Hurm..

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AirAsia: Can Everyone Really Fly?

Filepic: The Mole

Filepic: The Mole

KUALA LUMPUR: As the saying goes, one man’s tragedy is another man’s opportunity.

With the ‘bad luck’ that seems to have befallen AirAsia’s public relations of late, its rival Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has been seen stepping up to the plate.

AirAsia’s PR nightmare started after AirAsia X CEO, Azran Osman-Rani voiced his personal opinion on Utusan Malaysia via his Twitter account, calling the Malay daily racist for publishing its much-talked about post-13th general election (GE13) headline “Apa Lagi Cina Mahu?”

Azran commented that AirAsia X will cease advertising with Utusan Malaysia because it refuses to be associated with such a racist stand.

That started the nightmare that became a rival company’s goldmine.

While AirAsia was still trying to regain footing from Azran’s remarks, Utusan Malaysia ran a story of a mother and her child who were denied entry into an AirAsia flight from Vietnam back to Kuala Lumpur.

The child was feverish as she was recovering from chicken pox and deemed not fit to travel.

MAS stepped up, took the child to a local paediatrician and mother and child were given the all-clear by the doctor. They flew home aboard a Malaysia Airlines aircraft.

If MAS and AirAsia were telco companies, the former would have jumped at the opportunity this provided to attack its opponent via what is called a ‘front-stabbing’ advertising method.

However, being in an industry that has been around longer than telcos, the players in the aviation world have always adopted a gentleman’s approach. The industry is more mature and so are its players to a certain extent.

A Malaysian aviation industry observer who only wanted to be known as Ahmad, said MAS does not appear to be taking too much advantage of the situation, instead opting to play it cool.

“What they have done in the case of the mother and baby in Vietnam, and the dead body in Jogjakarta, is simply what they have been doing all this while. From my observation, MAS has always gone the extra mile when it comes to passengers. So in this case, they were just helping those people out,” he said.

Referring to the case of the Malaysian tourist who died in Jogjakarta, the incident happened just as Malaysians were still talking about the mother and baby in Vietnam. The tourist, an AirAsia passenger, had a heart attack while in Jogjakarta but the airline refused to fly the body back home as the agent in Jogjakarta informed the family that they ‘did not provide such services’.

The body was then flown to Jakarta and then back home to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) onboard a Malaysia Airlines flight.

It was another blow to AirAsia’s already disastrous PR mess.

“What this is, is MAS’ Malaysian Hospitality tagline being put to the test,” the observer said.

“And their staff came true, proving that Malaysian Hospitality is not just branding tagline, but rather something that they inculcate amongst their staff and they have proven themselves time and again,” he added.

While MAS has not entirely shied away from taking slight advantage of what has happened, what they have done is not seen as being too opportunistic.

Just after the Vietnam incident, MAS came out with a special Vietnam package and the observer who spoke toMalaysian Digest last night said: “This was very light-hearted and not hard-hitting in anyway. In fact, what they have done is just continue to associate MAS with Vietnam so that people will remember the two together.”

When asked how AirAsia is going to comeback from this mess, the observer said they will probably ride out the storm and come back with a big campaign of sorts that will take the focus away from what has happened and give new light on the AirAsia brand.

“Tony loves the limelight,” the observer said, referring to the group CEO of AirAsia, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.

“AirAsia is a brand that has always resorted to big, flashy campaigns. Perhaps we will see them come up with a major school holiday package,” he said.

“But what they should do, is simply apologise,” he opined.

While MAS stepped in and fulfilled what AirAsia couldn’t, the former lived up to its ‘Malaysian Hospitality’ tagline and proved to the people that they are human and will help out whenever they can. But AirAsia has only issued a statement saying that what they did was in line with the standard operating procedure and that they did not do anything wrong.

A simpler way to get out from this nightmare is for AirAsia to issue a heartfelt apology and own up to their mistakes.

Netizens who have jumped on the bandwagon in criticizing AirAsia have been calling for a boycott of the company. However, the observer said business-wise, AirAsia will not lose out much.

“It won’t affect them in a big way, the only thing affected here is their image, but those who frequent AirAsia will still fly with them.

“Our market is small, we are not in the United States. So AirAsia does not have to worry about losing passengers,” the observer said.

Meanwhile, it is also important to note that while AirAsia has always boasted on ‘Now Everyone Can Fly’, time to time checks on ticket prices have proven that there are occassions where MAS tickets are cheaper.

In the instance of this new Vietnam package, or a normal return flight to and from Ho Chi Minh City, MAS with its RM880 package, appears to be the cheaper option for a quick getaway to Vietnam.

In any case, MAS is subtly banking in on the opportunity AirAsia has provided for them. While they appear to not want to jump at it and be flashy the way Tony would, what they are doing right now works well with their long-time approach of Malaysian hospitality.

While AirAsia may be the one who says ‘Now Everyone Can Fly’, of late it seems like MAS has been helping them fulfill their rather extravagant claim.

~ mD

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BANTING MURDERS: N. Pathmanabhan, three farm hands gets death

All four accused guilty in murder of Sosilawati Lawiya and three others

Banting Murder : Full Judgement

SHAH ALAM: It was greed that drove lawyer N. Pathmanabhan to kill cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya in a brutal manner three years ago.

The High Court today found that the accused’s unethical decision in acting for two opposing sides in a land deal, as well as acquiring interests in the transactions, had found himself caught in a web of deceit.
 
Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir, in his brief 15-page judgment which took 50 minutes to read, said Pathmanabhan had appeared for Sosilawati as the seller in a land deal, and had also acted for the buyer, which was Datuk Abdul Rahman Palil, a former assemblyman for Sementa.

 “The accused’s actions were not only unethical but had also compromised his impartiality. He appeared for both Sosilawati and Rahman Palil in the same deal and by doing so, he was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea,” he said.

“On one hand was Sosilawati, a well known entrepreneur, and on the other was Rahman Palil, who was a powerful politician according to the accused.”
 
He said when pushed to the corner, Pathmanabhan took an easy route of eliminating one of the two and unfortunately, it was Sosilawati, as he was unable to honour a cheque issued to her.
 
“The rest of the persons accompanying Sosilawati were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
 
Akhtar said this before sentencing Pathmanabhan and his three farm hands T. Thilaiyalagan, 22, R. Matan, 23, and R. Kathavarayan, 33, to death.
 
He found the four guilty of murdering Sosilawati, 47, bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and driver Kamaruddin Shansuddin, 44, at Ladang Gadong, Lot 2001 in Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30, 2010.
 
The judge said Pathmanabhan had in his defence denied meeting Sosilawati on the night of the incident at the farm and this was supported by Thilaiyalagan and Matan’s testimonies.
 
“He had distanced himself from whatever had befallen them (the victims),” he said.
 
“To me, his denial runs to counter the evidence of Sosilawati’s daughter that she was specifially informed by her mother that she was going to Banting to meet the accused over the clearance of two cheques.”
 
Sosilawati’s daughter, Akhtar said, had no axe to grind with the first accused, nor had the wives of the other three victims when they said their husbands had followed Sosilawati on a business matter.
 
“The names thrown by the defence of Rahman Palil and others, known to Sosilawati, were mere red herrings. These names did crop up during investigation and the fact that they were not called as witnesses shows that they had no role to play in this case,” he said.
 
“The telecommunication records (of the victims) also charted their journey right to the farm belonging to Pathmanabhan and the defence made no attempt to discredit this evidence.”
 
The judge also said he found that a witness, Siti Hamidah Karnax, an Indonesian maid who was working on the farm, to be a credible witness, who testified she saw a woman and three men on the farm the night of the incident.
 
(Siti Hamidah had in her evidence said she heard a woman scream and a fire burning as high as the neighbouring oil palm trees).
 
Akthar said the four accused failed to explain the items belonging to the victims as being found as a result of the information given by Thilaiyalagan and Kathavarayan.
 
“The informants worked for Pathmanabhan and since Sosilawati went to see him at the farm, what happened thereafter certainly could be inferred as being instructions from Pathmanabhan,” he said.
 
“There was also no explanation given by the accused persons as to the finding of the blood and human bones on the farm.” 
 
He said Kathavarayan, who had turned against his three co-accused and implicated them, had carefully crafted his version to portray his innocence and manipulated his evidence to suit him.
 
Akhtar said Kathavarayan’s testimony claiming  he saw Sosilawati a week after the incident was also made up.
 
“Kathavarayan had also said Pathmanabhan had prepared them (he, Thilaiyalagan and Matan) on the eventuality of being arrested and questioned by Sosilawati and company.”
 
“This shows the misfortune that had befallen Sosilawati and company on Aug 30, 2010, at the farm,” he said. 
 
“The fact that there was a meeting to discuss their disappearance indicated that all four accused were involved in an earlier plan which they had carried out on Aug 30, 2010, by killing and disposing of the remains of Sosilawati and company (bodies were burnt and ashes thrown in the river).”
 
The judge said this was a case unlike others as no bodies recovered.
 
He, however, found no reason why the four accused could not be convicted merely because no bodies were recovered as he found the four men to have murdered Sosilawati and company.
 
“All the evidence in this case recouped together puts to shade the saying that dead men tell no tales. In this case, the dead men and one woman shouted at the top of their lungs through silent evidence, a tale of dishonesty and deception, precipitated by sheer and naked greed, orchestrated by a man whose profession preached trustworthiness and honour.
 
“Their victims are not only the poor and desolate but also the high and mighty. This case is evidence of such gruesome plot executed by a rogue professional and his cohorts with extreme brutality,” said Akhtar.
Cops bringing (from left) R Matan, T Thilaiyalagan dan N Pathmanabhan for the verdict of the murder trial of millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya at the Shah Alam High Court this morning. – By Khairull Azry Bidin

~NST

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Ahmad Zahid: Adhere to Act or pay a heavy price

PUTRAJAYA: Those who do not adhere to the Peaceful Assembly Act will “pay a heavy price” for their offence, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said organisers of mass rallies should respect the law and not create chaos because there was a “silent majority” among the people who did not agree with these gatherings.

Ahmad Zahid was responding to questions from reporters on the recent mass protests organised by Opposition parties where election fraud was alleged.

“I have said from early on that if they plan to hold gatherings outside the provisions of the Act, if there are those who continue to be stubborn, they have to pay a heavy price if the police take action.

“I have given full power to the IGP (Inspector-General of Police) to enforce the law and this will be done without interference from me,” he said after a working visit to the Immigration Department here on Thursday.

Later, during a working visit to the National Registration Department here, Dr Ahmad Zahid told newsmen that the Government would not interfere with the ongoing police crackdown on individuals allegedly involved in seditious activities over the past few weeks.

He said he would leave all “operational matters” in the hands of the police.

“I am sure the police have sufficient evidence and proper basis to make the arrests. I have no hand in the arrests. For further information, please ask the police,” he said.

Among those arrested were student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim, PKR vice-president Tian Chua, Tamrin Ghafar of PAS and social activist Harris Ibrahim.

On another matter, the minister cautioned that action would be taken “very soon” against foreigners who had overstayed or abused their travel or student visas.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said the Immigration Department was actively monitoring such foreigners who contributed to social ills during their stay in the country.

Action would also be taken against those who abused their student visas by conducting activities outside the scope of their visas, such as business activities.

“I don’t want to give a warning but don’t get mad at us if action is taken in the nearest time possible.

“If your visa has expired, surrender yourself and we can solve this in a good manner,” he said.

~The Star

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Pandan MP to stand trial for violation of banking secrecy over NFC documents

PUTRAJAYA: Pandan Member of Parliament Mohd Rafizi Ramli has to stand trial in the Sessions Court for allegedly violating the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia) by revealing confidential banking details linked to the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) issue.

This follows the Court of Appeal’s decision Thursday which dismissed his appeal to strike out the charge.

A three-member panel chaired by Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali said there was no merit in the appeal.

“Allegation that the charge is against public policy is not grounded in evidence,” he said.

Justice Apandi ordered the trial to proceed expeditiously as he said it was a case of public interest.

The case has been fixed for mention at the Sessions Court in Shah Alam on June 10.

At the hearing of the appeal Thursday, Rafizi’s counsel R. Sivarasa submitted that the charge against his client should be thrown out on grounds it was against public policy.

He said the prosecution against Rafizi, 37, on the Bafia charge was oppressive and an abuse of court process, adding that the public prosecutor had bad intention in prosecuting him (Rafizi).

Justice Apandi told Sivarasa that the public prosecutor, who is also the Attorney-General, had been given wide discretionary powers under the Federal Constitution.

The judge said the court had inherent powers, including under the Criminal Procedure Code, to strike out the charges but it must be “of rare and exceptional circumstances.” Deputy Public Prosecutor Nahra Dollah did not make any oral submission on the instruction of the panel, which said that they had read the prosecution’s and Rafizi’s written submissions.

Rafizi was charged in August last year with revealing four Public Bank customer-profile documents on the balance summaries of the NFC, National Meat and Livestock Sdn Bhd, Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd and NFC chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail.

He allegedly disclosed the documents to media consultant Yusuf Abdul Alim and to The Star reporter Erle Martin Carvalho at Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) headquarters at Merchant Square in Petaling Jaya on March 7 last year.

On Sept 10, last year, Rafizi, who is PKR director of strategy, filed an application to strike out the charge.

He lodged an appeal to the Court of Appeal after his application was dismissed by the High Court on Nov 23, last year.

Sivarasa told reporters that an appeal would be filed to the Federal Court. – Bernama

~The Star

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School holiday starts tomorrow, which is also a Publice Holiday in Malaysia (Wesak Day), many of us are going for a short break, how nice :) .  Well for me, our next getaway has to wait hehe.. Happy holidays people> Be safe & have a great HOLIDAY!!

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Adam Adli pleads not guilty

Adam Adli pleads not guilty

Student activist Adam Adli Abd Halim has pleaded not guilty to a charge of uttering seditious words during a talk. He is accused of committing the offence at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Jalan Maharaja Lela here between 8.55pm and 11.15pm on May 13.

~The Star

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Ahmad Zahid: Government will take action on foreigners who abuse student visas

"We will also take action against those who abused their students visas," said Ahmad Zahid. “We will also take action against those who abused their students visas,” said Ahmad Zahid.
PUTRAJAYA: The Home Ministry has cautioned that action will be taken very soon against foreigners who overstayed or abused their travel or student visas.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Immigration Department is actively monitoring foreigners who contributed to social ills.

“We will also take action against those who abused their students visas, whereby there are those who did business or other activities outside the scope of their visa.

“If your visa has expired, surrender yourself and we can solve this in a good manner,” said Ahmad Zahid when met by reporters after a working visit to the Immigration Department on Thursday.

~The Star
*Good move by the govt, there are just too many of them loitering around, specially those from Middle East and African countries.

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Chen under probe over ‘Malaysia Spring’ email

KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor police have opened an investigation into DAP founding member Dr Chen Man Hin for allegedly conspiring to create public disorder when he used the term “Malaysia Spring” in a private email correspondence.

Sources said Chen was called in for questioning a few days after an article appeared in the newspapers quoting former DAP vice-chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim on the matter on May 18.

It is understood that Chen was being investigated for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government through street demonstrations similar to those which had occurred in several Middle Eastern countries and had been labelled the Arab Spring.

In the May 18 article, Tunku Aziz had said the opposition had long intended to initiate a “Malaysian Spring” to overthrow the government through street rallies.

He had claimed the opposition had planned to create chaos since last year’s Bersih rally and was now building up to nationwide protests, which were being organised to condemn a democratically-elected government over so-called electoral fraud in the 13th General Election.

The former senator had said he had evidence to back his claim in the form of an email which was sent out by DAP’s chief of staff Foo Yueh Chuan to all central executive council members on April 26, last year.

In the email, Foo informed the recipients that she was coordinating the party members and leaders to participate in Bersih’s sit-in rally at Stadium Merdeka on April 28 last year.

Tunku Aziz had said he replied to the email making it clear that he was “in principle opposed to street demonstrations”.

However, he said, DAP founding member Chen replied the email, saying that he was in support of the idea.

Tunku Aziz had said Chen had replied he would be “delighted to participate in the sit-in (Bersih rally) and wrote that this may be the beginning of a “Malaysia Spring”.

Meanwhile City Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah said police would be questioning former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Noor Abdullah over his alleged provocative remarks made at a public forum recently.

In his speech, Noor had allegedly blamed the Chinese for betraying the friendship of Malays and urged the Malays to defend their rights.

~NST

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Transport Ministry reveals new FT registration plate to start with W1A

New vehicle registration plates.

New vehicle registration plates.

PUTRAJAYA: In the impending expiry of the WYY series, the new vehicle registration plates would start with W1A and end with W999A (see chart above), said acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.Hishammuddin said on Thursday that the current format, which would end with WYY999, was expected to end in July

~The Star

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