Time to come together

Brave New World (The Star)
19 March 2014

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I HOPE that MH370 is found soon. I hope against hope that by some miracle, it is intact and all on board are safe.
That is all that matters. Now is not the time for excessive finger pointing and blaming. The fact of the matter is that nobody knows what happened to flight MH370, so seeking villains to blame at this time is pointless because we simply do not know what caused the disappearance of the flight.
That is not to say that a proper investigation does not need to be done. Of course it does. We need to know not just what happened but how it happened. And most importantly, we need to know if there is anything that can be done to make sure that such a thing does not occur again in the future.
But that is for another day; surely the most vital thing now is to find the plane.
The media is filled with nothing but speculation.
To a certain extent that is to be expected because there is such a paucity of real information. This is a big story and the media cannot be seen to be saying, “we don’t know what happened” again and again.
So “experts” from all over are brought in to give their opinion as to what happened. And let us be clear, it is all nothing but opinion at this stage. And everyone seems to have one; from pundits on the telly to folks in the coffee shop.
You can’t stop people talking and speculating but all it does is add to the white noise surrounding this tragic event. It is not really what is needed right now.
What is needed and lacking is a clear and strong stand taken by those in charge. We don’t expect the relevant agencies to know what has happened or where the plane is, because nobody does. What we do expect is that they carry out their duties in a competent, authoritative and transparent manner.
They have to know what is happening at all times as well as what is being said. I understand the need for verification before they come out with statements, but is it too much to ask them to let us know that there are leads they are seeking to verify?
Long periods of silence followed by defensive and sometimes contradictory press conferences do not engender confidence or any sort of comfort for the families and friends of those missing.
Surely that is the second most important thing right now; that those who are grieving are given priority by being kept in the loop. They need to know what is being done as well as to have unsubstantiated rumours investigated and quashed if necessary.
Finding the plane, and bringing comfort (no matter how slight) to the loved ones of the missing, are surely the priorities now. And this is a time for the nation to come together to deal with a national issue.
Where this issue is concerned, let’s put politics on the back burner. Be it from politicians themselves or their proxies, this is simply not the subject with which to be scoring points.
This is a time for hard work, compassion, hope and prayer.