Chinese bookings on MH were down 60% after the first accident.
Asian's are HUGELY superstitious, good and bad fortune is deeply rooted in to Asian cultures and fate is a very real consequence of making a wrong choice. It is not 'Luck' like westerners think of it, it is deeper than that.
MH was loosing BIG before the accidents, in 05 it lost $400 Million, in 2012 it was loosing $800 million. After the split Singapore Airlines took the more profitable longer routes and MH was left largely regional, increasingly squeezed by the huge growth of low cost carriers.
If MH want to continue, they MUST offer a better service, at a loss for a decade.