YOURSAY | This is not the first time Tony Fernandes has shown poor judgement.
AirAsia shares fall after chief apologises for backing Najib
We the Rakyat: AirAsia Group Bhd chief Tony Fernandes, if you think former premier Najib Razak helped AirAsia, then it is your right to praise him.
But if you think you put on your show of support for Najib just to play safe, I feel embarrassed that I purchased your book and read it.
Anonymous_b4075412: What I don't get from the video clip is, it does not explain why Fernandes or AirAsia did not lodge a police and MACC report.
If, as in the video, he claims that Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) and some others threatened to cancel AirAsia flights, which could have caused a loss of jobs if he did not do a "performance" for BN, and these threats were unlawful, then several serious criminal offences would have been committed.
This includes corruption, criminal intimidation, abuse of power and even possibly some election offences.
Fernandes in his clip does not name the people who made those threats and refers to Mavcom. So what is holding Fernandes or AirAsia from lodging police reports and MACC reports now?
Surely if this is true, then this must be done so the culprits can be prosecuted, this will include the person who told him to remove AirAsiaX chairperson Rafidah Aziz.
Also, this is not the first time you have showed poor judgement. As everyone knows, you campaigned in 2008 for Umno's Shahrizat Abdul Jalil of the 'Cowgate' fame in Lembah Pantai against PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar.
You did the same in 2013 for Umno's candidate Raja Nong Chik, and again in 2018. This is not a one-off incident but a consistent show of poor judgement over 10 years. Do you see other businessmen doing this to the extent you have?
The Fog of Life: Tough one, Tony. One can't help concluding that you put profits before values and principles.
The bottom line is that you unambiguously endorsed Najib Razak, the greatest traitor that Malaysia has ever seen, who had allegedly repeatedly cheated and lied to the rakyat.
I'm sure you and AirAsia will survive. You will be remembered for many good things, even great things, but your endorsement of BN at the time of our greatest battle is a betrayal that you will have to live with forever.
No more pulling wool over our eyes, superstar Tony Fernandes!
Anonymous 2436471476414726: The fact that Fernandes went overboard to paint his aircraft blue and changed the uniform of his cabin crew from red to blue indicated that this was a full-blown show of support for Najib.
The question of acting under duress does not arise. He bet on the wrong horse and lost, and now is trying to do damage control.
Clever Voter: Everyone knew the stakes were high in the 14th GE. Fernandes' latest video was meant to do damage control to his reputation, but it's too late too little. Indeed, this was not the first time he had supported BN.
It is hard to believe he was forced into it. I believe no one did, they might have persuaded, but Fernandes being a show-off wanted to do more by having the plane painted blue and ordered BN-style blue outfits for the flight attendants.
He was part of the patronage, perhaps having received trade-offs with the authorities. I would say he agreed with the plan to prop up a falling BN regime.
AirAsia will take some time to recover in terms of its image, but it does show there is always an element of risk when one deals with a corrupt regime.
Iiiizzzziiii: What did Fernandes do that is so bad to be publicly persecuted? Sure, he had made a mistake and bet on the wrong horse, but then again, if events had turned out differently, the situation would have been different.
You can give thousands of reasons, but the fact remains. Put yourself in Fernandes' shoes, what would you have done?
As for me, I can accept his apology, and I will still fly AirAsia. I can live with that, but I don't know about others.
Pemerhati Bebas: Normally, I would abstain from making any comments when it concerns a person's legitimate rice bowl. However, I would like to make an exception here.
All Fernandes did was make a business decision, and like any business decision, it comes with certain risks.
He played his cards and he lost. No need for apologies, as that will only make things worse. He made a wrong call, now he just has to live with it.
By the way, I have long stopped using AirAsia, unless really and truly necessary. My decision is purely economics.
I have found that after adding all the extras, the AirAsia fares can be just as much, sometimes more, than other airlines. And AirAsia has the habit of frequently cancelling its scheduled flights.
Anonymous_1419577444: People can continue to criticise Tony. But what really comes out of this is the fact that it is time that Malaysia puts Malaysia Airlines (MAS) back to the forefront again ... with professional management.
There is still lots of potential in this national carrier and it should be the one that Malaysians should associate with. Inject serious competition into the airline industry, so that they will do a better job servicing the customers.
As it is, AirAsia may claim to be a 'budget carrier' but is in fact sometimes charging passengers as much, if not more, than what MAS charges.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.
These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.