Singapore Airlines (SIA) on Saturday (July 19) apologised for its social media postings following the crash of Malaysia Airlines MH17.

On Friday, SIA received quite a few comments (1,300 Facebook comments), in relation to its two FB postings.

These are the two FB postings in question:

Anyway, here is the statement of apology by the SIA spokesperson in Channel NewAsia:

“We are aware that our Facebook and Twitter update on Friday morning may have come across as insensitive to some...

We recognise that the information could have been better communicated and we sincerely apologise if it had offended our customers and anyone else in the online community...

Our thoughts remain with the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew who perished on board.”

 

Here are two knee-jerk reactions to SIA's peculiar response:

1. SIA's rather curt social media status updates:

SIA's single-sentence status post is a reminder that media messages should not be vetted by people who do not understand social media.

The intention of SIA was perhaps to write a short and politically-correct post in the wake of the MH17 tragedy. A short post will probably leave no room for mistakes.

But a lot of room of misinterpretation...

First, SIA did not put things in context. It should have explained that the post was in response to the many requests from their concerned passengers about SIA's flight routes.

Second, the timing of the post now appears in poor taste.

Why?

On its FB, SIA informed its passengers about its flight route before commenting on the MH17 tragedy.

Some of its fans therefore assumed that SIA is putting its business interests ahead of showing its solidarity with its neighbouring airline.

Third, SIA could have posted a more comprehensive post like KLM:

The KLM post informed concerned passengers without appearing insensitive.

2.What does SIA's apology mean? 

For many of us, an apology actually means something.

Remember those boyfriends who apologise to their girlfriends so that they can avoid a confrontation?

SIA's apology gives one such a perception.

Hence, its apology in the response to media queries has baffled many online:

In its apology to the media, SIA recognised that the "information could have been better communicated".

But it's equally puzzling that SIA did not take to its own social media platforms to apologise for its social media posts.

I guess the millennials summed up this saga the best:

Top photo from Singapore Airlines Facebook.

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