Golden Anniversary

After attending the Merdeka Awards Launch I began to visualize the changes that have taken place over the 50 years of independence, and when I thought about it even more I realized that it was really what I saw and, experienced and went through all my life. It was about all the changes that have taken place around me. I also realized the impact these changes have on my life and how it was shaped.

I can still remember the excitement in my house over the merdeka or independence issue. My mum and late dad were both very active in the then current political issues to the extent that their lives were dedicated towards the achievements of the time and maintenance thereafter. Pre-merdeka, dad would be working as an auditor during the day and mum as a religious schoolteacher and in the evenings and night they would be away attending meetings and other functions related to the political movement. Dad was later transferred to the Marines department as Deputy Port officer and Mum rose to be the headmistress of the school she taught in.

I was born in the era of Japanese occupation. Life was difficult then I was told. I practically lived on tapioca as rice and milk were scarce then. Mum would boil tapioca and add extra water, the excess was used to feed me supplementing mum’s breast milk. Things changed slightly when the British took over after the Japanese left and I could vaguely remember those times. Various canned foods and other daily needs and goods were available and almost all British made. We had none of the luxuries of life we have now. Commuting was always on foot although dad had a bicycle to ease his movement. We could count the number of cars on the road then and that too belonged only to the prominent ones in society. When I started schooling I had to walk to school every day. When I was halfway through primary school a bus service in the town was started and that eased our commuting needs somewhat, but the buses they had were few and it took a long while for one to catch the next bus if one missed it. So I ended walking to school everyday just the same ha ha!

In the process of my growing up through pre and primary school I saw a lot of changes in the way things were done around me. Development slowly took place, starting with the basic infrastructures like piped water into the houses, flush toilets, electricity supply into the house and so on. Telephones were those for the public strategically located around the town and were the oversized ones like those you see in the movies of the forties and fifties!! Vandalism was not known then!! So, you can imagine how the people aligned themselves to the authorities of the day, the British and the Malay Administrators. We were so used to obtaining water from wells, lighting up kerosene lamps in the evenings, toilets being located outside of our houses with the night-soil man coming around to collect our toilet ‘spoils’ daily. Hence when these changes took place people were just elated. We thought of them as wonderful and unbelievable developments.

Campaigns for independence started then. The leading political party of the day, of which my mum and dad were heavily involved in, went around in their campaigns to garner support for independence. The support, I think, was overwhelming and the three major races in the country worked together to achieve the objectives. Although the communists that were anti British were strongly fighting to liberate the country through its communist ideologies the general population was not in their favour. They were literally ‘hounded’ into the jungles and they fought the British from there.

Then came independence, Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka shouted the first Prime Minister followed by resounding cries from the throng of people gathered there. I heard the proceedings over the radio at home. I was as excited as my parents were. I was about 13 years old then. I knew what it was all about but had no inkling of what was to follow. My friends and I shouted Merdeka but did not really realize the implications. My dad and mum told me that Merdeka was for us, for my generation to carry on the torch of independence and for future generations to reap the benefits. It had not much impact on me then. All I knew, or rather was told, was that the ruling political party had the mandate to run the country without intervention of the British. We were on our own to chart our destiny my parents said. You must study hard, educate yourself so that you can contribute to society later on. Slowly, as I grew up I realized those words that my parents told me. I realized how important education was. I slowly realized that my knowledge and skills helped me to shape my working life while at the same time gave me the opportunity to participate in nation building and the well being of society. My parents’ involvement in community work, political work and so on gave them a good standing in society. These attitude and attributes somehow brushed on me as well, such that I would voluntarily involve myself in community work whenever I get the opportunity.

Independence has been obtained, 50 years on now, and the time of nation building has passed. We are surrounded by the fruits reaped out of the nation building. Now is the time to carry on the nation building and its maintenance. We need to sustain the chain of development and advance forward to better things. What we thought was a wonderful facility once, like that public telephone, or the piped water in to the house, has become an ordinary thing now. What was wonderful and unbelievable when I was young is very basic now. The era has changed and improved our quality of life. It is the continuance of discovering the wonderful and the unbelievable that should be the order now, such that the chain can continue, and that our grandchildren can then have at least their basics then from what we now discover as wonderful and unbelievable……. Am I making sense? Ah well…… I am entitled to some nostalgia and also dreams ………. May the Almighty continue to guide us always…..

Some Very Very Old Pictures .......

















MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya.

Merdeka Awards Launch - Down Memory Lane

A few days prior to the national 50th Merdeka celebration or the celebration of independence, Ram and I attended a dinner for the official launching of the ‘Merdeka Awards’. The award is to recognize individuals who had made high impact on the nations’ development in five specific areas which includes education, arts and culture, community development and other categories. The launch was officiated by the Prime Minister and the founding members of the award are the three major oil and gas players in the country and of course led by the national oil company where I used to work for and where Tessa is now.

Tessa and her mates in the office had been working very hard for weeks prior to the occasion to put up a good show and she did not tell us much about what to expect but we could read from the ‘things’ she referred to us while putting her ‘acts’ together that we can expect something extraordinary. She had now and then asked me or her mum, for confirmation I suppose, titles of old and traditional songs, culture and recipes of traditional cuisines which, I guessed then, she will be using as display on the launch night. She also said that the function will only be launching the award and that the individuals to receive the award will be identified through a very stringent selection process by a team of respected individuals yet to be identified. This will be a very prestigious award. It will definitely take a long time for the recipient to be identified. The identification of Nobel prize award recipient and the Raymond Mc Saysay (I stand corrected for spelling?) award recipient take many months or years to be identified!!

I was invited in my capacity as the secretary to the Retirees Fraternity and was indeed looking forward to the occasion. Dress code was Malaysian batik, so we had our batik ready. We went early to avoid the evening traffic jam and arrived at the Convention Centre, the place where the launch was to be held, just before the dusk prayers. We prayed at the prayer room provided and then proceed to the function hall. I did not bring my walking stick with me and braved it through with a very slight limp!! On arrival at the foyer we were asked to register at one of the many registration tables provided. We could easily identify the organizing committee members and those at work that night as they were all in very pretty, colorful, uniform, batik outfits as well. They told us our table number and ushered us through.

They had built a tunnel, soothing soft green colors, leading into the hall. It was quite a long tunnel, sort of a time tunnel, and all along the sides were electronic display screens showing pictures of old and excerpts of speeches and writings etc. Soft music and traditional songs of years gone by were played. We were transported back to the past 50 years or more.

On arrival at the main hall there were more staff (ushers) dressed in the colorful batik, waiting, and one showed us to our table. The orchestra was at one end of the hall and the main stage was at the other end. On the two side walls were big screens (several on each side) screening changing scenes and pictures of old, the old KL, traditional houses, children of the time, old landmarks, cars and other vehicles, and so on and all in black and white! We immediately became nostalgic and tried to identify the pictures. I remember all of them I think. All along piped music, songs of years gone by, were played.

I looked around the hall and noticed that most were elderly. Except for the staff and ushers, most were beyond fifties. Most with white hair and a majority of them with receding ‘crop’ while there were a few without any!! One outstanding person was the well known local poet, now in his late sixties I think, who had hair all over his head and face and white too. Just like this person others in the hall were well known past personalities in their own fields most of whom have already retired and many are in some way or other still contributing to society. I could identify the film maker, the sports personalities and captains of teams, captains of industries, well known songwriters and musicians, culture experts, historian, museum curator, educationist, scientist, and many more. A few came in weel-chairs and yet a few more came with walking stick. I should have been braver and brought my walking stick along too. It was heart warming to see all these personalities as guests at the function and I felt very small and humbled when I realized that I was also there as guest but nothing compared to all of them. I have retired and I am still contributing to society but nothing when compared to what these other guests have contributed to the country.

The Prime Minister with his new wife (he remarried recently after his wife passed away a couple of years ago) arrived at the appointed time accompanied by the Presidents or Heads of the three founding member companies. He was very lively and shook hands with most personalities seated along the main passageway and waved at others seated further away. His wife did so too. Speeches followed and the PM graciously launched the Merdeka Award.

Dinner followed. Surprise, surprise!! Food served were those that Tessa had asked us about and all prepared the traditional way by the Convention Centre. There was none of the dinner function dishes normally served in hotels and at official functions. (So, that was why she kept asking for this and that but never really told us what for and I thought it was just for display!!) We noticed that some ingredients were missing in some of the traditional dishes, can’t blame them as these ingredients especially the herbal leaves are difficult to get nowadays, but the tastes were good, almost authentic. Even desert, fruits and door gifts (consisting of sweets) were those that are quite difficult to get nowadays. They had gone all out to make it really authentic and nostalgic for the old folks like me and the rest present that night!! Music from the orchestra was also from the fifties and much earlier.

It was down memory lane that night. We realized that we have gone fifty years after independence. We have made our contribution in some way or other in nation building. Our wish is for the present and future generation to have the courage, stamina and perseverance to bring the nation to greater heights and sustain it for many many more years to come.

With the launch of the award I hope the selection of recipients will be properly scrutinized to reflect its authenticity and that only the ones most deserving receive them. It should be based purely on historical milestones and not colored by any political inclination.

The team put up a really good show that night. They worked hard at it and they most certainly achieved the impact the event was designed for. 'Congratulations'. May the guidance of the Almighty be within our and their reach always…..

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya

Penang - Disappointment All Over!!

We had the opportunity to spend a few days in Penang about a fortnight ago. W planned for this trip several weeks ago and had made reservation at a beach resort there. Our intention was primarily to visit Fahrul's parents in Perlis, further north of Penang, and spend the rest of the time leisurely in Penang. By coincidence Ayako, the daughter of a very close Japanese friend came alone for a week's holiday with us from Kobe, Japan. We took her with us to Penang and made reservation for a second room at the resort. The resort was full on the first night, so we hod no choice but to stay in another hotel closeby on the first night.

We left PJ early on Saturday morning. Just about an hour out on the double lane highway we were caught in a traffic 'snarl' moving at a snail's pace inching our way at one car space at a time. True to the habit of our local motorists, the two lanes became four and cars changing lanes often, God knows for what reasons, when it was pretty obvious that all lanes were moving at the same pace. All that could be gained was no more than one or two car lengths of space!! Huh, never mind others, I want to go first attitude shone around us!! One good hour later we came to the place causing the traffic snarl. A heavily laden 12 wheeler lorry was blocking the major lanes of the two lane highway leaving a small gap for just one lane of vehicles to pass through at the side. The two front wheels of the lorry were broken with obvious signs of its chassis scraping the road surface some distance. A sign of the lorry having been driven at high speed, skidding and hitting the centre divider. The four rows of cars had to squeeze into one lane through that small gap left open to traffic. The rescue people were already there then to help clear the grieving lorry but was no help to the crawling traffic just then.

We continued our drive to Penang, stopping at several rest areas to rest our legs and ease ourselves. I bought several types of cut local fruits for us to munch in the car, partly for me to keep awake while driving and partly for Ayako to see and taste the local fruits. We arrived at the bridge at about 1.30pm to cross to Penang. We drove around Georgetown a little bit and then headed for our hotels located in Tanjung Bunga touristy beach area, had lunch in the hotel and rest for a while. I managed to catch about an hour sleep. We went out for another drive around the island in the evening and had dinner at the famous seaside foodstalls in Gurney Drive.

We had our meals at several places in Penang throughout our stay. We tried almost all the 'so-called' Penang food but it was disappointment all around. Even those at Gurney Drive were not the same anymore. The Penang food in KL or PJ are way much better than what we had in Penang, in terms of taste, food presentation and also cost!! We could not find the regular food outlets we used to patronise the previous times we were in Penang. They have either closed down or moved to other locations to make way for development. Of course the fancy restaurants serving fancy 'global' food located in the tourist areas were still there but we were not about to get ourselves into these restaurants, no no. Our trip to Penang was not about including food Italian or Western or any foreign style. We wanted local but the local food we had were disappointing to say the least. We visited a food-court, spanking new, clean toilets and wash basins, uniformed stall operators, very modern but...... the food was nothing to shout about. We ate only to satiate our gnawing hunger. We talked to one or two stall operators and found out that most of them were not happy. The rentals are very high and they have difficulties balancing income and expenditure. So something got to give and I guess quality would be the first one.

We drove North to visit Fahrul's parents and on the way we stopped at several places including the famous Pekan Rabu in Alor Star where one can get most local stuff like dresses, handicrafts and also foodstuff. Ram bought some traditional foodstuff, cakes and sweets. We continued our journey and visited the border town of Padang Besar, bordering Thailand, and browsed at the mall and at the stalls that were selling mostly Thai products. The place was crowded with people. We spent about an hour there and then proceed to Fahrul's parent's house. We stayed a while and had heavy afternoon tea. They also served local fruits including the durian. We could see that Ayako was not too comfortable eating the durian but she was ok with the other fruits. We had a good time there and left just before dusk after paying a brief visit to Fahrul's sister who had just recently moved into their new house not too far away from the parents' house. We arrived Penang at about 10pm.

On one of the days we visited the butterfly park. Ayako was not too keen on the beaches and just wanted to visit some place leisurely. She suggested the butterfly park after reading one of the tourist brochures and off we went to the park. It was quite crowded with mostly middle-eastern tourists. Very interesting crowd they were! Loud and noisy as well as not having regard for rules and regulations. Anyway, the park was also interesting. There were butterflies everywhere, of a myriad of coulours and sizes. The plants planted in the park were also of varied species, some ornamental and some with medicinal values. I befriended one of the staff of the park and learnt quite alot on the properties of the various plants available there. He was very helpful and described in detail about the various plants and also on the butterflies and insects. We spent close to three hours in the park.

The rest of our time in Penang were spent whiling away at the stalls and driving around the island. The old buildings in the town centre with their unique architecture of old were still standing and I hope these buildings will be maintained and will not be torn down in the name of development. Never mind that the streets are narrow but since they have changed the traffic flow system it was not much of a hassle going through them. The ferry system plying the channel back and forth Butterworth to Georgetown always remain nostalgic to me and I hope that this means of crossing over will also be maintained except that they have to display clearer road signs to direct traffic to the ferry. I got lost trying to find my way to the ferry coming back from Perlis at night. There were signs directing us to Butterworth but not enough signs to the Ferry. We lost our way and ended taking the bridge instead. It would have been nice crossing over in the ferry at night.


Crossing Over Using The Ferry Service


We noticed that the tourist in Penang were mostly from the middle east and we also noticed that most of the operators of the stalls and night markets could speak some Arabic. I cant help chuckling when I heard Chinese and Indian stall operators speaking Arabic to his potential clients. Will we go back to Penang sometime soon? Not urgently likely. There are no more interesting attractions for us to see in Penang now.........

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya

Local Budget Airline – New Rules

Another trip to the East. Our three grandchildren were all looking forward to our arrival. They were excited when we talked to them over the telephone to say that we were coming. We returned from Sita’s house on Friday evening and our flight out to visit Shaffik and family was on Saturday afternoon. Our PJ house has become like a transit house over the past couple of months. Although we were in KL/PJ area on alternate weeks we were hardly at home as we had to attend to various commitments and run different errands.

We purchased tickets on the budget airline some weeks ago for this trip to Shaffik’s house. It had been quite a while since our last trip there. It was Christmas/New Year holidays when we were last there and it has been about seven months since then. There have been some changes in the reservation/purchase process for the budget airline. They apparently saw potential of making extra money in their loading procedure and had implemented a procedural change to make that extra.

Previously, all one has to do was to log on to the airline website, pick the from and to locations and the dates of travel, agree to the terms and conditions of sale and purchase, make the payment and confirm the bookings. On the day of travel and after producing proof of identity, one will be given a boarding pass which will be used at the boarding gate for boarding, sometimes with producing proof of identity again and sometime not, depending on the mood of the person in charge I suppose. Boarding will be done in an orderly manner. Families with little children, the elderly and those requiring assistance will be allowed to board first, followed by other passengers. This system had been working very well since the start of the airline’s operations.

When making the online purchase for the current trip I noticed some changes in the procedure. If one requires priority boarding one has to pay an additional fee for the privilege. On travel day those with priority boarding were allowed to board first. The others will board en-masse. Never mind if one was elderly, traveled in a family with young children, or slow requiring aid and assistance, one had to join the ‘en-masse’ crowd. This is where you see the ugly side of the people; the jostling and pushing to be in the front; the ‘me first and I do not care about you’ moves; the everyone on his own attitude or some people, especially the Chinese, call it ‘kiasu’ attitude revealing their ugly heads!!

On this trip we notice that there were only about ten or so people who purchased the priority boarding. We did not take the option of purchasing the priority boarding, so we had to join the crowd for normal boarding. The priority boarders were allowed to board first but not before the names of some of them to be called several times over the PA system to board. This is where I see the system as being unfriendly to the masses. Since the priority boarders know that they have priority, there is no sense of urgency in them. All others have to wait for them while they take their time browsing and whiling away at the shopping outlets in the departure lounge, “oh they can wait, I have priority boarding”!! Huh, another kiasu attitude. There alone we wasted about 15 minutes while the boarding staff kept calling and calling the names of the priority boarders!! Only after these boarders have boarded the plane were we allowed to board. The jostling, pushing and the rushing continued. Ram and I were not too far from the front of the queue but because of the distance we had to walk to board the plane with me slowly walking, walking stick and all, we ended being at the later end of the queue when we reached the aircraft. There were still plenty of empty seats when we boarded, hence no hassle there, but to think that people were rushing and pushing only shows the ugly side of traveling cheap!! One consolation though, we were seated together and we had the use of three seats between the two of us. Plenty of leg and elbow room!! Some comfort and yet traveling cheap, ha ha. I do not know how it will be like on our return journey come next Saturday. I only hope it won’t be none the worse then……… Ahhhh…. Whatever it is we will continue to use this cheaper mode of travel when necessary for our travels, so we can’t be complaining too much. We are looking forward to the time when this airline fly the long-haul routes to Europe and UK as we have strong reasons now to travel there. Will write and ramble on about this in the future……….

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya

Whose Fault Is It?

I heard a local news of a fatal accident recently involving a pair of motorcyclist and a heavily laden lorry where the motorcyclist died on the spot while his pillion rider was seriously injured. This happened on a trunk road close to a major junction. I know this road and I pass through it very often. It is a very busy road, wide, straight but uneven, i.e you will feel your car or whatever vehicle you are driving rattling or bumping (is there such a word?) up and down as you go along. Yet, most vehicles plying this road will be speeding along as it is straight and wide.

I have often heard of and read of many fatal accidents all over the country but this piece of news attracted my attention more than the others. The news went on to say that the motorcyclist, riding on the side of the road, and in trying to avoid a pothole, swerved a little to the inner side of the road, causing a car that was behind to swerve too to avoid colliding with the motorcyclist and in that instant the motorcyclist lost control of his motorcycle (perhaps due to an aftershock when the car just missed him). The next vehicle that came by was the heavy laden lorry which was traveling immediately behind the first car and I assume a little too close to it, could not avoid the motorcyclist in time and crashed into it. The pillion rider was thrown some distance away by the impact while the motorcyclist was caught underneath the lorry. No other details were given of the accident and I guess if there were more, the details would be gory or gruesome.
Now, in the above scenario, whose fault was it? I had the opportunity to talk about this accident with some friends. Most said that it was the fault of the motorcyclist. (It is common perception of the general public that whenever a road accident involving a motorcyclist happens it is the motorcyclist that is likely at fault!!) Some would say that the lorry driver was at fault. The first car was not at fault as he had no alternative but to sway away from hitting the motorcyclist. However, if you look at the whole scenario, if the pothole had not been there the accident would not have happened? So, was the pothole at fault?

My blame goes to the authorities’ in-charge of the road, the town council or municipality or public works department in charge of roads or whoever is directly responsible for maintaining the road. The catch word here is ‘maintaining’. The road has not been properly maintained. That pothole was not the only pothole in the whole stretch. There were others. The quality of the road is also questionable. It has never been smooth. It was not properly built in the first place. But why was it not properly built? That question attracts other questions that would invariably end with improper control system and monitoring by those responsible. It is not only this road that is questionable but many other public facilities and infrastructure works that yearns for answers to obvious questions as above. Although I am now generalizing but look back into the last couple of years; look at how many bridges and highways that were closed either fully or partially because of poor workmanship that had caused cracks, fatigues and other failures; how many public buildings had walls and ceilings collapsing; public amenities and facilities not meeting specifications, and so on and so on…… Whenever such ‘things’ occur one will usually notice fingers start pointing at others. This authority blames that authority and others and vice versa. The poor contractor, who constructed or built the facilities are usually seen as at fault. But is that true? I have my doubts. The contractors inevitably become the scapegoats and meanwhile some others goes away laughing and Scots free.

Much as we want modern facilities, the maintenance of such facilities demands equal attention. Development budgets should have equal allocation for maintenance. Then again, the development itself should be properly monitored and executed, that every dollar spent was not spent ‘in vain’ but was worth its value. A thorough review of the system is required to ensure seamless procedures, that funds are properly administered, that development are properly monitored, that maintenance are properly executed. There are still a lot more to be done, and a lot of changes to take place before we can call ourselves world class and I doubt, I may sound very pessimistic, that we will be anywhere near world class in my lifetime……..

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya

One Hospital To Another

A busy week keeping doctors’ appointments at several hospitals.

Last Monday Ram had a specialist appointment at one of the Government hospitals in Kuala Lumpur. This appointment recurs once in six months. I could not take her to the hospital as I had to attend a meeting in Kuala Terengganu (KT) for which I did a day trip flying out to KT in the early morning and returning by the late evening flight. Ram’s nephew who was free that morning took her there. As is always the case the appointed time to meet the doctor was just an indication of when one is required to be at the clinic. The actual time one gets to see the doctor depends on when the doctor is available. If he/she has a ward case to attend to, and that is always the case in a large government hospital, then one can spend hours waiting for ones turn to see the doctor. This time was no different for Ram. She was at the hospital at just about 9.00 am and got to see the doctor only when it was close to noon!! Anyway, with the help of the nephew she was well taken care of. We normally bring along lots of reading materials for the wait.

Tuesday was my repeat appointment with the physiotherapist at the rehabilitation centre of another hospital. This is for my right leg and my right arm which are not functioning properly. I use a walking stick, I often mentioned this in previous postings, as a walking aid. The walking stick does help in lessening the stresses on the leg and knee. The rehab centre is very well equipped. I was previously shown how to strengthen my leg and arm muscles using the equipments they have. I have some similar equipment at home and I do use them daily and whenever I can to continue with the physical therapy on my own. When I am away in KT, and whenever I get the opportunity, I use the hotels’ gymnasium and their equipments to do the physical therapy plus swimming in the swimming pool since swimming is one of the best therapies for aching bodies!! The aches and pains are much reduced now and I can now move my hands and legs quite freely. Where previously I could not push my right arm to the back at all I can now stretch backwards and scratch my back quite easily without pain in the shoulders. I am slowly regaining the use of my right arm and leg. I can drive my car again, unhindered by the aching leg, although I am careful not to overdo it. So, on this appointment with my physiotherapist I was shown more ways of strengthening exercises and I look forward to regaining the full use of my right arm and leg. The aches and pains are still there, and I guess it will be a very long time before it will go off, if at all the aches and pains will go off, but I am not complaining. I am in fact thankful that I have only these aches and pains as I have seen others in worse conditions. I do not fret on the parts of my body that do not function properly as time can heal and I am very happy and thankful that other parts of my body are still function properly.

Wednesday was Ram’s appointment with her dentist. She has to do quite a few refills of old fillings and measure up for a row of missing teeth.

Thursday was my follow up appointment with the ortho surgeon of the hospital where I go for my physiotherapy to review the condition of my right leg and arm, while Ram had an appointment with the specialist in surgical department at another hospital (the same one she went to on Monday). I sent her to her hospital first and then proceeded to my appointment. I had to wait for more than two hours before I get to the doctor and after reviewing my condition I was prescribed with the same previously prescribed medication as they are working well for me. I hope the medication and the physiotherapy will lead to me getting back to my usual and normal daily activity unhindered. Ram too had positive response to the treatments she gets and is happy with the outcome. So, at our age we are happy that we function well and not handicapped, walking stick aside, and our quality of life is still maintained. My fervent hope is that I can drive long distances again and am really looking forward to it…… because………, we have plans to go the ‘pearl of the orient’ that is Penang, sometime in August and I hope I can drive there…….

MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya

Flight Delays and Problems

I had a meeting last Monday in Kuala Terengganu (KT) at the place where I do facilitating stints on a fortnightly basis. The meeting was to review our observations and the feedback we get on the programme and find ways to improve.

My flight to KT on Monday was uneventful. There was a delay of about half an hour both ways. I have got so used to these delays that it is always factored in into my programmes. Even those awaiting my arrival in KT have set aside and factored in the delay times!! I think there is lately something not right with the attitudes of the airline staff. Delay appears to happen every day and for almost every flight!! 10 mins late is still a delay and sometimes the delay can stretch over hours. I have yet to get a flight out to KT or return to KL that is spot on time!! I also very often hear announcements of gate changes for certain flights and the gate changes can be from one end of the building to the other end. And these gate changes have been very frequent.

The meeting in KT was agreed upon at a brief discussion we had when I was facilitating a programme in KT last week. On returning to KL Friday morning after that facilitating stint I thought it was convenient to make bookings for my Monday KT trip at the airline counter at the airport. The counter staff at the airport told me that all flights to KT on Monday were full. I was stumped!! I thought to myself I will have to try and book a seat on the budget airline or I will have to travel by bus to KT or make some other alternative transport arrangements. As soon as I got home I got online and was able to make bookings for the Monday morning flight to KT and the late evening return to KL from KT. Wowwww…… I thought to myself….. the counter staff was trying to pull a fast one on me???? On Saturday a colleague who was also required to attend the meeting in KT on Monday called and said he too had the same problem at the airline counter at the airport on Friday and asked how I was going to KT and thought we should go together and drive in one car to KT. I suggested he tries purchasing the airline tickets on-line like I did. He did and ‘hey presto’ he was successful!! So, how come all the flights to and from KT for Monday was full at the counter on Friday?

There were complains in the newspapers these few days of various customer dissatisfaction with the airline with some suggesting staff sabotage as a reason. The airline company MD himself replied in the papers that there is no such sabotage but that the problems were technical in nature! Oh come onnnnnnn!! Mr MD. Who do you take us for …… fools?

We observed a lot of staff’s mishandling. I can give many examples of my observations on instances of mishandling by staff apart from all those that I mentioned above. For example, gate openings at the departure lounges are usually opened an hour or more before the scheduled flight time but many were opened less than half an hour before the flight!! One two hours delayed flight where passengers had to disembark because of a technical problem, was delayed further after passengers had reboarded due to punctured tyres? Couldn’t the puncture be attended to during the two hours of attending to the ‘technical’ problem? Or did they purposely ‘miss’ the puncture in their routine checks. I always see the co pilot going around the aircraft checking it before the flight. Did he also purposely miss the puncture? And …… when there is a technical problem, there will be many people around the aircraft and only a few working……. A case of more supervisors than workers?? How very efficient!! The airline is trying its best to cut cost and increase profits but at whose expense? So, Mr MD, please go down to the field and the shop floor. See for yourself what is going on for the sake of your customers.

The budget airline, being low cost, does not provide the same creature comfort that the other airline provides. There are no aerobridges, and passengers have to walk quite a distance to board the aircraft. If not for the disadvantage of needing a walking stick to walk I would opt for the budget airline to fly to KT as it appears that this airline is a lot more efficient than the above airline I mentioned. However the flight times do not quite suit my travel schedules. Hmmmmm, dilemma dilemma……

MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Petaling Jaya