‘MH370 aid offices did nothing for families’

Malaysian relatives shrug off MAS's decision to close its family assistance centres.

PETALING JAYA: The relatives of Malaysians on board Flight MH370 are indifferent to Malaysia Airlines’ decision to close all its family assistance centres by May 7, according to one of them.

“It makes no difference to us because the committee tasked to help us did nothing to alleviate our suffering anyway,” said Nur Syafinaz Mohamed Asnan, a younger sister of Mohamed Hazrin, a steward on the flight.

“We had moved back home since the Prime Minister announced that the flight crashed into the Indian Ocean.”

Syafinaz claims that her sentiment is representative of the feelings of other affected Malaysians. If so, then it is in sharp contrast to how the relatives of Chinese nationals took MAS’s announcement. They reacted with tears and screams of frustration.

Syafinaz told FMT most of the relatives relied on information from the media rather than from the family assistance centres.

“These centres did nothing to help us,” she said. “Most, if not all of the information we get are from outside sources. Shutting down these centres will not affect me or my family.

“I am more frustrated over the airline’s inability to provide us with updated information.”

MAS said in a statement yesterday that its officials would continue to provide the relatives with information on the progress of the search for MH370 and update them on investigations into what went wrong with the flight. It advised the relatives to go home.

The government-linked airline company also said it would soon make advance compensation payments to the next of kin of the 239 people on board, part of a final package to be agreed upon later. It did not specify amounts in the advance payments.

Syafinaz also commented on yesterday’s public release of a preliminary report on MH370 that Malaysia had earlier submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

“It’s pointless,” she said. “It’s the same old information. Nothing has changed.

“The reason they released the information is to show the public that they’re being transparent.”

Syafinaz also alleged that the report and other data released yesterday were “full of holes” because MAS had “scrapped out all the important information.”

MH370, carrying 227 passengers and a crew of 12, went missing on March 8 while en route to Beijing from KLIA.