It is interesting, but Malaysians whose posts I read elsewhere have a different opinion of him. First, Shah was divorced and lived with his wife under the same roof. (Which in itself is odd, he was not old and if dating, why under the same roof?). He was quietly drinking. The most interesting thing is his support of Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader - I read two versions, one, that Ibrahim was Shah's distant relative whose politics Shah was passionate about, and two, that he was Ibrahim's personal friend.
Either way, Shah was passionate about politics and had much hope for Ibrahim's party that is considered way more democratic in Malaysia. It is in power now, but 2014 was very much different.
So…on March 7 2014, Ibrahim goes to prison on fictitious charges (Google Anwar Ibrahim’s case, it was indicative of profound lack of democracy in Malaysia, and probably, 2014 was a bad time for anyone hoping for progressive reform). Early on the next day Shah takes off on that MH370 flight.
To me this form of extreme political protest looks feasible. JMO.
This is what Malaysian observers on slate were writing about the case then.
There is an axiom in Malaysian politics: Eventually everything comes back to Anwar Ibrahim. So, the longer that the fumbling and inept investigation...
slate.com