step under normal RMAF procedure would be to find out from DCA whether there had been contact between it and the object.

“In an adverse situation, the military will try to establish communication with the plane provided it can get the plane’s communication frequency,” he said. “If this fails, the next step is to scramble our fighter jets to ascertain whether it’s a friend or foe.

“In usual practice, a fighter jet will command the plane to leave Malaysian airspace rather than shoot it down. Other countries may opt for a more offensive method, which can lead to international criticism.”

In the event of a hijack, he said, the RMAF chief, the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the National Security Council would be alerted and some secret protocols would be invoked.

An interesting piece of information about Malaysia’s radar capabilities emerged recently in a CNN interview with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Best radar system

Anwar said that during his tenure as finance minister, Malaysia procured one of the best radar systems on the market. He said it would certainly have been able to track Flight MH370 as it flew into the Indian Ocean.

According to a news report on April 13, 2000, the Italian firm Alenia-Marconi Systems was awarded a contract in 1994 to supply DCA with primary and secondary radars.

With such a capability, why were Malaysian authorities unable to track MH370′s path after the reported turnaround?

According to an analytical report appearing in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, there could have been a lack of coordination between civil and military air traffic controls.

The analysis includes a long and boastful passage of how Israel would have handled a similar situation, but the writer’s speculation about what might have happened in the case of MH370 would certainly sync with a suspicion harboured by some sections of the Malaysian public that someone was sleeping on the job.

“Maybe it was the early hour, a lack of alertness and resources, or the absence of appropriate procedures, but no warning lights went off and no one in both the Malaysian military and civilian air traffic controls was aware of a plane disappearing or an unidentified aircraft flying over the country,” he said.

Malaysia Airlines MH370, carrying 230 passengers and crew, went missing on March 8 just an hour into its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Malaysia believes MH370 was deliberately diverted by someone on board and that satellite data indicates it crashed in the remote Indian Ocean.

PKR presidency: Azmin denies Anwar blocked him - FMT

He says the decision to defend his PKR deputy presidency post was made after consultation with colleagues.

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR incumbent deputy president Azmin Ali today denied Anwar Ibrahim had prevented him from running for the PKR presidency.

“The allegations are untrue… I decided after consultations with my colleagues. I opted to remain as deputy president, so that was the decision I made,” the Gombak MP told reporters when approached in Parliament.

“It’s not my decision (alone). I had to discuss with friends, companions, and the leadership,” he added.

According to a news portal, Azmin was supposed to contest the presidency position but his plan was foiled after Anwar sent a representativeon Saturday to submit his nomination form for the top post.

Azmin was said to have been sure of challenging incumbent president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail but at the last minute it was decided he would defend his own position. Interesting Wan Azizah also submitted her nomination to defend her post.

Speculation is rife that the husband-and-wife battle for the top PKR post is a ploy to scupper Azmin’s ascent in the party.

The incumbent must now defend his post in a six-way struggle that includes his rival Khalid Ibrahim, outgoing secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, incumbent vice-president Tian Chua, Hulu Selangor branch member K Ramachandram and former Puchong branch chief S Murali.

When asked how confident he was with his chances, Azmin said: “My experience in government administration and reformasi will definitely help me garner support from the party.”

“My track record shows that I have worked for the party for 15 years, and have a track record of working in the government for almost 15 years.

“I was involved in rather senior ministries: the education ministry, the finance ministry and the prime minister’s department.”

He said that ultimately the party members would decide which candidate could bring the party forward, especially in facing the next general election.

Asked if he was ready to debate the other candidates if the situation was called for, Azmin stressed the competition was an internal matter that could be solved “nicely”.

“This is not a competition, but an offer to serve the party, all are qualified to serve.

“Ultimately, it is up to party members to decide, not the media. This is not a general election, but a party election,” reminded Azmin.

The PKR party elections will begin on April 25 and end on May 11.

Britain’s PM orders review into Muslim Brotherhood’s activities

(Reuters) – The Muslim Brotherhood’s activities in Britain will be reviewed over concerns about
possible links to violence, Prime Minister David Cameron said, widening pressure on a veteran Islamist movement facing an intensifying crackdown in the Arab world.

The Brotherhood and affiliated organisations and parties are part of the political landscape in many Arab and Islamic states where they have placed deep roots in society thanks to their involvement in social and charitable works.

It also gained political power in some Arab nations after the 2011 uprisings that toppled long-entrenched autocratic regimes. But the Brotherhood has been crushed in Egypt after the military overthrew an elected Islamist president in July, declared a terrorist organisation in Saudi Arabia and subjected to a wave of prosecutions and jailings in Gulf Arab kingdoms leery of any spread of Islamist influence since the Arab Spring.

Britain, where many Brotherhood-influenced organisations are based, said its review would include looking at allegations made by authoritarian Arab leaders that the group was linked to violence, a charge it has repeatedly denied.

“What is important … is to make sure we fully understand what this organisation is, what it stands for, what its links are, what its beliefs are in terms of both extremism and violent extremism, what its connections are with other groups, what its presence is here in the United Kingdom,” Cameron told reporters.

A spokeswoman for Cameron said the review would examine the philosophies and values of the Muslim Brotherhood and how it operated in different countries around the world, including in the UK, as well as its impact on Britain’s national security.

Both the British domestic and foreign intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 would be consulted as part of the review, she added, which would focus on the activities of the Brotherhood in the wider region, not Egypt alone.

“There have been some concerns as well that have been raised about potential linkages to violent activity and some extremist groups of some of the organisations that tend to come together under the wider Muslim Brotherhood organization,” another spokesman said. Therefore the review would look at “alleged and reported links to extremist organisations”.

The government hopes the review, being led by John Jenkins, its ambassador to Saudi Arabia, will report findings by July.

In Cairo, Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty said: “Egypt welcomes Britain’s decision in carrying out urgent investigations into the role the Muslim Brotherhood group carries out from British soil and the extent of the relationship between the…Brotherhood and violent activities and extremism.”

The Muslim Brotherhood Press Office in London, which has become the movement’s main communication channel since July, said it would release a statement later on Monday.

“I think there’s a definite linkage between Cameron’s announcement of investigation of the Brotherhood in the UK to Saudi and other Gulf state perceptions of the Brotherhood as a threat,” said Theodore Karasik, director of research and consultancy at the Gulf security and military think-tank INEGMA.

“The pressure point is related to the fact that an event (can) occur on the Arabian Peninsula that is tied to the Brotherhood and originates in the UK,” he told Reuters.

EGYPT SHATTERS BROTHERHOOD

Britain’s move came amid increasing Arab repression of the Brotherhood especially in Egypt, where security forces have killed hundreds of Islamists and jailed thousands including almost all leaders of the movement since the army ousted President Mohamed Mursi after mass protests against his rule.

The military-backed authorities have banned the Brotherhood and more than 500 members have been sentenced to death for murder over deaths during clashes with security forces. Mursi faces charges that could lead to the death penalty.

The Brotherhood has reiterated a decades-long policy of non-violence, denying any connection with recent bloodshed.

Analysts say Mursi, a leading Brotherhood figure, alienated all but a hard-core constituency by devoting his energy to asserting Islamist control of Egypt’s governing institutions rather than implementing civic-minded policies to revive its paralysed economy and heal political divisions.

Still, in the wake of Mursi’s removal Britain’s Foreign Office voiced concern over the collective round-up of Brotherhood members, warning that politicised arrests would hinder Egypt’s post-2011 transition towards democracy.

Saudi Arabia, a staunch supporter of the military-buttressed governing authorities in Egypt, formally designated the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation last month.

Riyadh fears that the group, whose Sunni Islamist doctrines challenge the Saudi principle of dynastic rule, has tried to build support in the kingdom since the Arab Spring revolutions.

The US Looks Good as Obama Heads to Malaysia

By Asia Sentinel

In the contest for influence with China, Washington has played MH370 the right way

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Malaysia in April as part of a trip that will also include Japan, the Philippines and South Korea. In Kuala Lumpur’s case, it is a trip almost certain to be overshadowed, and justifiably so, by the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

That isn’t to say Obama shouldn’t hold his nose when he comes to Kuala Lumpur. This is a country that observes the forms of democracy but in practice ignores them. The ruling coalition, dominated by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), has maintained itself in power since independence in 1957 through gerrymandering and suppression of the opposition, most recently through a trumped-up verdict in a sodomy appeal against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, ironically just a few hours before MH370 disappeared.

It may be that sensitivity over the airline tragedy and the constant drumbeat of criticism hurled against Kuala Lumpur in recent weeks will cause Obama to avoid denouncing the government of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak over its treatment of Anwar and other undemocratic practices, despite calls to do so. In the long run, that could be a wise decision on Washington’s part regardless of how one feels about UMNO’s heavy-handed ways.

On a regional and international level, the disappearance of the plane, and the widely differing reactions by the American and Chinese governments, are likely to play a wider role in the President’s efforts to “pivot” American diplomacy and military strategy to Asia, strengthening the impression that the US remains the pre-eminent technological and military power in the Pacific.

Angered over Malaysia’s fumbling of the search effort, China appears to have shot itself in the foot through unrelenting bluster and criticism, demonstrating Beijing’s continuing inability to get the tone right in the region. It wants its neighbors to go along with its claim of hegemony over the South China Sea, but it doesn’t even know how to talk to them. The US has been quietly helpful, something the Malaysians likely appreciate and which could serve to nudge Kuala Lumpur away from recent flirtations with China.

Washington has long known and been privately critical of various abuses, such as the unsolved 2006 murder of the Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu and the continuing legal acrobatics concerning Anwar. But it also wants Malaysia in its camp. The 2010 release of the Wikileaks cables were critical but also showed US diplomats describing Malaysia as a moderate Muslim state and a bulwark in Southeast Asia. Given the Obama administration's ambitions in Asia, the president is expected to make a gesture toward Anwar's predicament, but Washington has more to gain by reluctantly going along at this point.

By contrast, China, which has no interest in democratic niceties, is having little soft power success close to home. It has already alienated the Philippines by trying to grab various shoals on the basis of its “nine-dash line” map of the South China Sea. In Hong Kong, the public – beyond certain oligarchs and conservatives – remains stubbornly averse to mainland domination. The same can be said for Taiwan, where suspicion of Beijing remains high.

In Taiwan last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people joined a student protest against a trade bill, turning the affair into a wider protest against a Chinese invasion of its press, politics and business community. In Hong Kong, there has been rising irritation over what is felt to be Chinese intrusion into politics, failure to abide by promises of greater democracy and bulldozing of the press.

In the case of the missing airliner, the US, either by accident or on purpose, has quietly stepped into the gap, much as the US Seventh Fleet did in the wake of the widespread destruction in the central Philippines caused by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in November; at the time, the Chinese response to the disaster was late and overshadowed by the efforts of half a dozen other countries.

Washington’s policy, announced in 2012, of a pivot or “rebalancing” of its diplomatic and military policy toward Asia, has largely stumbled. In particular, Obama, tied up with a Congressional budget crisis, skipped important regional meetings last August while Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang scored diplomatic triumphs in five Southeast Asian countries. The disasters, tragic as they may be, have helped the US regain the initiative.

According to a source with close connections to the government, Malaysia was first reluctant to ask the Americans for help in dealing with the missing Boeing 777-200, which vanished with 239 passengers and crew, refusing offers of assistance from the US.

But in succeeding days, superior American air technology, combined with the fact that the airplane had been manufactured in the US, began to assert itself. The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other US agencies accustomed to dealing with air disasters offered quiet help behind the scenes.

In the meantime, the Chinese, with 152 of their countrymen aboard the plane, first blustered, demanding stepped up efforts to find it. Then they announced that a Chinese satellite had found what was thought to be the wreckage of the plane – in the wrong ocean. The Chinese have recouped, sending a flotilla into the Indian Ocean to aid in the search – which is now being coordinated by the Australians. Chinese planes are searching the area.

Beijing has alienated the Malaysians by neglecting to constrain angry relatives of those aboard the aircraft. Crowds broke through police lines protecting the Malaysian embassy, demanding that the Malaysian ambassador kneel before them. One group presented the embassy with a statement that the families would regard Malaysia as “murderers” if it was discovered that the government was at fault in any aspect of the search, according to news services.

In the meantime, sources in Malaysia say, the Americans have played a crucial low-key role, advising on the search. An FBI team analyzed the flight simulator found in the home of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, ending speculation that the device might have contained data that could have been a dry run for taking the plane off course. A P-8A Poseidon, the most advanced plane looking for the wreckage, is supplied by the US Navy. P3 Orion search planes in the service of various countries were made in the US. A US Navy “ping finder” is aboard an Australian vessel, the Ocean Shield, working the search zone.

In this instance, the Americans seem to have played their cards right. Staying relatively unseen and allowing superior technology and sophistication to do the talking for them.

The rising tide of judicial impropriety, arrogance of power and transgression

By Anwar Ibrahim, Opposition Leader on MH002 enroute to London

“The bedrock of our democracy is the rule of law and that means we have to have an independent judiciary, judges who can make decisions independent of the political winds that are blowing.” - Caroline Kennedy

Talking about political winds, it appears that lately, the Malaysian judiciary, particularly the judges of the superior courts, are caught in the whirlwind and are frantically racing against each other to please the powers that be of the day.

In the frenzy to curry favours from their political overlords, these minions have stopped at nothing to ensure that they will be the first to reach the finish line. Pots of gold await the backscratchers and lackeys. And where financial gratification may appear a tad blatant, there’s always elevation to the higher rungs of office to whet the appetite. Unlike Parliamentarians, judges will never be content to be Back Benchers. The preferred place is the front and the top where they can tower over ordinary mortals, even if they be law-makers or members of the Bar. They fear no one except their political masters because they know on which side their bread is buttered. And they shall not bite the hand that feeds.

Throwing judicial decorum to the wind, they bare their fangs and sharpen their claws in order to cow supplicants in their courts into submission, and in the process, their demeanour and conduct leaves no one in doubt about their bias. And though they know that an adversarial system dictates that judges must not just act impartially but must be seen to be so, they bend backwards to don the hats of prosecutor and executioner as well. When this happens, as indeed it is happening now with unprecedented frequency, we know justice has gone to the dogs.

It is happening because Prime Minister Najib Razak, in flagrant abuse of power, has launched a new campaign of political persecution. “Even if we can’t defeat them at the polls, all is not lost (remember Altantuya?). We still have our judges to do our bidding. See how they fall over each other at the snap of our fingers!”

This is the alarming trend in our judiciary where judges work hand in glove with the Attorney-General’s Chambers to deny leaders of the Federal Opposition, duly elected representatives of the people in Parliament, their right to justice. In taking this unconstitutional and nefarious line, they have turned the doctrine of the separation of powers on its head.

Hence, apart from me, MPs Karpal Singh, Azmin Ali, Antony Loke, Rafizi Ramli, Tian Chua, Syed Azman and Shamsul Iskandar just to name a few, are marked for the judicial abattoir by the executioners. It may be sodomy, it may be sedition, or it may be illegal assembly, or whatever. These bootlickers know less of law and the principles of justice than lording over the courts parading proudly as peacocks (and peahens) their colourful judicial plumage overflowing with the arrogance of power.

As for those judges who used to sit on the throne, there is still life after retirement. The involvement of former Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad in the National Unity Front, closely linked to Perkasa, Malaysia’s icon of racism, while not shocking remains scandalous. It makes a mockery of the institution of the judiciary which he once headed and contradicts the principles of equality, equity and justice that the judiciary is supposed to stand for. Is it conceivable for a former chief judge to head an organisation that is adamantly opposed to the National Unity Consultative Council, and to be notoriously engaged in race-baiting and the trumpeting of the superiority of one race over other races in our multi-racial and multi-religious country?

It would appear that it is not only conceivable but that it is lauded with much fanfare by UMNO going by the prominent coverage given to it by the UMNO controlled media.

Incidentally, this is the same judge who, in his Federal court judgement, had written that “the court’s decision must only be based on the evidence adduced and nothing else and (hence) it had to acquit because of lack of evidence,” but qualified it with the illogical and manifestly asinine statement that “we find evidence to confirm that the appellants were involved in homosexual activities”. In other words, “we find him NOT guilty but at the same time guilty”. Anything more stupid, perverse and farcical than that cannot be found in our judicial annals (no pun intended) except for the judgements and pronouncements of Augustine Paul and Ariffin Jaka in respect of Sodomy 1 and the current decisions in respect of the application for expunging and the Sodomy 2 appeal. As they say, it has to take one stupid, perverse and farcical court to agree with another stupid, perverse and farcical court.

UMNO must fight its own political battles and not be such a coward to use the judiciary to help them fight the Opposition. How long more are our judges going to dance to tune of UMNO? When will they stop becoming stooges and lap dogs of UMNO leaders? How long more must the rakyat endure this sham? Who are the puppeteers in this shadow play? Are these judges not aware that UMNO will not be there forever to cover their tracks, or their backs, or that not only will history judge them, but that the rakyat are not going to sit idly by – forever – while they continue to pervert the course of justice?

Parliament, as the vox populi, must make its voice heard before we reach the tipping point and the situation gets out of our hands. There is a tide in our affairs which, unless we seize it, will see our voyage for democracy and rule of law in shallows and in miseries. This is the rising tide of judicial impropriety, arrogance of power and transgression. As one of the three branches of government, Parliament must reassert the sanctity of the separation of powers principle. It is therefore morally incumbent and constitutionally expedient that Parliament acts accordingly to break up the illegal and unconstitutional collusion between the Executive and the Judiciary.

Anwar Ibrahim

Flight MH370 Malaysian officials struggle with credibility after changing last words heard from lost aircraft

Chris Brummitt and Gillian Wong, Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — It may mean little to investigators that the last words air traffic controllers heard from the lost jetliner were “Good night, Malaysian three-seven-zero,” rather than “All right, good night.” But to Malaysian officials whose credibility has been questioned almost from the beginning, it means a great deal.

Malaysian officials said more than two weeks ago that “All right, good night,” were the last words, and that the co-pilot uttered them. They changed the account late Monday and said they are still investigating who it was that spoke. The discrepancy added to the confusion and frustration families of the missing already felt more than three weeks after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared.

“This sort of mistake hits at the heart of trust in their communications. If Malaysia is changing what the pilot said, people start thinking, ‘What are they going to change next?” said Hamish McLean, an expert in risk and crisis communication at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.

“Information is in a crisis is absolutely critical. When we are dealing with such a small amount of information its needs to be handled very carefully,” he said.

Authorities have been forced on the defensive by the criticism, the most forceful of which has come from a group of Chinese relatives who accuse them of lying about — or even involvement in — the plane’s disappearance. In part responding to domestic political criticism, defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein has taken to retweeting supportive comments on Twitter. He has twice in recent days proclaimed that “history would judge us well” over the handling of the crisis.

The government’s opponents disagree. Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said the correction set off a “medley of shame, sadness and anger” and strengthened the case for creating an opposition-led parliamentary committee to investigate the government’s performance in the search.

The communications skills of any government or airline would have been severely tested by the search for the Boeing 777-200 and its 239 passengers and crew. So far not a scrap of debris has been found.

“There has been very little to tell and a lot of unanswered questions,” said Andrew Herdman, director-general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. “There is frustration on the lack of new information, frustration over progress with investigations and the search. That frustration is being channeled to the Malaysian authorities but I think it’s a bit premature to use that to reflect adversely on how they are doing.”

Still, the government’s handling of information has at times fed perceptions that it was holding back. From the first day of the search, crews were looking far to the west of the plane’s last point of contact with air-traffic controllers, but it took about a week for officials to explain that radar had detected the plane in the area.

That was a terrible, terrible response. It says to the families that ‘we know things that we are not going to share’ and that ‘something else is more important than you’

“There are some things that I can tell you and some things that I can’t,” Malaysia’s civil aviation chief said cryptically in the early days of the search.

“That was a terrible, terrible response,” said Lyall Mercer, the principal of Australian-based Mercer PR, a public relations company. “It says to the families that ’we know things that we are not going to share’ and that ‘something else is more important than you’.”

The piece of information that families most want to hear — whether their relatives are alive or dead — has remained impossible to say with finality, creating a dilemma for the government.

On March 24, it tried to address that. Malaysian Airlines officials met families in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing and sent a text message to others saying “we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived.”

At a news conference half an hour later, Prime Minister Najib Razak was less direct. He said with “deep sadness and regret” that the plane’s last known position was “a remote location, far from any possible landing sites,” and that the flight “ended” in the southern Indian Ocean.

Sarah Bacj, a 48-year-old American expatriate teacher whose boyfriend, Philip Wood, was on the flight, said the decision by Malaysian Airlines to inject some certainty into the fate of the passengers was a mistake. Until then, she said she thought the Malaysian government had acted responsibly, but the text message “totally violated my trust.”

“I fell off the cliff,” Bacj said. “The way the text message came, I expected proof. That they had found the bodies, or that they had found confirmed wreckage, or something … but they didn’t actually tell us anything at all. The only thing they did was make a judgment statement about evidence — unconfirmed evidence, mind you.”

The final words from the cockpit, and who said them, are of interest not only because there are few other clues to the disappearance, but because the communication occurred just a minute before the plane’s transponders were shut off.

On March 16, government and airline officials said the final words were “All right, good night” and initial investigations showed they were spoken by the co-pilot. As of Tuesday they had not explained how they got it wrong.

PR experts and professionals said the important thing now was to try and give the families as much information as possible, before the media gets hold of it, and to keep paying attention to them even when the media gaze had drifted.

On Tuesday, the Malaysian government announced that technical experts from Malaysia, China and Australia would brief the families in a closed-door session in Kuala Lumpur.