Celebrities Pray for Safety of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370
The disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 early on March 8 remains a mystery. On its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpar, the airplane suddenly vanished from radar screens somewhere over the seas in between Malaysia and Vietnam. Several Asian artists from Malaysia, China, and Taiwan continue to pray for the flight’s safety, hoping there would be a miracle.
Malaysian artists including Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊), Vivien Yeo (楊秀惠), Angelica Lee (李心潔), Fish Leung (梁靜茹), Victor Wong (品冠) and Shila Amzah (茜拉) were hit with grief after learning of the missing aircraft. Currently working abroad, Michelle expressed her condolences to the flight’s passengers and crew members. Vivien admitted feeling extremely sorrowful about the incident. With her career based in Hong Kong, she had visited her home country during Lunar New Year to wish family and friends safety. Angelica hopes for a miracle, while Fish and Victor spread words of prayer on their Weibo accounts. Shila felt extremely uncomfortable about the incident and shared how she constantly took flight MH370 in the past.
Other Chinese artists also expressed their concerns for those affected and told everyone to not give up their hopes. Huang Xiaoming (黃曉明) wrote on his Weibo blog, “This news has caused much worry, and I really hope everyone is safe and sound. I hope everyone can take good care of their emotions and never give up on hope! Praying for everyone’s peace!”
Zhang Ziyi (章子怡) uploaded a photograph of two lit candles and commented, “A day of sorrow!” Hong Kong actress, Ada Choi (蔡少芬), also posted on her Weibo blog, “Why hasn’t the missing airplane been found…Lord have mercy, wishing there is a miracle and also have peace and strength for the families [waiting] on the ground. So sad, so heartbroken, so much sorrow.”
Taiwanese artists including Rainie Yang (楊丞琳), Leehom Wang (王力宏), Yoga Lin (林宥嘉), Valen Hsu (許茹蕓), and Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) left similar messages of prayer on their blogs. Rainie wrote, “My god…praying that there is peace.” Likewise, Yoga expressed, “Hoping the missing airplane can make it home safely. Give their family members some space. We don’t need to be onlookers toward their grief.”
Leehom, who just flew to Kuala Lumpar from Beijing last week, felt extremely sympathetic. He admitted, “I find it so hard to believe the news I’m hearing. I constantly take that flight, and just did so last week. Praying for all the passengers and crew members!” Barbie wrote, “Please do not make up rumors. Everyone is worried, and please consider the feelings of their family members. Wishing for the passengers’ safety.” Valen also expressed, “Praying for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight’s family members and friends. Hope a miracle can happen! Showing support together!”
Source: Sina.com
This article is written by Shirley for JayneStars.com.
I’ve been following the discussions on MH370 at this forum frequented by professional pilots and aviation buffs, and the information there is mind-boggling. It is very technical and some plausible theories have been discussed – including slow decompression and hypoxia, pilot suicide and now hijacking. It is also a possbility that this is sabotage, due to the cargo that the jetliner is carrying. It could be intellectual theft as Texas-based Freescale has 20 employees on that flight, is a US defense contractor and specializes in “radar-cloaking” technologies.
http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/535538-malaysian-airlines-mh370-contact-lost-142.html
For those who are afraid to fly with Malaysia Airlines or fly to Malaysia after this tragedy, I say cut the Malaysians some slack. MAS always had a very good reputation among the national carriers in Asia, and what happened might not be the crew’s fault. We don’t know what happened yet.
Look at what happened to Air France flight AF447 in 2009 – their pilots made beginner’s errors and panicky decisions which caused the plane to crash into the Atlantic Ocean killing all on board. The whole sordid details can be found in the transcript of AF447 –
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/damn-it-were-going-to-crash-this-cant-be-happening-air-france-447s-eerie-echo-of-malaysian-flight-disappearance-9184212.html
For me, even if Malaysian airlines have a safety record and even if they didn’t have this accident/incident, my family wouldn’t visit Malaysia anyways. It’s mostly due to the perception that Malaysia is a political unstable country and an unsafe country. This is the main reason why my family wouldn’t visit Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Indonesia, places that are exotic or near the equator or part of the southern hemipshere, countries in Africa, middle east, etc. And just hearing about not taking shoes off for security is surprising for those people who was always told to take shoes and belts off.
Fair enough. But I wouln’t Malaysia together with ‘rogue’countries or ‘axis of evil’ states (as coined by the US government) like Cuba, Iran/Iraq, or North Korea. Malaysia is quite a beautiful country with unspoilt virgin jungles and pristine islands, and the people here are mostly peace-loving, aside from some quarters of troublemakers who like to stir up racial and religious issues to gain political mileage. But oh well, I’m sure Malaysia’s image has taken a hit from this plane crash incident, but people’s memories are short. I wouldn’t want to visit Beijing either because of the smog.
“I wouldn’t want to visit Beijing either because of the smog.”
^ We wouldn’t either. In fact, most of my siblings and I are terrified of going back to China.
And the whole “rogue countries” or “axis of evil” states isn’t really coined like that in Canada. I would say that both Cuba, Dominican Republic, places in Carribean region, Mexico, are politically unstable and unsafe. 🙂 As for Iraq and North Korea, in my international studies class, we call them “bad International citizens that do not follow the rules” and classify as “rogue states”. And then as for Somalia, we call it failed states.
Correction – I wouldn’t lump Malaysia together with these dangerous or politically unstable countries. For the most part, Malaysia is VERY safe. You don’t hear stories of mass killings or shootings (ala Columbine high school), bomb attacks by terrorists or gas attacks or knife attacks at train stations, like what hsppened in Japan and China. In short, Malaysia is no more dangerous than any other country in the world.
Perhaps, it’s not as unstable as some of these countries I have listed, but some areas of Malaysia is very unsafe (according to governments’ travel advisory reports).
In that case, you must really be terrified of travelling down south with all the bombing and shootings. Heck, there was an aviation accident (thankfully with no lost of lives) in Philadelphia just yesterday. Some areas (see Detroit) in the US are also extremely dangerous.
China, Malaysia, Mexico and other countries are no more dangerous than the United States.
“In that case, you must really be terrified of travelling down south with all the bombing and shootings. […]”
I am mostly terrified of going to places that are near the equator or in the southern hemisphere for various reasons. I am also aware that some places in United States are also dangerous. And I have been to NYC, different parts of Pennsylvania, Texas , South Carolina, Hawaii, Alaska, etc. China’s, Mexico’s travel advisories are currently marked with a “Exercise a high degree of caution; see also regional advisories.” (according to Canada’s travel advisory) while Malaysia are marked with “exercise a normal degree of caution; see regional advisories.”
Visiting malaysia is no different from visiting any other country. “A normal degree of caution” just tells you to use the same amount of caution you would in Canada. I took a look at the regional advisories and it says to avoid southeastern sabah, which is a sea away from peninsular malaysia where most tourists visit. If we are looking at travel advisories, well, here’s France’s travel advisory for the United States.
http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/conseils-aux-voyageurs/conseils-par-pays/etats-unis-12311/
Which includes NYC and other large US cities. There can be danger found anywhere based on the actions you take.
“Visiting malaysia is no different from visiting any other country. “A normal degree of caution” just tells you to use the same amount of caution you would in Canada.”
Perhaps yes to people who are visiting Canada, but I do not think I would execute the same amount of caution or care I would if I was placed in a country such as Malaysia or China, compared to Canada.
And some cities in Canada are ranked highly in worldwide cities rankings such as http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertypicturegalleries/9477990/The-worlds-10-best-cities-to-live-in.html?frame=2311063.
“some areas of Malaysia is very unsafe ”
Of course! No one asks you to go to hidden valleys in the middle of the night or small towns of nowhere, same with everywhere in the world. What utter rubbish.
Bubbles, to equate us with Cuba, Mexico, Indonesia and what nots is insulting. Either you read more about us before forming such an unjust opinion or like you said, don’t bother coming at all. The only thing that might kill you here now is the haze. We don’t have riots and the riots we have aren’t riots; hey’re overblown protests. And that is rare. And not taking shoes off for security is not a basis for not visiting here. Last I recall one country is insane about safety and security and 2 planes were hijacked and flown into World Trade Centre. If you like taking shoes off, go to China where their train stations will make you take off shoes at least 2 times before you reach the waiting area.
As for this hijacking, every country has its bad apple. We are still not sure who and how but it was 1 incident in a very illustrous airline.
As for Canada being safe, there are serial killers there too. That wouldn’t stop me from going except I can’t think of a reason to visit Canada. But I wouldn’t go around and say Canada is boring, or dangerous or what nots without researching.
Same goes for Beijing (had an awesome time there) or anywhere else, even Abu Dhabi. Except maybe North Korea, Afghanistan.
@Bubblez: my family wouldn’t visit Malaysia anyways. It’s mostly due to the perception that Malaysia is a political unstable country and an unsafe country.
For someone who has never been to Malaysia, you sure have a lot to say on its political situation and calling it an unstable and unsafe country, and all this based on your own perception – to me it just smack of total ignorance and arrogance on your part. And reading some of your comments on Malaysia, tis’ true that empty vessels make the most noise.
And yes, I’ve visited Malaysia including KL and it is nothing close to how you described it — politically unstable and unsafe.
I rmb, in the heart of KL, some tried to cheat me. And then a Malaysia cheated my friend. Well, I blv the impression I had in Malaysia wasn’t very good. However, I met some nice Malaysia girls.
Fox, go anywhere there will always be some cheating scheme. so don’t fall for it.
“. Last I recall one country is insane about safety and security and 2 planes were hijacked and flown into World Trade Centre. If you like taking shoes off, go to China where their train stations will make you take off shoes at least 2 times before you reach the waiting area.”
It’s not that I like taking my shoes off. But why is the airport authority not requiring passengers to take off shoes or belts especially when “no technology meets government standards to screen shoes for explosives at airports while passengers wear them. Officials have not been able to say for certain that this technology will exist in the future, though they are working to develop it.”? It’s like one of those basic things…
And then calling that I have an unjust opinion about Malaysia, go and google “corrupt Malaysia”, “dangerous malaysia” or even go on social media networking sites and/or news outlet sites and read what they are saying..!
And in a “corruption perception in terms of public sector” survey, it shows this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2012/12/Screen-shot-2012-12-05-at-12.17.00-PM.png . And from an account of a foreigner who have been in Malaysia wrote this: http://malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=205942:this-is-an-actual-incident-that-happened-at-klia&Itemid=2#axzz2opJXYrF1 .
“For someone who has never been to Malaysia, you sure have a lot to say on its political situation and calling it an unstable and unsafe country, and all this based on your own perception – to me it just smack of total ignorance and arrogance on your part. And reading some of your comments on Malaysia, tis’ true that empty vessels make the most noise.”
^ It is not just me who have this perception.Many people do have similar perceptions as I do (look at what people are tweeting or some of the comments made on Facebook… ). And maybe this person who valued both sides of the spectrum is more accurate.. ? (http://www.scribd.com/doc/83168372/Political-Stability-an-advantage-or-a-curse)
And true, that I have never been to Malaysia BUT someone did visit Malaysia and wrote this:
http://malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=205942:this-is-an-actual-incident-that-happened-at-klia&Itemid=2#axzz2opJXYrF1
Bubblez
It is not just me who have this perception. Many people do have similar perceptions as I do (look at what people are tweeting or some of the comments made on Facebook… ). And maybe this person who valued both sides of the spectrum is more accurate.. ?
You know what, these other many people that you mentioned are not here right now bashing Malaysia based on their perception or academic knowledge, (yeah, empty vessels). Also, maybe unlike you they may have actual experiences to substantiate their opinions, but what are you but a rumor monger spreading unbased hurtful rumors on a country you’ve never stepped foot on?
You do know we have many Malaysians visitors on this site, and that they maybe still reeling from the missing MAS plane tragedy, right? This tragedy is real life to them, so have a bit of sensitivity, will you? Stop bashing their country – they should know their own country, they live in it; they should know their own government, they have to bear with it. So stop maligning their country based on hearsay. And the links – give one link bashing Malaysia and I too can google to come up with more praising Malaysia.
Clamine,
I was only stating that even if this incident didn’t happen, my family wouldn’t visit Malaysia due to the incorrect perception of it being unsafe/politically unstable. But this is not uncommon among the people who has not visited Malaysia.
It is also this SAME perception of fear that my family does not visit Cuba, Dominican Republic, etc. It was also this common reason why i listed countries such as Cuba, places in Caribbean, etc because the very same reason why we do not visit Dominican republic, Cuba, Guam, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, places in Africa, etc is the same reason why we do not visit Malaysia.
If I truly wanted to spread rumours, there are other ways of doing that than commenting on here. And if people saw that it was to ‘bash” Malaysia, that wasn’t the case (Hence I apologize if those saw it that way). I was only sharing my family’s position on not visiting Malaysia (and other places in the world) and the reasons behind why we don’t visit these places.
Fox, go anywhere there will always be some cheating scheme. so don’t fall for it.
I haven’t met anyone who tried to cheat me in daylight like in Msia anywhere else I’ve been to. Of course cheats happen everywhere but publicly like in Msia is quite rare. Not even in India where ppl claim as unsafe.
But I find those cheats are quite old school yet naive :P. Guess they only can do it to some travelers.
I was going to let it be but others won’t. Bubblez, do you have any inkling where I was coming from with my response to you? I was indeed put off by your going on and on about how unstable and unsafe Malaysia was based on mere perception. I was appalled by an insensitive comment, what’s more the Malaysians especially when their country is undergoing a crisis of a life and death matter. It is also this SAME perception of fear that my family does not visit Cuba, Dominican Republic, etc. It was also this common reason why i listed countries such as Cuba, places in Caribbean, etc because the very same reason why we do not visit Dominican republic, Cuba, Guam, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, places in Africa, etc is the same reason why we do not visit Malaysia.” .
Understand that perception is not a fact but based on personal biases and ignorance; even so-called ‘research’ is based on hearsay and rumors. Until you have the personal experiences to make your perception a fact to argue your viewpoint, then whatever links on Malaysia you posted here to share are rumors/hearsay you’ve collected googling other forums and spreading/propagating/perpetuating them here, hence rumor monger and spreading rumors. At other times I would have just read and moved on without comments like I did most times – check my posting history if care too. In this sensitive and difficulty time let’s all give Malaysia a break, shall we?
To you, belaboring your negative perception of Malaysia as to liken it to the more extreme countries sites may be a mere academic exercise complete with ‘bibliographic’ references for you to while away your time and to express your freedom of thoughts, but to the Malaysians here you were indeed insulting them and bashing their country, and to add insult to injury, your relentless argument is all based on perception and ‘rumors/hearsay’ to boot. With an open mind you had an excellent opportunity to learn from our Malaysian members and from the Malaysia visitors here, we know them – Funn, Primrose, Nicole, Felicity, etc why did you choose to reject their positive opinions (rumors to us) while believing the negative ones from the other forums, as to even resorted to posting their hearsay (to you to me to us) here to support your pov?
Bubblez, If you still don’t get it then I’ve nothing more to add to what I have already said.
Support tania & bubbles’s argument.
Me do not want to visit malaysia either since it is very corrupted. And me cannot wait to see that a lawsuit would soon prevail.
Dear Clamine,
I like to say that I do recognize that the perception I have is incorrect. Hence during my LAST post, I did write that “due to the incorrect perception of it being unsafe/politically unstable”. Not only that, I was aware that some people like you may see that I was bashing Malaysia. Hence, I apologized.
And I did not directly reject what you guys have to say. Because if I was insisting that I was right and you are wrong, why did I apologize in that last post I wrote? I do not apologize just because I feel like it. I apologized because I know that some people may have saw it as bashing and that I truly meant it. I always tell my younger brother that “do not apologize if you are not sincere with it. You should apologize because you are 100% sincere and would stop whatever you are doing that is hurtful, etc and that you are wanting to change for the better”. And after that, I did pay attention to the search but no comments were made until that recent comment you have made.
And lastly, I do agree that that we should drop this matter until the plane is found.
Sincerely,
Bubblez.
be4 u say that bubblez is a rumor monger, http://malaysiafactbook.com/Political_corruption_in_Malaysia.
Dear Bubblez: I was going to let it be but others won’t. Bubblez, did you have any inkling where I was coming from with my response to you?
Hence my question above. I’m so glad you did get my pov. I was certain you did until someone rehashed our old posts. And also I did sense the sincerity in your apology to our Malaysian friends, hence my silence in that subject thereafter. Actually we both got each other’s pov, and we were all good until some people (or some person with multi-identities) rehashed our old posts. And so second guessing myself, I thought maybe you didn’t get my pov after all like I thought, and I wanted to clarify myself to you and you only.
Agree with your sentiment: “And lastly, I do agree that that we should drop this matter until the plane is found.”
Sincerely too,
Clamine
And to the rehasher(s) of our old posts: Bubblez did not apologize to me, she apologized to the Malaysian members here. Get it?
LOL bubblez is only giving in b/c she is greedy and wanted to save herself. Lame girl.
Yup I am flying to Penang next month. Lovely beaches, great food, friendly people, pampering massages … hmmm … Then off to Kuala Lumpur for high end shopping, more great food, exciting night life. Can’t wait!
Good for you.
In my younger days, I have also been on volunteering missions to villages in Myanmar, Cambodia, North Thailand, East Malaysia. Sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zone, and open our eyes and extend our help to the people living in countries with less privileged conditions. As I tell my children, life has to be experienced to the fullest.
God bless you
Well, good for you for traveling to these places and making an impact but not everyone needs to travel to those places in order to get out of their comfort zone or to experience life to its fullest. At least from seeing my friend who did something small in her own school has impacted other school districts. And now, she is in another province but making the same impacts.
Of course, it would be nice to volunteer aboard but some people like myself would worry a lot such as travel mercies, monetary costs, etc.
Hi Bubblez. I understand your concern for safe travel but your perception that Malaysia is unsafe is incorrect. I travel to the capital city of Kuala Lumpur almost twice yearly since I moved back to Asia, and I feel as safe in KL as I was in VC, Canada. Singapore, a country which is near the equator, is ranked one of the safest city in the world. I am not trying to change your perception. Just sharing my experience so you have an alternative view from what you see in travel advisories. 🙂
hi bublez, i think canada is the most dangerous place on earth because you can be grabbed by a grizzly bear if you go to the forrest…hihi.
I hail from a Singapore upbringing, although I am also Canadian.
Agree that it’s really ignorance/insular thinking about how unsafe M’sia/SE Asia is. It comes from people who don’t explore much outside of their comfort zone, and who remained unexposed.
Many of my NAmerican friends don’t explore much beyond local places, or “exotic” Hawaii (yupz so far away indeed!).
for eg:
When the news article about the Filipino bus driver with the HK passengers made headlines … many of my HK/China/Taiwan friends made sweeping generalizations about how “unsafe and dangerous” Philipines was. Indonesia too. WTF?!??
And 50% of them uttering this had not even been there in that region, or even understood the different cultures of SE Asians. Beyond 2 day stopovers, they had never really lived there beyond a week.
For a sad crowd (many of those who are not independent thinkers who only know shopping with their husband’s money despite having degrees themselves) .. let me put it in their terms:
LV has 2 outlets in KL.
LV has 4 outlets in tiny Singapore
LV has 1 outlet in Vancouver
Go figure.
Other than buying power, it also is revealing how cosmopolitan each city is to make it on the LV map.
The lv part is very funny!! Never thought of it that way.
Singapore, a country which is near the equator, is ranked one of the safest city in the world. I am not trying to change your perception. Just sharing my experience so you have an alternative view from what you see in travel advisories.
^ I have traveled on a Singapore Airlines before and their service is one of the best ones (:
And my dad tells me that Singapore has very strict rules (hence it is very clean).
“hi bublez, i think canada is the most dangerous place on earth because you can be grabbed by a grizzly bear if you go to the forrest…hihi.”
^ That’s not true. My elementary school had a mini forest, and we never encountered any coyotes, bears, etc. And now, I go to an university where it is located on a mountain where we are exposed to racoons, deers, bears. But none of my friends nor myself had never encountered a bear.
“Many of my NAmerican friends don’t explore much beyond local places, or “exotic” Hawaii (yupz so far away indeed!).”
^ I have been to Hawaii and some of my friends have been to Hawaii, at the very least.
LV has 1 outlet in Vancouver
LV isn’t that popular in Vancouver. What I mean by “isn’t that popular” is most people (especially the people around the university age) are more crazy with Michael Kors than LV. On a regular basis, I see more Coach and Michael Kors bag than seeing a LV bag. It also depends on the preference of Vancouver consumers as well… And even at church, I see more coach bags than MK and LV bags.
TROUBLE IS BREWING!
Relatives of passengers on board Air France Flight AF447, which went missing on the way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in 2009, urged the families of MH370 to demand an investigation by experts of their choice to “safeguard full transparency and best practices”. Bernd Gans, who lost a daughter, and Barbara Crolow, who lost her son, wrote in an open letter that the relatives should also demand financial aid from the Malaysian government.
Experts said families could seek compensation now. Floyd Wisner, a US lawyer who represented the families of Flight AF447, said that when a plane belonging to the Indonesian airline Adam Air disappeared in 2007, he secured a deal with the insurers before any trace of the plane was found. “The families may seek compensation even before any wreckage or bodies are found,” he? said.
this is not the time to post these.
Quoted:
Oh My! Malaysian Airlines, how can this happen so soon after the investigation of flight MH370?!
I would have assumed that all Malaysian Airline planes (regardless of model or type) would have undergone a thorough maintenance check and even more thorough pre-flight checks in an attempt to prevent any further “bad media” until the missing flight MH370 is found.
Here are my questions. . .
1.) Is it possible someone employed by the Malaysian Airlines is intentionally tampering with the planes to cause these issues?
2.) Is it possible the issues occurring with these planes are a result of Malaysian Airlines not doing required routine maintenance checks or improperly installing (or even failing to install entirely) much needed equipment in an attempt to “cut costs” and save the Malaysian Airliner money?
3.) Is it possible that in an attempt to cut costs and save money that, Malaysian Airlines has under-staffed their maintenance crew, so they are unable to keep up with maintenance demands and checks? Or perhaps Malaysian Airlines has employed maintenance staff who lack experience, proper training, or valid credentials? (either by not doing the necessary background checks or by attempting to save money)
4.) If what happened to this, and flight MH370, is suspected to be a direct result of negligence by Malaysian Airlines trying to take short cuts in order to save money and failing to properly maintain their aircraft’s, would an investigation be able to take place by another government or agency?
I stumbled upon this and I read with amusement the comments made here about Malaysia. I am Malaysian. I am sorry that you have a bad PERECEPTION about Malaysia becos we always made worldwide headlines for the wrong reasons.
to those of you who are afraid of visiting Malaysia, I would like to extend to you an invitation to visit us. we are a beautiful country. great food. great beaches. friendly people.
if you should meet with unfriendly people i can only say they are a minority. (doesn’t every country have these minorities?) should you be cheated, could it be your own naivety as well?
come and visit us. WE are not ALL corrupt, naïve, cheaters, and etc. 🙂
Wendy Wong