YOURSAY ‘Don’t ignore warning signs. Recent incidents show something’s wrong.’

Electrical failure forces MAS plane to divert to HK

Anonymous_4031: Trouble comes in threes. First, MH370 en route to Beijing, disappeared mysteriously. Two days ago, MAS, en route to Kathmandu, Nepal, crashed into ducks at the airport.

Yesterday, MAS, en-route to South Korea, was forced to land in Hong Kong because of electrical failure. What is happening to MAS?

MAS was once called "Mana Ada System," and it received a rejoinder by then transport minister Sardon Jubir "Mana Ada Salah!" Has MAS lost its golden shine?

Oriole: MAS needs independent auditing and inspections from top to bottom. Do not endanger any more lives. How many more close calls must there be before a thorough revamp of this carrier is carried out?

Something is seriously wrong with its quality control, its management, its day-to-day operations and its general reliability. If this airline cannot guarantee safety and competence, they have no business being in the business of flying.

Anonymous #70881335: What on earth is happening? I remember a period when Qantas was servicing their planes in Malaysia, they ran into quite a few problems, and finally it terminated the agreement.

The company doing the maintenance of the planes must be checked. People's lives are at stake. Prevention’s better than cure.

Isana: After years of mismanagement and corruption, the weaknesses of MAS are coming home to roost. This is a microcosm of what is really happening in Malaysia, which is ruled by a weak and corrupt leadership.

RakyatBiasa: This has everything to do with politics from the education system that favours one race to the economy that benefits cronies.

If MAS and other government agencies represented the racial mix of the country and promoted individuals based on meritocracy and awarded contracts based on knowledge, skill and proper tender procedures, such unfortunate incidents could have perhaps been avoided, or the crisis better managed.

So to the government of Malaysia, set aside your ego and do something right for once to transform this country.

Wira: It can't be just one stroke of bad luck after another. The problem is structural. MAS shares will probably hit below 20sen this week.

Senior Citizen: The answer to this is that everything is rotten to the core. Nobody takes notice and even bothers as long as one race is in charge. That is wrong and disastrous.

We need to rethink from the bottom upwards. Transport, health, medical, education, police, MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission), immigration, Election Commission, just to start with. Indeed, everything is a mess.

Get the best from the world to be trainers or to work here. Bring in the best engineers from US, England and even China and India. Even if we need to have foreign experts to head our departments, it does not matter.

Right now, we are in a mess because of false pride and racial prejudice. Human lives are in danger.

There is nothing to feel bad or feel slighted, even if the chief has to be an American, a Chinese from China or an Indian from India. It matters little as we want the best.

We gave our locals a chance but they have destroyed themselves and the nation. Act now. It is urgent. Don’t wait for a second.

P Dev Anand Pillai: MAS seriously needs to be revamped and inspected by independent international bodies to ensure that it is fit to fly its planes. Playing the guessing game and allowing lives to be endangered is not something that we can take for granted.

The rot has set in everywhere, first it was the government departments now it is with state owned entities like MAS. How long are we going to wait?

Pemerhati: MAS must ensure that it employs the best people to administer the airline, and to fly and service its planes.

We have seen how the quality of Malaysia’s education standards, professionals and the public service have deteriorated sharply ever since Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno started employing people in the public service and GLCs (government-linked companies) based on their ethnicity, even if they were of very low quality.

For instance, students who obtained the very weak pass, Grade 8 (the lowest - Grade 9 was a fail) in all or most of the subjects in Form 5, were allowed to become teachers in the 1980s.

The result of that racist policy showed up in the Pisa (Program for International Student Assessment) rankings, which in 2012 ranked Malaysia at No 52 out of 65 countries, while Singapore was at No 2.

The question that comes to mind is that, since Umno’s policies have resulted in the sharp drop in standards in almost all areas, could they have not also similarly deteriorated in the way MAS is run and the way the planes are serviced and maintained?

Anonymous_1394346314: Why do you people keep blaming all the troubles on Umno?

MAS is an airline, it has its fair share of problems. Not every pilot, engineer or aircrew is an Umno crony. Let’s keep politics aside.

Anonymous #55961902: Better check if the pilot is a member of PKR or if he is related to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim...

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