Malaysia's Culture Of Secrecy Is A Huge Obstacle In The Plane Search
You almost have to feel bad for the Malaysian government. For years, the world has largely looked the other way from its corrupt and oppressive political system thanks to its impressive economic performance. But now, the search for a missing plane—from an airline that, by the way, has one of the region’s best safety records—has tarnished the country’s reputation in just a week.
While the disappearance is genuinely baffling, and I think it’s far from clear that any country could have done a better job at finding the plane, the search is already being described as an illustrative example of the country’s opaque and dysfunctional political culture.
Then again, you can’t feel too bad for the government. While Malaysia’s lack of transparency isn’t the reason the plane hasn’t been found yet, it’s clearly not helping. Officials have been heavily criticized for waiting four days before publicly disclosing that military radar may have picked up signs that the plane was diverted from its course.
Vietnam says it is scaling back its participation in the search after complaining of “insufficient information” from the Malaysians. China, home to more than two-thirds of the plane’s passengers, has also criticized the “confusion” of the Malaysian response.
http://www.businessinsider.com/culture-of-secrecy-malaysia-2014-3