Hishammuddin's toughest test

He is calm, unhurried and wears a friendly face, but can be abrupt in cutting off some questions from the scores of journalists jostling for answers to the one question: So, where is MH370?

As the days tick by since the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 plane disappeared from radar screens early last Saturday, Defence and

Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has become the face and voice of the Malaysian government.

A tough job, what with Malaysia coming under intense international scrutiny over its handling of efforts to find the plane and getting flak from frustrated relatives of the missing passengers and crew.

It is the latest - and perhaps toughest - of a recent series of tests that Datuk Seri Hishammuddin, 52, has had to deal with.

In February last year, it was the armed incursion of Lahad Datu in Sabah by militants from Sulu in the Philippines. Mr Hishammuddin, as Defence Minister, and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi coordinated Malaysia's response to the stand-off, which lasted more than five weeks.

Nearly five months ago, he survived his toughest political battle when he narrowly won the last of the three Umno vice-president seats. Then, in early December, he had a coronary angioplasty to clear a blocked artery.

The political stakes this time are very much higher.

"He is facing tough times as this is an unprecedented incident. This is worse than Lahad Datu," an aide who has been with the minister for more than a decade told The Straits Times.

"Social media has made it more difficult as he has to check everything that we hear, like the life raft found in Port Dickson even though it was outside the search area," the aide added.

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Prime Minister Najib Razak has attended two briefings by experts involved in the massive search in the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca.

It was at the second meeting, on Wednesday, that Datuk Seri Najib asked Mr Hishammuddin, who is his cousin, to lead the daily press conferences, an official who is familiar with the briefings told The Straits Times.

Before that, the top aviation, military and airline officials had fielded questions, sometimes in rather chaotic situations shown live on television.

Since then, the talking points to be presented at press conferences have been prepared by officers from the Prime Minister's Department.

What makes Mr Hishammuddin's job doubly difficult is the fact that he has to contend with a 24/7 news cycle as 13 countries - by the latest count - are helping in the massive search operation.

When the son of Malaysia's third prime minister goes to bed, print and online newspapers and TV networks in other parts of the world such as Europe and the United States are active.

Tremendous pressure has come especially from China, which has the biggest group of 153 nationals on the missing plane.

Top Chinese officials have publicly called on Malaysia on no fewer than three occasions to buck up, while Chinese media has complained about the conflicting and contradictory statements made by Malaysian officials. There have even been suggestions that PM

Najib should front the daily briefings instead.

"To be fair, Hishammuddin depends on what the technical experts tell him. He is not in a position to say more. So, even if you replace him, that person will perform in the same way," said Professor Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, who heads the politics, security and international affairs cluster of the National Council of Professors.

Mr Hishammuddin gave an indication of how tough his job can be at last Friday's press conference, when a local reporter asked him how he felt.

The minister, who swopped his Western suit for the traditional baju Melayu last Friday, replied: "Sometimes it is very difficult to face the families involved, especially when we don't have new information and developments to tell them."

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