A ghost from the past !

Many people in Australia will remember Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister of Malaysia who was renowned for blaming all the ills of the world on the west - and in particular - his vitriolic spats with Australian prime ministers.

This man held office for twenty-two turbulent years and was a virtual dictator.  Malaysia was a difficult place to do business because of government interference in the courts and with the administration of the law system.   Long after his retirement and withdrawal from pubic life the spectre of corruption remains.  Opposition leaders find themselves in prison on trumped up charges and the legitimacy of elections could only be termed " opaque " !

Mahathir Mohamad has taken to the public stage to air his views on Flight MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on board and has been the subject of probably the biggest and most costly search in aviation history.   The plane was owned and operated by Malaysian Airlines, a Malaysian government instrumentality.

Without the slightest offer of any evidence, the former prime minister has stated that the blame for the accident should be sheeted home to Boeing, the manufacturer of the 777 aircraft.   He absolves Malaysian Airlines from any guilt, despite clear indications that identification was turned off during flight and the plane travelled for six hours far from it's intended course.   In true dictatorial style, he dismisses all local input and insists that these deaths are the result of inferior products from the countries of the west that he so roundly despises.

In most of the world, his rantings will be taken with a grain of salt.   Those who remember his exchanges with Paul Keating may even be amused  by the twisted logic applied to a tragic event, but the outburst will do little to help heal the feelings of the bereaved still mourning the loss of loved ones.

To say this statement is insensitive would be a gross understatement.   Boeing would have every reason to sue for defamation but most likely they will ignore the outburst.  The ex-prime minister is now a very old man and by  the very nature of the claim and it's lack of substance, it seems a sad reminder of how age decays the human mind.