For what it`s worth.
10 minutes ago ,i talked to one of my clients ,who stays every year in Malaysia from De. til March-
He told me public opinium there is,that the pilot has stronger ties to radical/anarchistic circles than the authorities have told us.
Which tells me only that possibly the Malaysian government has an interest in blaming its opposition for this incident. I will not let a colleague left to twist in the wind based on mere speculation connected to his support for an opposition party and a party leader that may well have been convicted of trumped-up changes.
Here in the US, many pilots tend to be politically conservative -- I'm not, which leads to a lot of "agree to disagree" conversations -- but my opinion is not swayed one way or another as I assess each on their flying ability and nothing else. Politics in the cockpit can be poisonous, though, and I as a Captain, will gladly "agree" with someone with strongly held views in the interest of getting a flight safely to its destination.