Malaysia has been drawing flak over the lax airport security, which allowed two men with stolen passports to board the MH370 Malaysia Airlines flight, which has been missing since Saturday morning.

Among the possibilities raised is that there could be a terrorism link, or that the flight which was bound for Beijing had been hijacked.

The security gaffe has also been widely reported in the international media.

A livid Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi lambasted the Immigration Department over this oversight and promised action.

Commenting on the matter, a veteran journalist noted that security at Malaysian airports, including KLIA, were poor compared to airports in Europe.

According to former New Straits Times Group editor-in-chief A Kadir Jasin, security checks were tighter even at the colossal airport in Dubai.

"Have we paid a high price for the attitude and third-world mentality towards security and asset management?

"Is this the repercussion for the corruption, abuse of power and negligence which have reportedly happened repeatedly in KLIA?” he asked in his blog posting.

As a case in point, Kadir cited the continued delay in the opening of KLIA 2.

"Everyone is relaxed... Everything seems fine and nobody wants to accept responsibility (for the delay). Business as usual," he added.