Lived in Penang, Malaysia for over ten years, Malaysia is my second home. This past year was one of the hardest struggles the Malaysian people had to go through.

On March 8, Flight MH370, heading from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport, lost communication less than an hour after takeoff and disappeared, losing all contact for over six months now. The search for Flight MH370 became the largest and most expensive searches in history; however, no evidence has been found of the plane’s whereabouts. With a total of 239 passengers and crew members on board, the Boeing 777 vanished. Another plane “crash” of Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 hit the news on July 17. MH17, scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile in Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew members on board.

With two incidents happening in a span of less than five months, Malaysia has definitely been struggling this year as these two accidents not only affected Malaysia Airlines’ business, but also the Malaysian government. Although once a symbol of national pride, Malaysia Airlines was already suffering from financial trouble even before the two crashes.  Around 6,000 people lost their jobs at Malaysian Airlines in the last few months (cnn). These incidents also impacted the economy of many countries around the world: Unites States, India, Russia, and Ukraine, as the stocks dropped by a few percents.

References
Almasy, Steve, and David Molko. “Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Mystery Remains Deep after Six Months.” CNN. Cable News Network, 08 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/08/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-milestone/index.html?iref=allsearch>.

Anand, Kshitij. “Malaysian Airlines Crash: How It Impacts Indian Markets, Gold.” The Economic Times. N.p., 18 July 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-07-18/news/51708577_1_malaysian-airlines-indian-markets-john-woods>.

News, CBC. “Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17: Crash Prompts Airlines to Change Flight Paths.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 17 July 2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh17-crash-prompts-airlines-to-change-flight-paths-1.2710240>.

Images
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02987/mh17_2987873a.jpg