In the face of pent-up frustration and anger from family members of the Chinese passengers on board lost Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein reached out to remind them that “we have lost loved ones too”.
Families upset over what they perceive to be inefficiencies and obfuscation from the Malaysian government throughout the search for the missing jetliner, announced to have ended its journey in the Indian Ocean by Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak on Monday night, have been hurling invective and demonstrating in front of the Malaysian consulate building in Beijing, demanding answers and labelling Malaysian authorities “murderers”.
Of the 239 people on board Flight MH370, 153 were Chinese nationals. The jetliner disappeared from radar soon after taking off from KLIA en route to Beijing on March 8, leading to a multinational search and rescue effort across a massive swath of territory which included the South China Sea, Central Asia and the Indian Ocean.
“We fully understand,” acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday at a press conference that was broadcast live on TV.
“For the Chinese families… they must also understand. We in Malaysia also lost our loved ones.
“There are so many other nations who have lost loved ones.”
Hishamuddin was fielding repeated questions on Malaysia’s response to the plight of the Chinese families, some of whom staged a protest outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.
Many family members of the Chinese passengers have refused to believe their loved ones perished on Flight MH370, or that the plane had indeed crashed and has been destroyed.
They are demanding proof, in the form of wreckage or debris, at least, but Hishamuddin reiterated that this was a request he could not yet fulfil.
“Personally, it is very difficult for me… because I am a father and a brother, and I know what they are going through.
“And until we find the debris and we confirm that the debris belongs to MH370… that very question that they are asking, we cannot provide,” he said.
He pointed out that apart from China and Malaysia, other nations also lost their citizens in the MH370 tragedy.
Apart from the 153 Chinese, there were 50 Malaysians on board, and 12 other nationalities, including those from Australia, Ukraine, Indonesia, France, the US, Iran, Russia, Taiwan, New Zealand, Canada, India and the Netherlands.
“I’ve seen some images coming from Australia… very rational. They understand that this is a global effort, not blaming directly on Malaysia because we are coordinating something that is unprecedented,” Hishammuddin said.
See also: Chinese tourists shun Malaysia after Flight MH370 controversy; MH370: Malaysian embassy in Beijing swarmed by protesters;
Story: The Malay Mail Online
