Distressed family members of those on board the flight have also been gathering at Beijing airport.
Chang
Ken Fei, a Malaysian waiting at the airport for friends to arrive,
said: "I got here at 7:00am. At first I thought the plane was just
delayed as normal, so I came a bit later, I've just been waiting and
waiting."
"I asked them what was going on but they just tell us, 'we don't know'."
If
the plane is found to have crashed, the loss would mark the second
fatal accident involving a Boeing 777 in less than a year, after an
unblemished safety record since the jet entered service in 1995.
Last year, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crash landed in San Francisco, killing three passengers.
Boeing
said it was aware of reports that the Malaysia Airlines plane was
missing and was monitoring the situation but had no further comment.
Among
previous accidents involving Malaysia Airlines planes, one of the
smaller Twin Otter aircraft crashed upon landing in Malaysia's Sabah
state on Borneo island last October, killing a co-pilot and a passenger.
And a jet crashed in 1977 in southern Malaysia, killing all 93 passengers and seven crew.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Malaysia
Airlines has still not been able to confirm what happened to the
flight. The airline has confirmed that there were 4 Americans — 3 adults
and one infant — aboard the flight, which also carried Canadians and
Australians, and a majority of Chinese and Malay passengers.
Malaysia Airlines lost contact with a commercial aircraft bound from
Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China, the airline reported Saturday morning.
Flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER that was carrying 227 passengers and
12 crew members, was scheduled to land at 6:30 a.m., but lost contact
with air traffic control at 2:40 a.m. on March 8. Its whereabouts are
unknown.
At 7:24 a.m. local time, the airline posted a message to its Facebook page
stating it was working with local search and rescue authorities to find
the aircraft, and that it would continue to provide updates. It
encouraged the public to contact a number provided for information.
A search for the flight on FlightAware.com showed its status as "result unknown" and included a map that depicted its partially completed route.
Malaysia Airlines VP of operations Fuad Sharuji told
CNN's Anderson Cooper that it had tried but "failed to establish any
contact" with the plane before he detailed concerns about how much fuel
it was carrying.
There were "about seven hours of fuel on board this aircraft and we
suspect that by 8:30 this aircraft would have run out of fuel," Faruji
said. He added, "At the moment we have no idea where this aircraft is
right now."
Kuala Lumpur is the hub for Malaysia Airlines, which services over 60
destinations globally with a heavy presence in Asia, according to its
website. The airline told the BBC that it would hold a press conference on the situation later in the day.
According to Reuters, Boeing's 777 had a solid safety record after its 1995 introduction up until last summer's Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco, Calif.
We will continue to update this post with more information as it arises.
SINGAPORE - Straits Times Press, the book publishing unit of Singapore
Press Holdings (SPH), announced in Jul 29, 2013 the launch of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's
new book
Malaysia is prepared to lose its talent through its race-based
policies in order to maintain the dominance of one race, said Lee Kuan
Yew in his new book which was launched August 6, 2013 in Singapore.
And although Malaysia has acknowledged the fact that they are losing
these talents and is making an attempt to lure Malaysians back from
overseas, such efforts may be too little too late, he said.
"This is putting the country at a disadvantage. It is voluntarily
shrinking the talent pool needed to build the kind of society that makes
use of talent from all races.
"They are prepared to lose that talent in order to maintain the
dominance of one race," he said in the 400-page book called "One Man's
View of the World" (pic).
It features conversations between Lee and his long-time admirer, Helmut
Schmidt, former leader of West Germany. They discussed world affairs
when Schmidt visited Singapore last year.
In the book, Lee pointed out that Malaysia is losing ground and giving
other countries a head start in the external competition.
About 400,000 of some one million Malaysians overseas are in Singapore, according to the World Bank.
When announcing the five-year plan for Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Razak said in Parliament in 2011, the government would set up
a talent corporation to lure some 700,000 Malaysians working abroad
back to the country.
But in his book, Lee said the demographic changes in Malaysia will lead to a further entrenchment of Malay privileges.
He noted that in the last 10 years, since the enactment of the New
Economic Policy, the proportion of Malaysian Chinese and Indians of the
total population has fallen dramatically.
"The Chinese made up 35.6 percent of the population in 1970. They were
down to 24.6 percent at the last census in 2010. Over that same period,
the Indian numbers fell from 10.8 percent to 7.3 percent," he said.
He added, "40 percent of our migrants are from Malaysia.
"Those with the means to do so leave for countries farther afield. In
the early days, Taiwan was a popular destination among the
Chinese-educated.
"In recent years, Malaysian Chinese and Indians have been settling in
Europe, America and Australia. Some have done very well for themselves,
such as Penny Wong, Australia’s current finance minister.
"Among those who have chosen to remain in Malaysia, some lack the means
to leave and others are making a good living through business despite
the discriminatory policies. Many in this latter class partner with
Malays who have connections."
World Bank data for 2012 showed that the island republic has raced
ahead of its neighbour, with gross domestic product per capita of
US$51,709 compared with Malaysia’s US$10,381.
Najib had said Malaysia is set to become a high income developed nation
as early as 2018, two years earlier than the targeted 2020.
Lee said in his book the separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965
marked "the end of a different vision in Malaysia on the race issue".
He added, "Much of what has been achieved in Singapore could have been
replicated throughout Malaysia. Both countries would have been better
off."
People stand along the Marina Bay promenade in Singapore on March 4, 2014. The soaring cost of cars and utilities as well as a strong currency have made Singapore the world's most expensive city, toppling Tokyo from the top spot, a survey showed March 4. AFP PHOTO / ROSLAN RAHMAN (Photo credit should read ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images)
SINGAPORE - Singapore on Wednesday
played down a global survey showing that it is now the world’s most
expensive city, a finding which has triggered outrage among Singaporeans
struggling with rising costs.
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said reports like the 2014
Worldwide Cost of Living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
are aimed at measuring expatriates’ expenses.
“It is not that these surveys are wrong, or that they are misguided. But
they are measuring something quite different from the cost of living
for an ordinary local in different cities around the world,” Tharman
said in a parliamentary speech.
In the survey released Tuesday, Singapore toppled Tokyo as the world’s
costliest city, a result the EIU attributed to the high cost of cars and
utilities as well as a strong local currency. Paris was in second
place.
The survey examines prices of 160 products and services including food,
toiletries, clothes and domestic help in 140 cities, and is aimed at
helping companies calculate allowances for executives overseas.
Tharman noted that the basket of goods and services evaluated by the EIU
included imported cheese, filet mignon, “Burberry-type raincoats,” the
four best seats in a theater and three-course dinners for four in
high-end restaurants.
“The EIU tries to put together a basket of what they think are
expatriate costs, perhaps more on the higher end of expatriates,”
Tharman said. ”
It is quite different from the goods and services
consumed by ordinary Singaporeans.”
He also reiterated a point noted by the EIU — that Singapore’s rising
living costs for expatriates are driven by the strengthening of its
currency.
“What is important for us is that Singaporeans, and particularly low-
and middle-income Singaporeans, have incomes that grow faster than the
cost of living,” Tharman said.
Jon Copestake, editor of the EIU report, acknowledged the points raised
by Tharman but told AFP the basket of goods includes many everyday items
as well.
“The survey basket ranges from a loaf of bread to a luxury car. In fact,
the highest-weighted category in our survey is that of groceries and
everyday staples which include goods like fresh fruits and vegetables,
meat, fish, rice, etc.,” Copestake said.
“Expatriates make up a very significant proportion of Singapore’s
population, and this means that the results of our survey will be more
keenly felt by a higher proportion of the people who live and work
there.”
The survey’s release provoked strong online reactions from Singaporeans,
who saw it as confirmation of their complaints about soaring living
costs.
Others however saw it as a sign that Singapore has attained high living standards.
Singapore’s per capita income of more than $51,000 in 2012 masks a widening income gap between the richest and poorest citizens.
By Bhavan Jaipragas, AFP
S’pore ranked world’s most expensive city by EIU
.
The high cost of cars and utilities as well as a strong currency have made Singapore the world's most expensive city. (AFP/Roslan Rahman)
SINGAPORE: Singapore has jumped to the top of the
Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) ranking of the world's most
expensive cities, overtaking the likes of Tokyo and Osaka as the
Singapore dollar appreciated against the yen.
Singapore was ranked sixth in the EIU's survey last year, behind the two Japanese cities, Sydney, Oslo and Melbourne.
According to the EIU, Osaka and Tokyo fell off the top of its cost of living ranking because of the weaker yen.
Tokyo,
the most expensive city to live in for 2013, fell to joint sixth place
alongside Caracas, Geneva and Melbourne, while Paris is second, ahead of
Oslo, Zurich and Sydney.
Ten years ago, Singapore was number 18 on the list.
The
EIU report compares the price of products and services such as food,
clothing, transport and domestic help among 140 cities with New York
city as a base.
According to the survey, Singapore's curbs on
car ownership, which include a quota system and high taxes, make it the
most expensive city to run a car.
A new Toyota Corolla Altis, for example, could cost as much as US$110,000 in Singapore but only US$35,000 in Malaysia.
And overall transport costs in Singapore are almost three times higher than those in New York.
But the survey does not include public transport, which is most commonly used by Singaporeans.
In
addition, the lack of natural resources and energy supplies means
Singapore is the third most expensive city for utility costs.
The
survey also shows that Singapore is the priciest place in the world to
buy clothes, as shopping malls along the prime Orchard Road shopping
belt import luxury European brands.
As for housing, Singapore,
being smaller in size than New York City, has seen home prices jump to
record highs in recent years amid rising wealth and an influx of
foreigners.
But the survey does not include public housing.
And
it must be noted that the EIU survey is aimed at helping companies and
HR managers calculate allowances for executives or expatriates being
sent overseas.
This means that their spending patterns may
differ from locals. Hence, while cars and utilities are expensive,
public transport and hawker food in Singapore are cheaper than in most
developed cities.
And latest data also show that in January,
consumer prices in Singapore rose at their slowest pace in four years,
rising by 1.4 per cent from a year ago.
A search for the flight on FlightAware.com showed its status as "result unknown" and included a map that depicted its partially completed route.
