Nat King Cole had a song called “Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer”. Do you remember? Well, these days Malaysia is certainly experiencing the Hazy and the Crazy and some might even say the Lazy and all not in a good way.
The search for missing flight MH370 with 239 souls on board, now entering the 9th day, has been gripping the nation’s attention and that of most of the world too. It has been a grueling 9 days for the families awaiting word about their loved ones on board as well as for all the investigators and searchers involved.
However, the whole thing has also evolved into a crazy circus; from the way the Malaysian authorities have managed the press conferences and briefings for the relatives with the frequent dearth of actual information or worse peppered with contradictory statements, denials and false leads, to the ever expanding search area which grew from the relatively small area of sea between Malaysia and Vietnam where the plane disappeared from the ATC radar to the now wide swath of both land and sea ranging from the borders of Kazakhstan in Central Asia to the Indian Ocean near Australia. The search area now encompasses an unbelievable 10 % of the world surface and includes the world’s highest mountain ranges to some of the deepest stretches of oceans. Up to now 25 nations have become involved in the search.
Then there is also the craziness of the bomoh (or Malay shaman) and his followers carrying out rituals at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport which involved coconuts, a magical bamboo binoculars and a mystical flying carpet for the stated purpose of removing the influences of evil spirits which were hiding the plane and hampering search efforts.
His self proclaimed title is Raja Bomoh Sedunia Nujum VIP which translates to “The Very Important Person, Clairvoyant King of all the world’s Shamans”. It is reported that he claimed at the end of his first session a few days ago that the spirit realm had told him that “the plane was still in the air or that it had crashed in the sea”. Despite what Dogbert would call the “Gross Prophet Margin”, he might still be wrong if it turns out the plane has landed somewhere in Central Asia.
Still more criticism has been aimed at the perceived slow (lazy?) pace of the investigations led by the Malaysian authorities. For example, many query why investigators did not go to the homes of the pilots sooner especially to examine a flight simulator at one of the pilot’s home until just two days ago.
The only distraction to all of this for Malaysians is the ongoing drought and water shortages affecting 2.5 million Malaysians as well as our food crop and palm oil crop. Water rationing has been going on for about three weeks now. The dry weather has also caused bush and forest fires with extremely bad air pollution and haze as a result. Yesterday I woke up in the early hours of the morning smelling smoke and thinking there was a fire but then realising that the haze was particularly bad.
And so, pity Malaysia as we seem stricken by a trifecta of ills – lazy, hazy and crazy days are here.
Realm of the Lone Grey Squirrel 
Looks lousy indeed. Really strange about the plane. I now believe mischief is afoot.
Oh Mann … one of these alone is enough.
I remember pictures – was it two years ago ? – when Jakarta was blanked out by the smoke of bushfires, now it’s difficult to see the towers in KL.
Regarding the plane, one can only hope that it sits somewhere in a desert, hopefully intact – and can be found with survivors. I must confess that I became a bit insecure regarding the official statements when the name of an opposition leader was dropped … BTW is someone looking down South ? Here is the possible Northern pathway of the flight towards the Himalayas big news, but there is a Southern possibility too – with, as far as I understand, remarkably less radio and radar covering. So if someone wants to have a big plane vanish, and goes miles to switch off this and that – why fly over land and countries where tons of military and civilian beams are up in the air ? Turning South would lead towards the big white nothing, without any traces. Eventually an old military installation somewhere is in reach ? But it’s all make believe. One can only say a prayer.
I’m sorry to hear it – the fires are especially worrisome.
So mysterious about theplane – I keep assuming they;ll find wreckage.
Completely new twist on Hazy, Lazy, Crazy days, which I always thought of as a happy song. That shaman seems as likely to solve the mystery as all the Important People in charge of so doing…who are solving nothing.
I heard that the airplane had a “valuable” cargo and was seen over the Maledives – many islands, some old air strips.
A nice little robbery after all.
If its true, this is one of the most daring stunts ever.
AND: There would be no need to kill anybody.
Wow, that all sounds very bleak. I’m so sorry your country is in the grip of all of that.
Mr. Charleston,
It does seem from what has been leaking into the media that there is evidence of mischief. Yet, on the other hand, it is hard to see what they were hoping to achieve and flying trough all those countries and landing undetected if planned would involve mind blowing planning and resources. I think we are still guessing at this stage.
Mago,
While I do wish that the Malaysian authorities had been quicker and clearer with their information, all those speculations in the press are also getting out of hand. Too many of these stories are derived from unconfirmed sources and leaks. If the plane was re-directed then where is it? To fly north as you say would require them to go through so many countries and radar undetected which would be quite amazing. To go south seems pointless to go through so much trouble and then just ditch the plane. I have not heard of the Maldives theory but does that not fit with the so called satellite info? still so much unsure and unknown.
Secret Agent,
Thankfully it has rained for the last three days and with that much of the haze has gone but we are still having water rationing. It would take a month of rains to restore our water supply.
As for the plane, I hope that it will be found with passengers safe but I expect that it is more likely we will eventually find wreckage.
Molly,
The shaman can’t really go wrong when his prediction covers both main options. Hazy, though, has a different meaning today than it had in Nat King Cole’s day. Just like when Maria (West Side Story) sang, “I feel pretty and witty and gay…” Kids today understand the word “gay ” differently.
Riot Kitty,
Life has its ups and downs. But doesn’t it seem that there is a lot of downers in the world of late? I haven’t even mentioned the developing Ukraine crisis yet.
I actually have no thoughts on the jet. That story is taking more turns in the US media than a soap opera. You know what the best part of us losing 1 million manufacturing jobs is? We now have some of the cleanest air in the US.
Mark,
Clean air is really valuable. You just don’t realise what you have till it’s gone.
I have to admit I’ve stayed out of it. There’s just so much damn NEWS sometimes that it’s hard to say what you should pay attention to and what you can let go.
That said,the Mary Celeste of the air has an uneasy ring to it.
Where are they?
Pearl
Pearl,
The news coverage has been relenting and in the absence of solid info there was too much time given to speculative theories. I think the relatives just want closure at this stage. Hopefully the search in the south Indian Ocean will do just that. Thank you for taking time from your fame, fur coated bus pass etc to grace my blog.
Now let’s hope that someone pulls a real piece of stuff out of the ocean so that there is a proof for all.