Kuala Lumpur

Kevin's favourite capital of the week: Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia (hey, we've been there!).

A whole lot of people who browse the news headlines were reminded of KL (as the locals like to call Kuala Lumpur), when a Malaysian Airlines (MH370) flight flying from there suddenly, and with no warning, dropped off the radar. The flight was headed to Beijing, but apparently turned around after its final communications with KL and headed back over the Malay Peninsula and over the Straits of Melaka. With this and the fact that the final transmission (“Alright and goodnight”) came after the Communication Addressing and Reporting System had been shut down on the aircraft, it seems certain that foul play was involved. Currently possible suspects include two Iranian nationals that boarded the flight with fake passports and the pilot or co-pilot. The Malay government is keeping their cards close to their chest on what exactly they are finding out, though they are cooperating with every other government that the plane was in flying distance from, plus the US and France, to try and find it. Najib Razak, Malaysia's prime minister has been making personal calls to all the heads of state he can to get this assistance. The plane has now been missing for 8 days.

 Razak and his government have not been idle in other areas, such as consolidating their power and making sure that political rivals are unable to ever win an election. A few days before the flight, the long suffering head of the opposition PR party, Anwar Ibrahim had his previous acquittal for charges of sodomy overturned, again, and was forced to face yet another appeal trial on the subject (there have been several). Yes, “sodomy” is still illegal in Malaysia and has been since it was a British colony. It is something that is rarely enforced and actually appears to only be used as a handy political stick by the ruling party, the BN. The overturning of the acquittal happened conveniently (for the BN), right before a critical bi-election, in which Ibrahim stood to become the governor of Malaysia's richest state (Selangor). This, of course, forced Ibrahim to leave the running. Wan Aziza, Ibrahim's wife (a political force in her own right) is now the candidate challenging the seat for him; this in not the first time she has had to do this. This will not likely end the career of the PR's leader, but it does appear that Malaysia's government has not dispensed with the same old tactics that it has used against its political opposition. I should point out that the same party has been in power in Malaysia since its independence; perhaps one day that will change, but it does not look like that day is any time soon.

Just to tie the two Malaysia stories together: The pilot and captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, of MH370 was apparently a PR supporter and went to the trial where the acquittal was overturned. A theory has circulated that Shah was profoundly upset by the verdict and perhaps hijacked the plane in protest. You never know, it could be true. It would certainly be a handy truth for the BN to use...