Fernandes sings the blues over MPs’ share swap remarks
PETALING JAYA: Low budget airline AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes lashed out at several MPs for criticising him in the AirAsia-Malaysia Airlines share swap deal.
Taking to his Twitter account yesterday morning, he fired back at the four MPs who criticised him in the deal, telling them to train their guns on the rising airport fees instead.
“Four MPs have criticised me. Made it very personal for five years. One MP said I rape poor villagers.
“Villagers could never fly before.
“We have worked so hard to make flying affordable and 130 million people have flown due to us.
“Why are these member of parliaments not questioning the cost of airports and fighting for the people for lower taxes for the rakyat?” he asked in his tweets, taking potshots at airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad at the same time.
Barisan Nasional MPs led by backbenchers deputy chief Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan), in Parliament on Monday, hit out at AirAsia for purportedly imposing exorbitant excess luggage fees on passengers as well as the lack of plans for aerobridges at KLIA2.
Independent MP for Wangsa Maju Wee Choo Keong also fired salvos at AirAsia, saying that safety must come first for passengers in deciding on having aerobridges.
The Finance Ministry had previously announced that the Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia had launched an investigation into the swap deal.
I have my reservations on AirAsia. I agree on some yet sometimes I see them as being too much.
Firstly, I must take my hats of to Fernandes. He is good. He is a really good entrepreneur. He made things happen for his company and he leverages on whatever he can. But the means does not necessarily make sense to me or the general public.
Airasia is great in a sense that it introduced competition and carved a new market for itself. True, those who could not have flown before are now able to fly at sometimes for free (save for the airport tax).
But being low cost should be at your own creativity and ingenuity. Not through subsidies, especially in air flights. Getting the government to build a new terminal for low cost flights just does not make good sense as the existing one works fine. Crowded? A little bit inconvenient? That low cost for you.
And as for the penalty and fee, I think that will serve to punish AirAsia itself in the long run. People have been talking about this for a long time yet they still fly with AirAsia because it is the cheapest around. But given a choice, they may choose another (like Firefly - some absolutely loved them).
And I also sense that more and more people are beginning to feel that AirAsia is getting a bit over the top. Asking the government for this and that and quick to lambaste at MP or people who does not seem to agree with them. I begin to see them as being arrogant, as if AirAsia is the only business we and the government have to take care of. Richard Branson could have this 'rude' and public tiff with British Airways (like when they took a micky by saying that "BA cannot get it up") and publicly lambasting the policymakers if things does not go for Virgin Airways. It is one thing being a copycat of Virgin's business model and being a copycap of Branson's behavior. Our people, our culture reacts differently.
As for the share swap deal, I leave the regulators to do their job. But is not a crime to take advantage of a non-so-clever person. We really need a really clever person to deal with the likes of Fernandes because he is clever. Khazanah should be about nation building (originally Bumiputera building, sigh), not AirAsia building. When it comes to nation building, not all is about economics, about money. Because a nation needs pride, needs a sense of belonging. We comprise humans, not numbers. We have feelings and some does take pride that Malaysia Airline is Malaysian, it is ours!
Work smart everyone
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Taking to his Twitter account yesterday morning, he fired back at the four MPs who criticised him in the deal, telling them to train their guns on the rising airport fees instead.
“Four MPs have criticised me. Made it very personal for five years. One MP said I rape poor villagers.
“Villagers could never fly before.
“We have worked so hard to make flying affordable and 130 million people have flown due to us.
“Why are these member of parliaments not questioning the cost of airports and fighting for the people for lower taxes for the rakyat?” he asked in his tweets, taking potshots at airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad at the same time.
Barisan Nasional MPs led by backbenchers deputy chief Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan), in Parliament on Monday, hit out at AirAsia for purportedly imposing exorbitant excess luggage fees on passengers as well as the lack of plans for aerobridges at KLIA2.
Independent MP for Wangsa Maju Wee Choo Keong also fired salvos at AirAsia, saying that safety must come first for passengers in deciding on having aerobridges.
The Finance Ministry had previously announced that the Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia had launched an investigation into the swap deal.
I have my reservations on AirAsia. I agree on some yet sometimes I see them as being too much.
Firstly, I must take my hats of to Fernandes. He is good. He is a really good entrepreneur. He made things happen for his company and he leverages on whatever he can. But the means does not necessarily make sense to me or the general public.
Airasia is great in a sense that it introduced competition and carved a new market for itself. True, those who could not have flown before are now able to fly at sometimes for free (save for the airport tax).
But being low cost should be at your own creativity and ingenuity. Not through subsidies, especially in air flights. Getting the government to build a new terminal for low cost flights just does not make good sense as the existing one works fine. Crowded? A little bit inconvenient? That low cost for you.
And as for the penalty and fee, I think that will serve to punish AirAsia itself in the long run. People have been talking about this for a long time yet they still fly with AirAsia because it is the cheapest around. But given a choice, they may choose another (like Firefly - some absolutely loved them).
And I also sense that more and more people are beginning to feel that AirAsia is getting a bit over the top. Asking the government for this and that and quick to lambaste at MP or people who does not seem to agree with them. I begin to see them as being arrogant, as if AirAsia is the only business we and the government have to take care of. Richard Branson could have this 'rude' and public tiff with British Airways (like when they took a micky by saying that "BA cannot get it up") and publicly lambasting the policymakers if things does not go for Virgin Airways. It is one thing being a copycat of Virgin's business model and being a copycap of Branson's behavior. Our people, our culture reacts differently.
As for the share swap deal, I leave the regulators to do their job. But is not a crime to take advantage of a non-so-clever person. We really need a really clever person to deal with the likes of Fernandes because he is clever. Khazanah should be about nation building (originally Bumiputera building, sigh), not AirAsia building. When it comes to nation building, not all is about economics, about money. Because a nation needs pride, needs a sense of belonging. We comprise humans, not numbers. We have feelings and some does take pride that Malaysia Airline is Malaysian, it is ours!
Work smart everyone
If you like this article and would like to get regular updates, please like our page, ElixirEducate . You can also join the growing business network of Entrepreneurs in Malaysia by joining this group.
The Author is the principal of ElixirEducate - a training house for Smart Entrepreneur Program Series. He was an international investment banker, corporate financier and a business coach where he coaches entrepreneurs on building and growing their businesses. You can be his facebook friend here.
Please share this information with your entrepreneur friend who may benefit from this post. They could be an existing entrepreneur or someone who plans to start a business. Thank you and have a meaningful day.
I have been using their service for quite sometimes. Yes they are good in some ways but also too rigid in others.
ReplyDeleteAgree that sometimes it is not about numbers and the case of MAS, I would like to see it flying as the national carriers forever!