My 2 Cents on Permatang Pasir

"BN To Study Causes of Defeat in Permatang Pasir - Najib"

"Pengundi Permatang Pasir Tidak Mahukan Perubahan - Muhyiddin"

These are the 2 headlines on TheStarOnline and Bernama.com today.

One of the reasons mentioned by both our PM and DPM was character assassination by PAS. Come on!! Please don't talk about character assassination when BN all along has been using this tactic to gain political power. Everybody in politics will jump at the opportunity to ruin the reputations of their opponents on hearing an integrity/moral issue. Dr. M, Nik Aziz, Anwar Ibrahim, Hadi Awang, Khalid Ibrahim, Khir Toyo - the dirty game is played by both sides. DAP is another matter because that is one of their core values set by Lim Kit Siang & Karpal Singh.

I don't need time like Najib to study why BN failed again. For me the major mistake which BN did was to choose Rohaizat as the candidate. Rohaizat was a very poor choice of candidate - it conveyed to the voters the impression that BN is full of corrupt leaders. Don't tell me that BN didn't cover the bases - vet the candidate's background!! How could BN choose somebody who was guilty of abusing funds entrusted to him (as indicated by the BAR Council) for the rakyat to vote. So instead of speaking on changes/developments that BN could bring to Permatang Pasir during the campaign period, the BN campaigners had to vigorously defending Rohaizat. To BN's campaign strategists - what a 'brilliant' campaign strategy!!

It seems like the new PM has also not learned anything from the bitter lessons learned the hard way by the previous PM. As for me, I don't really have much faith in our politicians, be it the oppositions or BN. Our country is indeed in grief and mortal danger in the hands of these SHALLOW MINDED, INTELLECTUALLY-CHALLENGED and CORRUPTED people.

My advice to Najib - "Character counts!! In Malaysia's political scenario today, it counts more than the politicians' IQs."

God Might Have Different Plan For Us

Just seeing so many people passing away in these few months (neighbour, relatives, public figures, schoolmates, etc) make me realised that each day that we live is a gift from God. None of us should take that gift for granted.

I am as guilty as anyone (maybe the most). I'm sure that the list of other things that we take for granted in our lives is long, if we were to list them down - health, family, friends,etc. Suppose one morning you never wake up, do all those people that matters to you know that you love them? Tell your husband, wife, children, parents, brothers, sisters & friends that you love them at every opportunity you get. Make a special effort to show what they mean to you. It doesn't have to be time consuming - a phone call, an email, a birthday wish, a small gift, an SMS, etc

God might have a different plan for us so don't take for granted what we have in life today. Love, family, health & friends are to be cherished. Just in case, I LOVE YOU ALL!!

And to all my Muslim friends, wishing you all a blessed Ramadhan - filled with prayers, thankfulness, joy and may the blessings of Allah shower on all of you. Mintak maaf kalau ada silap & salah, terkasar bahasa atau tersinggung perasaan.

'Now Everyone Can Fly' - Albeit Not On Time....

If all of you are not already aware, AirAsia services are sucks to the maximum. Of course I don't expect 5-star services from AirAsia but lowering cost should not imply lowering standards. I could write a book on those horrible experiences I had flying with AirAsia.

At the moment, I am really annoyed with AirAsia. Not once, but several instances of my flights with AirAsia had been delayed. From my experience, rarely do the planes take off on time. AirAsia is definitely not reliable - if you are travelling for business meeting, be ready to apologise to your clients.

It is not fair that AirAsia has the right to delay/cancel flights at short notice or without notice but passengers are not refunded. What about the other costs incurred by the passengers as a result of AirAsia’s inefficiency? Is this not a case of unethical operating procedures? If you want to change your travel itinerary less than 48 hours, too bad - you buy a new ticket. But sometimes it's not our fault that we need to revise our trip because AirAsia reschedules its flights less than 48 hours. Can AirAsia say that if their passengers are unhappy over their flight cancellation/delays, their airfares can be refunded? There must also be a liability factor for a service provider that change its flight schedules to its whim and fancy.

As a customer, I feel cheated and I think that we must exercise our legal rights against such unfair business practises. I will call upon the regulatory bodies/consumer associations to check the rampant abuse of customers by AirAsia. They seem to be trampling on consumer rights and are taking everyone for a ride.

No doubt that since AirAsia started its operations, it has been giving MAS serious competition. This kind of competition is healthy for Malaysians as we get better rates. With cheaper air travel, more budget travellers like me can get the opportunity to explore a lot of exotic places which are previously limited by expensive air travel.

However, Tony Fernandez is so engrossed with his plans to capture the world that he forgets to tell his team to do the basics right - get the passengers to their destinations on time - every time!! Oh!! Another area which Tony has overlooked is the communications skills of his employees. Some of the flight & ground crew can't even speak English correctly, which is very embarrassing for a global player like AirAsia.

I am just a poor passenger writing this after my flight to Bangkok was rescheduled 2 days ago. I have no option but will still be travelling with AirAsia until March 2010.