A fresh round of bad publicity

epa04153439 A Filipino Navy boat arrives at a port after patrolling waters off the coast of Sulu province in Southern Philippines, 04 April 2014, a day after the abduction of a Chinese tourist and a Filipino resort worker in a resort island off the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah. The two victims, a 29-year-old woman from Shanghai and a 40-year-old female resort worker, were seized late 02 April from Singamata Reef Resort, off the town of Semporna, about 1,880 kilometres east of Kuala Lumpur. Last year, a Taiwanese woman was kidnapped in another Semporna resort and was recovered more than a month later in the nearby southern Philippine island of Jolo, Sulu province is a known have a base for al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels. EPA/BEN HAJAN

The abduction of a Chinese national in the pristine Singamata Reef Resort, off Semporna, Sabah, couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Malaysia.

IT couldn’t have happened at a worse time. While Malaysia grapples with the delicate task of trying to defuse the anger of China nationals over MH370, another incident throws all efforts to the wind – the abduction of a Chinese national in the pristine Singamata Reef Resort, off Semporna, Sabah.