MH17: Let’s treat the living with dignity too
The remains of 20 Malaysian victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash have been buried or cremated. Let’s hope the remains of the rest of the 43 Malaysians who were on board the ill-fated aircraft are brought home soon for the last rites to be performed.
The Boeing 777 aircraft with 298 passengers and 15 crew members was on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam on July 17 when it was shot down over Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
No one has admitted to shooting down the plane. Let’s also hope investigators are able to find out who the perpetrators are and bring them to justice.
The government, which has won praise for successfully negotiating with the Ukrainian rebels in Donetsk to allow the repatriation of the remains of the dead, must now pursue the matter to its conclusion: to bring those responsible to justice.
The government has to be praised too for treating the MH17 dead with dignity. I am sure the families of those who died would have appreciated it even as they mourned their loss.
I am sure, too, that families of those on board MH370 which went missing almost six months ago are hoping for closure to their loss. The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight over the South China Sea still remains a mystery.
No wreckage has been found despite one of the most massive international searches ever, leading to all sorts of conspiracy theories.
There are those who wonder if the government is giving this enough urgency. Let’s pray that answers will be found soon so that the families of the 239 passengers and crew of MH370 will also see closure and get on with their lives.
Regarding MH17, I saw how the Dutch treated the remains of the victims when the bodies were taken from Ukraine to the Netherlands on July 23. The Netherlands, which lost 195 of its citizens in the crash, showed what a civilised society is.
I applaud the Dutch for their high sense of civility and the respect they showed. I did not expect anything less for I have been to Europe, including the Netherlands, and I have seen how courteous they are.
And now Malaysia has shown that it is no less civilised. There was dignity and poignancy in the ceremony at the airport as the dead were given full honours, with the coffins draped in the Malaysian flag.
More than that, Malaysians everywhere observed a moment of silence to respect the victims of MH17.
While I am happy so see Malaysians dropping their racial and religious identities and coming together as humans in this instant, I am also sad that it takes deaths and disasters to bring us closer to each other.
If only we could learn that basically we are all humans and as humans, we need to treat each other with respect and dignity.
My wish for the government is this: you treated the dead of flight MH17 with the respect and dignity they deserved. Please also get government agencies to treat the living with equal dignity and respect.
This includes not harassing people who disagree with the government; it includes not treating those who protest peacefully as criminals; it includes ensuring there is no death in custody due to beatings; it includes treating everyone fairly; it includes treating all those who seek the services of government agencies with courtesy.
All Malaysians, in fact, should learn to treat each other with respect even if we do not agree with the views of others. We must learn to respect other cultures, other religions, other views.
The young should learn to treat the elderly with respect; men should treat women with respect; bosses should treat their staff with respect; we should treat our family members with respect.
It is not enough treating only the dead with dignity and respect. If we only treat the dead with respect, and mistreat the living, it simply becomes a show that we put on for the world to see. That is not how it should be.
