'Next of kin now more receptive to SAR efforts'

'Next of kin now more receptive to SAR efforts'

'Next of kin now more receptive to SAR efforts'

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:01 AM PDT

28 March 2014| last updated at 11:45PM

THE next of kin of Chinese passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have calmed down and are now more receptive of  information about the search.

Malaysia Airlines' regional senior vice-president for greater China region Joshua Law Kok Hwa said daily briefings were held every morning to provide the latest updates.

"Every morning at 10am, we will brief the passengers' family members with updates from the previous day's search operation."

About 250 Chinese passengers' next of kin attend the briefing, held at Beijing's Lido Hotel.

Law said besides giving updates on the search mission, the morning briefings were also used as platforms to answer questions raised by the family members.

"We try our best to provide them with answers to all their questions.

"When we cannot provide them with answers, we will direct their questions to our headquarters and get back to them as soon as possible."

Besides the daily briefings, Law said, they also arranged special briefing sessions with the team of high-level officers once every five days.

The high-level team, which arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, comprises representatives from the prime minister's office, Foreign Ministry, Royal Malaysian Air Force, Department of Civil Aviation and MAS.

"The team had met with the passengers' families twice, in a three-hour session on Wednesday and yesterday."

Law added that they would also have additional briefings if there was a need to provide the next of kin with immediate updates.

"MAS caretakers, who have been placed at the hotel, will inform the family members about the additional briefing sessions," he said.

A family member (centre) of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 reacts as she enters a meeting room with volunteers from Malaysia (in blue vests) at Lido Hotel in Beijing yesterday. Severe weather conditions halted an air and sea search for the aircraft in the southern Indian Ocean. Reuters pic

Disabled woman dies in fire

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:01 AM PDT

28 March 2014| last updated at 11:34PM

May Kalasom Daud, 71, was sleeping in her room on the first floor of her double-storey wooden home when the fire occurred at 9pm.

The victim's eldest son, Mohamad Mat Yaacob, 56, said his mother was home alone as her other son, Mohamad Abdul Halim, 33, and his wife, Malina Mohamad, 31, had gone to a clinic nearby.

"My brother and his wife told me they were taking their 6-year-old son, who was sick, to the clinic in Gual Tinggi.

"In their absence, I asked my son to look after my mother.

"While my wife and I were having dinner at home a few metres away, we heard our son shouting for help and saw smoke coming from my mother's house."

Mohamad said he and several villagers tried to enter the house to rescue his mother but it was too dangerous as the fire spread rapidly.

Kelantan fire and rescue assistant director (operation division) Abdul Jalil Ishak said seven firemen in an engine rushed to the scene after receiving a call at 9.40pm.

"The house was about 90 per cent burnt when firemen arrived at the place.

"It took about 20 minutes to put out the fire."

Jalil said cause and losses in the fire were still under investigation.

 

Bad weather halts search operations

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:01 AM PDT

28 March 2014| last updated at 11:59PM
By HARIS HUSSAIN | news@nst.com.my

 PERTH: WITH visibility down to between 600 and zero metres, search-and-rescue aircrews were forced to scrub their planned sweeps of the southern Indian Ocean yesterday for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Gale-force winds and storm fronts lashed the search area, making SAR sweeps extremely hazardous, while rough seas hammered and lashed surface vessels. This was in contrast to Wednesday's near-perfect weather conditions.

Yesterday's search was conducted by 11 aircraft and five vessels. Among the aircraft that took part were two RAAF P3C Orions, a Chinese Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft, a Japanese Gulfstream V, a US Navy P8 Poseidon and a Japanese P3C Orion. The planes sortied out of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Pearce airbase, in Bullsbrook, near Perth.

Earlier, the search was split into two areas within the same proximity covering 78,000 square kilometres. The last aircraft that were supposed to enter the search area were the Poseidon and the Orion belonging to Japan, at 4 and 5pm respectively. However, because of the poor weather conditions, both were ordered to stand down.

Australia's Maritime and Safety Authority said that while the aircraft had all been ordered back to RAAF Pearce, the ships were still on station in their assigned grids. HMAS Success remains in the search area about 2,500km southwest of Perth and has been joined by four Chinese vessels - the Xue Long, Kunlushan, Haikou and the Qiandaohu.

On Wednesday, Royal Australian Navy chief Vice-Admiral Ray Griggs had told reporters in Perth that the target area was in a remote location where storm fronts hit often and that "it was almost inevitable that bad weather would halt the search again, soon."

One of the RAAF P3C pilots involved in yesterday's search, Capt Mike MacSween, told reporters that the visibility was "down to near-zero".

"We managed three hours of sweeps before the weather closed in on us. We took her (the Orion) down to about 500 feet off the surface but didn't find anything," he said.

While the airborne phase of the search had been scaled down due to the wild weather, the arrival of the US Navy's Towed Pinger Locator (TPL-25) and the Bluefin-21 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) in Perth yesterday has buoyed the SAR crews' spirits.

Both equipment will remain packaged until they are fitted to Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Ocean Shield, which is scheduled to arrive in Western Australia in the coming days.

An Australian Maritime and Safety Authority (AMSA) spokesman told the New Straits Times that the ADV Ocean Shield is a more capable platform and will arrive in the search area sooner than the Defence Maritime Services Vessel MV Seahorse Standard.

The Ocean Shield is a specialist vessel and operates in sub-Antarctic weather.

The Pinger Locator is slowly towed by a ship and can detect the acoustic pulses from the locator beacons.

The Bluefin, meanwhile, uses active sonar to locate underwater wreckage.

Members of the search-and-recovery operation team of SAR arriving at RAAF Pearce Base in Perth yesterday. Pic by Effendy Rashid

Needs of fishermen not neglected

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:01 AM PDT

28 March 2014| last updated at 11:36PM

"We believe the small scale fisherman will stand on their own one day. For now, many still need our assistance," he said.

Speaking at the opening of the Mukah/Oya Fishermen Association's 40th Annual General Meeting here yesterday, Muhyiddin said among the assistance provided for small-scale fishermen were fish landing incentives at 10sen per fish landing, RM200 monthly assistance, fishing equipment and housing.

Fisheries is one of the most important industry in the nation because of the demand from an expanding population.

"There are 31 million mouths to feed with this ever increasing population.

"We rely on the fishermen to provide us with the food we need and this is why the government will not lay their hands off them, especially small scale fishermen."

He said the government spent RM42 billion annually for subsidies, including health, education, basic necessity goods and fuel.

"We know some fishermen sell their subsidised diesel to foreign vessels at sea. But we believe there are many more who eke out an honest living out."

Muhyiddin said, like others, the fishing community had dreams of success and would one day own a bigger vessel or even the fishing business on their own.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Sarawak Housing and Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg visiting a stall selling homemade crackers in Mukah yesteday. NST pic by Nadim Bokhari

US Navy crew don MH370 patch

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:01 AM PDT

28 March 2014| last updated at 11:48PM

This came to light after the United States embassy here changed its cover picture of its Facebook which portrays a close-up picture of the patch worn by a navy officer on board a search plane in the Indian Ocean. The patch bears the MAS logo as well as the lost flight's number of MH370.

The embassy in its posting urged its followers to display their support for the ongoing search by downloading the cover image and use it in their profiles. US Embassy Kuala Lumpur press attache Harvey Sernovitz said the patch was presently used by all its soldiers involved in the search efforts.

"The Facebook post underscores our continued support to Malaysia during this difficult time," he said when contacted by the New Straits Times.

The photo was taken during a search mission at the Southern corridor onboard a US Navy P3-C Orion aircraft, with 11 crew members on board.

The badge's maker, Airwings Merchandise, commented on the picture saying 300 patches were handed out to the air unit crew members as a symbol of support.

"The patch was designed by Lt Cdr Sham Saimon, a Super Lynx helicopter pilot attached with the Royal Malaysian Navy," said the company in a reply to the post.

The photo has garnered over 1,000 likes, with 300 re-posts, with many users praising the embassy's effort.

Azizah Aziz commented: "Thank you! May God bless all the rescue teams and protect them during this mission. Amin."

Shahnon Shahrain said: "Thank you will not be adequate as our hearts scream with gratitude to you, your teams and your nation."

Rosemary Chin said: " Thank you. your support and help at this very difficult time is very much appreciated."

To share the cover picture, visit the embassy's page at www.facebook.com/usembassykl.

The iron-on insignia is being sold at the badge at RM10 each at www.facebook.com/AirwingsMerchandise.

Kuala Lumpur 27 March 2014. A close-up of the badge designed by Royal Malaysian Navy pilot Lt Cdr Sham Saimon, which is used by those involved in the search. Pictures courtesy of the United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur A close-up of the patch designed by Royal Malaysian Navy pilot Lt Cdr Sham Saimon, which is used by those involved in the search. Picture courtesy of the United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur

Nation awash in relief

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:01 AM PDT

28 March 2014| last updated at 11:54PM

After four decades of fighting, which left 150,000 dead, the peace deal will see the Bangsamoro leadership working with the central Philippine government, but having autonomous powers.

The fighting has left the people of Mindanao in abject poverty and the signing of the CAB cements the optimism that has been growing in the southern Philippine island over the past few years.

"I am really happy. In the face of all the hardship of our parents, we, the next generation, hope and pray that Christians and Muslims will have peace," Mona Rakman, 42, a mother of four who lives close to the headquarters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, told AFP.

The autonomous region will have its own police force, a regional Parliament and power to levy taxes, while revenues from the region's vast deposits of natural resources will be split with the national government. It will have a secular government, rather than being an Islamic state.

The national government will retain control over defence, foreign policy, currency and citizenship.

Rakman's joy and optimism is shared by others, not just in Mindanao, but also here.

Associated Press quoted the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines as welcoming the agreement and urging the government and the Moro group to reach out to those who were "antagonistic" toward the peace deal.

"We pray that this first courageous breakthrough will be followed by more steps, leading to true and lasting peace in Mindanao," said group president Archbishop Socrates Villegas.

Kristian Herbolzheimer, a director at Conciliation Resources, said even small numbers of fighters could derail the accord.

"Success will depend very much on the performance of the peace process."

A Muslim woman wiping away a tear during the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro at Malacanang Palace in Manila yesterday