Tuesday, December 22, 2009

BN is all about 1 UMNO party, 1 General, 1 instruction now?

Penang UMNO seems to be in the limelight lately in calling for the change in state BN leadership from gerakan to UMNO.

The build-up to this call arose when the UMNO decided to lift the ban of their Penang UMNO Bukit Bendera Warlord, "racist loud-mouth" and suddenly, the call to Gerakan arises. It is evident that the Penang UMNO are boosted by the suspension and becoming aggressive as he remains unrepentant from the suspension calling for apologies from Gerakan.

The "demonstrasi jalanan" or demonstrasi in front of Komtar against the Pakatan Rakyat state Government are all set for a re-emergence. It would be interesting to watch where these "UMNO Penang mamaks" would be heading to now that their "kepala" is able to re-ignite the "ketuanan Melayu" call again.

It do seem that the suspension decision was more of a stop-gap measure to cool down the situation when the lifting of the suspension reflects the true sentiments of UMNO towards the rakyat and yet they call for "Rakyat Diutamakan".

Gerakan on the other hand under Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon had been a loyal politician in abiding UMNO instructions though he had once dared to take Gerakan out but never materialised while some of his followers had switch over to Pakatan Rakyat parties.

2 different calls or statements from Najib reflects the his indecisiveness and insincerity towards the BN coalition on the Penang BN leadership change. First was for a consensus while a second calling for a stop to the open debate.

So where does Gerakan really stand now? It would be interesting to analyse and easy to come to a conslusion that very soon, MCA and Gerakan would be under the control of UMNO. With MCA seeking UMNO involvement to resolve their internal struggles, it would be easy for UMNO to manage from deep within MCA with more politicians in the same mould as KTK.

It won't be a situation of "I Jump You Jump" but more of "You Jump I Watch" for the other coalition parties in BN.

MIC better watch out for the UMNO takeover.

So does a BN national coalition really exist here? Or when decisions are solely from UMNO? Coalition parties will remain as "order takers" instead of collectively and actively participating in decision making of the Government policies.

If this happens, can national unity be achieved?

Terengganu monuments of shame and tourist attractions today!

On a recent trip to Terengganu, the locals asked me where had I gone for sightseeing.

My reply was, "Is there something new which I have not seen based on my frequent visits there?" I do have a local there who updates me regularly on going-ons including the "off-key" Monsoon Cup event.

Then he proudly said that, Terengganu now have a major attraction and that's the Gong Badak Stadium roof collapse which 6 months down the road, is left as if its a national monument to remind of what the Terengganu Government had achieved for the people.

I was surprise and said, "No, it's 6 months now and definitely repair works are in progress." The driver quickly interrupted and said, "I'll pass that monument on the way to airport."

As we pass the "mangled structure", I was shocked that what I saw with my naked eyes was that the whole roof structure had collapsed and not part of the roof as reported or seen on pictures.

"Well, that could only be the first of many more", the driver said.

True enough, Terengganu have another tourist attraction 6 months later!

Is this God's creation to reflect the magnitude of corruption which had gone through in awarding projects?

Not 2 engines but another 55 skyhawks have vanished? (Updated)

Not 1 but 2!

Startling revelation which promises a no holds barred/cover up investigation ..... can we trust this statement from the Prime Minister (PM)?

We want to hear the same for Altantuya from our PM! Why not?

On the same note, the incident happened in May '09 and the plans could not have taken place there and then but way back before May '09. Who was the Defence Minister then?

When the incident happened, is YB Dato' Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi the Defence Minister yet? Nothing was mentioned till the revelation 7 months onward. Is this KPI of Malaysian Government standards?

While the police report was lodged last August, the AG received the investigation papers 1 month ago when the crooks could have gotten away by then. Where is the efficiency or the cover-up was being planned?

If the army can't take care of their own assets, then can we trust them to safeguard the nation? This beginning to sound more like espionage or spy vs spy!

If this other revelation of our Skyhawks had flown away in thin air is true, then we Malaysians have been taken for a ride by this BN Government.

Action are being taken against high ranking officers as reported but the main question, should the Minister get off as well? This is about accountability, credibility and transparency of the Malaysian Government? (updated)

Don't just refer the high ranking officers "traitors to the nation" but similar for the Minister when we are sure he is aware of the theft by then! Why wait till now? Isn't the Minister be the one overseeing the managing of the country assets afterall we have place him there?

Rakyat Diutamakan? Fat hopes!

With all this crap and pointing fingers, it's better that the Ministers step down immediately! We Malaysians are concerned about our money spent and safety of our beloved country!

Enough is enough!

Monday, December 21, 2009

When the waiting time is longer then the flight time (with your community airline)!

Considering my tight work schedule, I was just thinking of jumping onto the plane on an afternoon 1510hours flight to Kuala Terengganu (KT) that provides me ample time for checking-in to hotel, refresh and head for an important dinner meeting at 1900hours.

It was during the journey in a taxi to Sky Park (Subang Terminal) at 1325hours that I received a text message from Firefly where I am only 200 metres from the Terminal that says;

“Firefly FY2102 SZB-TGG on 09DEC09 has been retimed to 1630Hrs. For enquiries call +603-78454543 (8am-9pm) daily. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.”

When I enquired at the airline office, I was assured that the retimed flight of 1630hours is confirmed only for the staff to re-appear from the back office after confirming with her superior that the flight is now scheduled for 1530hours.

The staff manning the counter was pretty uptight about guest service and does not impress me with a good impression of the quality of service. I wonder if would be any different had it been a foreigner standing in front of this lady?

At this point, I had a little apprehension that I would arrive in KT on time for the important dinner and had no confidence in the answers provided by the office staff.

Upon checking-in, the friendly staff there Cik Haieda informed me that the flight has now been re-timed to 1535hours while I duly check-in assuming the time given would be the correct timing. She was kind enough to inform that there would be refreshments for passengers for flight delays beyond 2 hours.

There were no more updates thereafter and thus, I dutifully proceed to the departure hall at 1445hrs only to see the departure door signage informing of the “re-timed” flight time of 1640hours.

What really is shocking is that there were no announcements made of the re-timed flight!!

However, at 1830hours, an announcement was made that the flight will now be at 1940hours!!! I had anticipated this when I saw the ground crew scurrying to reach for the PA system to make the announcement.

What the F*%@!!! This is real shocking!!!!!!!

Is this airline named after that insect, trying to compete with Air Asia in terms of delays?

This does not augur well having to wait for more then 5 hours at the airport filled unproductive hours and had caused my scheduled finalization meeting in KT to be called off at the eleventh hour.

Not even the refreshment vouchers issued could compensate for the business deal which had gone awry!!! What is that perhaps RM60-70 compared to the value of the contract being discussed.

Can airline companies be held liable for the loss of revenue arising from flight delays in this instance?

Are budget airlines so unreliable in terms of being on time?

Community airline is supposed to serve community well and not causing such inconvenience with the round trip delays!!!

Forget about the tagline Your Community Airline then!