MISSING MH FLIGHT
Balotelli reference draws scorn


File photo : Balotelli//AFP

BANGKOK: -- A Malaysian aviation official came under fire on social media Tuesday for evoking black Italian footballer Mario Balotelli when discussing two passengers who boarded a missing jet with stolen European passports.

Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman had been asked to confirm another official’s assertion that the two men who boarded missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 looked "Asian".

The plane vanished early Saturday with 239 people aboard while en route from Malaysia to China.

Azharuddin denied they looked Asian, but he sought to emphasise that skin colour does not indicate nationality by using a reference to Balotelli -- a Ghanaian-born striker with AC Milan and Italian international.

"Do you know a footballer by the name of Bartoli (sic)? He’s an Italian. Do you know what he looks like? Balotelli," he told reporters late on Monday. "I don’t want to dwell about this but they (nationality and race) are not the same thing."

Malaysian officials later clarified that there was no suggestion either of the suspect passengers was black, but Twitter users commented that Azharuddin’s strained comparison had not helped matters.

One said: "Nice work in looking for the least obvious cause for an airplane crash." "The case of the missing airplane, somehow, just got weirder," another said.

An extensive sea and land search has turned up no wreckage so far. The plane was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it went missing, apparently over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam.

Malaysian authorities, who say they have CCTV footage of the stolen-passport users, have come under increasing pressure from victims’ families who have complained of a slow response and inadequate information.

One of the stolen passports was Italian, the other Austrian. The revelation has raised fears of a hijack or terror motive behind the plane’s disappearance.

"Yes, I think the Balotelli profile referring to the two phantom passengers is insensitive," another user posted.

"And you wonder why Balotelli wears ’why always me?’" another one posted, referring to a T-shirt worn once by the controversial footballer after one of his many brushes with authority.


-- The Nation 2014-03-11

well the most important thing for the time being is to find the plane or the remaining , specially the black boxes to understand a bit more .

Perfectly legitimate point to make on the part of the Malaysian official.

For days now idiots have been running around claiming that an Italian can never look Asian. That's as incorrect as it is ridiculous.

Given the persistent bone-headedness about this, it apparently needed a clear example for the dimwits and this official duly provided it.

Nationality and racial appearance are not the same. Thank you, Mr. Rahman. (You think The Nation also understood... hmmmm... Thais after all also aren't super sharp when it comes to foreigners with a different racial appearance from the majority. Ask any Asian American.)

""And you wonder why Balotelli wears ’why always me?’" another one posted, referring to a T-shirt worn once by the controversial footballer after one of his many brushes with authority."

Why indeed (just read one of many "lists" about some of the things he's done recently).

In all fairness, the Malaysian official was just trying to make a point that just because one of the passports had an Italian name, doesn't mean the person carrying it had to be a "swarthy, Mediterranean looking" person. This Balotelli person was probably the best example he could come up with on short notice of someone with an Italian name that didn't look like the "stereotypical" Italian.

I had guy working over here a couple years ago. Welshman born and bred. Ex Brit military. Last name was Wong. Gotta tell you, he did not look Asian. Didn't look Jamaican either but that was a part of his ancestry as well (Chinese, Jamaican, Welsh). Most of the time if you saw the name "Wong" you'd immediately assume it was some Jackie Chan looking dude. (Literally everyone that met him all did the standard "double-take" when they heard is name and of course, the first question was almost always "how'd you end up with the name Wong ?".) Despite looking more "Welsh" than anything, and having the last name "Wong", I don't recall him ever having a problem going through the various Immigration counters between the UAE and UK all the time.

How about millions Filipinos, looking Asian, with Hispanic names, and US passports????

I think his point was you can be black or asian and still have a western sounding name.

I think his point was you can be black or asian and still have a western sounding name.

Yes, so it now seems, but the initial reporting of his comment made his reference to Balotelli sound very odd. Either the media misquoted him, or he expressed himself poorly. Either way, it's not our fault if we thought "what is this guy on about?"

I think his point was you can be black or asian and still have a western sounding name.

And vice versa. An untypical or ethnic name on a UK or EU passport, especially in reference to criminal activity, still draws comment e.g. he can't be French, he's Arab, African etc. The world's countries and its 'nationals' started changing several generations ago.

He has a point but it is supposed to be moot these days.

Get back to locating the aircraft!

I saw the press conference on TV and was outraged because at the same time as he made the comments he was laughing. Total disrespect for the missing and their families who may also have seen it on TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxVx5uwg3qw