By Sandy Powell
A MARGARET River man has described the “sombre and solemn” mood which gripped every aspect of Malaysian culture this week following the disappearance of flight MH370.
After returning from a week promoting the Margaret River Region at a Kuala Lumpur trade conference, Augusta Margaret River Tourism Association marketing manager Simon Latchford told the Mail that despite the airport, hotels, restaurants and taxis adopting a business-as-usual approach to their routines, the mystery had gripped the city.
Mr Latchford said every taxi driver had their own theories about what had happened to the Malaysian Airlines plane, which disappeared from radar on March 8, just days before he arrived in Kuala Lumpur.
“Obviously there was very heavy coverage of the loss of the plane before we left Australia,” Mr Latchford said.
“But in my lifetime of travelling the world I’ve never seen such an incredible show of support.”
Mr Latchford said every television channel he switched to in his Kuala Lumpur hotel room bore messages of support for the families and friends of the victims, and every news bulletin was headlined by the latest update about the missing flight.
“At the conference there was massive 20 metre by 20 metre canvas banners with thousands, literally thousands of messages scrawled to the friends and families of those who were on board.
“There were these panoramic heartfelt banners... I’ve never experienced anything like that following a tragedy.
“They just want to know where their friends, family and countrymen are.”
Mr Latchford said after being immersed in the trade show for 12 hours a day, seeing the messages of the support and listening to everyone speak about the disappearance, before returning to his hotel to see the latest updates on every television channel, it was surreal to return to Australia and watch a news bulletin where it wasn’t a headline story.
“I was just so whipped up in it, I was totally immersed. We were all asking ‘where is the plane? Where is the plane?’ and to return to Margaret River to see it run as the third story on the news was quite strange.”
Mr Latchford returned to Australia on a Malaysia Airlines flight out of Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, and said although it was a quiet flight he wasn’t concerned for his safety.
