Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Prayers of Hope for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Normally, I post some fantastic travel story on Thursdays, or I show you a little more about Malaysia where I now live. Many people in the USA where I am from are unfamiliar with Malaysia, and it's been a bit of a mission for me to educate the world about what Malaysia is like. Now, Malaysia is making headlines for all the wrong reasons, and I can't bring myself to write a jolly post for the week.

As I'm sure you know, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished on Saturday night during a red-eye flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Five days later, no trace of the plane has been found. My last few travel posts have been about my own family's trip from Malaysia to Beijing last October, albeit on a different airline. I can't help identifying with the passengers on that plane. I'm sure that the same question has crossed other travelers minds. What if I had been on that flight?



Beijing, China
Memories of our own trip from Malaysia to Beijing

I remember when my parents were visiting Europe and scheduled to fly home on September 12, 2001. I got the days mixed up and thought that they were flying home on September 11. When the attacks on the World Trade Center began, I vividly remember calling their phone in Texas and leaving a frantic message on the answering machine. "Are you home? Did you get home? Do not get on a plane!" They probably couldn't understand me; I was so hysterical. What if my family or friends were on a missing flight?


Wednesday night's update in a string of sometimes confusing and contradicting reports indicate that an unidentified blip was caught on military radar 200 km northwest of Penang at roughly the time that MH 370 disappeared. Could it be the missing aircraft? Did it turn back towards Kuala Lumpur? The search area has expanded from the east coast of Malaysia over the the west coast and the Andaman Sea that surrounds Penang. No, I have not seen any search planes or boats. Penang is in a heavy shipping lane and populated enough that someone would have noticed if the plane went down within sight of the island, so the rescuers are focusing on the vast expanse of water instead. Still, I cannot help looking out my windows to the Straits of Malacca spread out before me in hopes of spotting something   a life raft, fragments, or, God willing, the whole entire plane floating by.

Looking out from Penang towards the mainland
Looking out at the Straits of Malacca, waiting and searching


There has been an outpouring of support from the people of Malaysia. Radio stations broadcast people's phoned-in messages of hope for the missing plane between songs. A local mall is holding a paper crane origami event on Thursday and Friday. They aim to offer up 5000 cranes, 5000 wishes, and 5000 prayers for the 239 passengers and crew members. University students stood near the flight path of planes taking off from Penang International Airport holding up signs that proclaimed, "Pray for MH370."

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, pilot of the missing flight, attended Penang Free School. Over a thousand teachers and students there gathered to pray. The Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs went off to separate areas in the school to supplicate their respective god(s) for the plane's safe return.

As is typical in this day and age, people expect total transparency and updates on the search and rescue efforts. News updates are given over the local radio every 30 minutes. The New Straits Times website adds multiple new articles an hour with all the latest information. Sometimes it's about area fishermen pledging to do everything they can to help with the search and rescue mission. A group found a badly damaged life raft floating 10 nautical miles from Port Dickson on the west coast of Malaysia on Wednesday. Unfortunately, it sank while being transferred on board the boat operated by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. Other times, it's about family members of the missing losing control of their emotions and giving in to grief and despair.

The locals I know are upset about how the government seems to be bungling the search and rescue operation. They had hoped that this emergency would give Malaysia a chance to shine and demonstrate its capabilities in the world. Instead, they've come up with nothing. The Dewan Rakyat (Malaysia's House of Representatives) has gone from observing a moment of silence in honor of the missing flight to members of the opposition party accusing officials of mishandling the incident and calling for the Prime Minister and Acting Transport Minister to present themselves to the next day's session to provide an explanation.

In the end, what everyone wants to find out is where is the plane. We hope that somehow the passengers and crew are safe. That six days out, this story will have a happy ending. That's what I'm praying for.


This post is part of Travel Photo Thursday on Budget Travelers Sandbox. Check them out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.

22 comments:

  1. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved. Thanks for the post.

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing this story, Michele. This is the honest to goodness truth in that I thought of you guys immediately when I heard the news on Saturday. I always get worried that by contacting folks if gawd forbid something had happened is worse than waiting for a little bit to see if I hear from them. That by no means is a measure of how deeply caring I am....which I am. I'm so glad all of you safe first and foremost. I listen to NPR (National Public Radio) and get shows from around the world hourly with news updates on the half hour...and literally at this second as I'm typing this. I have said many prayers for all the families and I deeply wish they find the plane soon. The complete unknown of something you can't put a physical finality on is the worst thing in the entire world. Bless you again for this post, our friend...

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing this story, Michele.

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  4. I've been thinking about you all this week, Michele. Even said I was going to email you to make sure you and your family were not on the flight. Glad you weren't. I've been also thinking about the families and replaying the crash on Long Island, the crash that took John Kennedy, his wife and sister-in-law, and the Air France flight.
    I lost a friend on Air France. I didn't realize he was on it until a few days later. The memorial service was agonizing but at least we knew right away that they didn't make it, we knew where the plane went down. This is torture, the total mystery. How could a plane just vanish? I was watching the BBC last night and they showed a mother from Australia who was supposed to meet her son and his wife. She was beside herself with agony.
    I pray they find something soon so the families can grieve. This tragedy gives us all pause. I'm so thankful that my most recent flight brought me safely home.
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Michele.

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  5. Oh this is such an appropriate post for this week, and my eyes are streaming, also very appropriate. We all know when we get on a plane that we take our lives in our hands... yet we manage to force ourselves anyway onto these little metal cigar-shaped boxes... it's always on take off and landing that I am clutching the kids hands and saying prayers... but something happened on this flight mid-air, how terrible. I heard news of wreckage on a satellite today, I hope we find out soon what happened. I hope it was quick, whatever it was. A terrible tragedy. Hugs from Sydney.

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  6. This situation deeply saddened me and tears my heart. I thought of you because this is too close to home for you. Like you, I'm praying for miracles. I wake each morning hoping that there would be a positive development but each time there's only conflicting and confusing reports. My heart goes out the the family of the passengers and crew. I can't even imagine the agony they are going through. May the flight be found and may everyone in it are somehow okay,

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  7. I think anyone who travels can't help but say a prayer when something like this happens. A prayer for the people involved in the accident, and a prayer for their families and loved ones.
    While I've never been that close to a disaster, I remember how devastating it was when the earthquake shook Chile almost exactly a year after we were there. Travelling opens the world up, and I couldn't help but think about the wonderful people we had met there and wonder how they were doing.

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  8. Very interesting to get your thoughts on the missing plane and to hear the stories of what the locals are doing. It does sound bungled from afar but I'm of a mind that we should give the Malaysian government the benefit of the doubt - and when you look at the area they have to search it's quite mind boggling. It is so hard to believe that in 2014 a plane can go missing.

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  9. What a wonderful community of friends we have developed in this blogosphere! I too immediately thought of you and your safety and once it sounded like you weren't among those missing, I hoped you would write a post. It is such a frightening concept -- one thing to die and another to simply not know. My heart aches for the families of those on that plane. We missed the fatal Alaska Airlines 261 crash (Puerto Vallarta to Seattle) by three days - I still have the tickets with flight number to remind me how close we came. And only two weeks ago, the morning we were to fly the teeny-tiny plane off Lana'i I had an email from a friend with subject matter: Lana'i crash and her message, "Tell me you are okay" A small charter flight had crashed - the first fatality ever recorded. Thanks for such a timely and important post!

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  10. Thank you for doing this post. It is good to know that the people of Malaysia are so caring and looking for answers. It has been such a shock to everyone. I am glad we are not flying anywhere just yet. Hoping for answers soon.

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  11. Thanks for your personal take on this enigmatic story.

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  12. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of everyone involved....thank you for posting about this very important story. I couldn't imagine the feeling of having a family member or friend on board that plane.

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  13. My thoughts and prayers to all those whose loved ones were in the missing plane, the continous days of uncertainty must be a heart wrenching experience.

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  14. Ths is such an appropriate post for something so sad, so untenable. I am just glad that there are such lovely people, like you, in the blogosphere to put into words what so many people are thinking. Thank you Michelle x

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  15. I check the news articles and updates everyday hoping to hear that they've found the flight. it's very heart breaking and I hope something is found soon for the sake of the families waiting to hear what happened to their loved ones.

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  16. I appreciate how difficult it must have been to put these thoughts into words. How heart warming that the 5000 cranes, wishes and prayers are being added to the world's wishes and prayers for receiving closure on this sad event.

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  17. I would like to see this story on CNN. Your story helped me see Malaysia come alive and reminds me of their humanity. I am in my sitting room in Seattle area at 5:30 a.m. reading your blog and listening to a jet in the distance as it prepares to land and thinking of the souls on flight 370.

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  18. I would like to see this report on CNN. You have provided an image of humanity for the people of Malaysia. As I read your blog this early morning day in Newcastle WA and listen to jets in the distance in their landing pattern, I think of the souls on 370.

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  19. The days since the crash have been difficult for everyone, and I think it hits very close for any of us living in Asia. I'm hoping that the mystery surrounding the flight ends soon, and perhaps families can begin to have closure. Thanks for a great post.

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  20. Almost two weeks later and I can't get over how there's still so little information. This is so heartbreaking to read everyday. Thanks for sharing what the Malaysians are doing. Praying that we hear something positive soon and praying for the families.

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  21. The locals you know thought that the emergency would be Malaysia's chance to shine?

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  22. What a beautiful post! As others said, you brought a human side to the story by sharing thoughts and practices of the locals. Prayers for all those afflicted by this tragedy.

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