MAS is a prized loot for some who have the tendency to treat anything and everything with contempt, including the Government and the agencies that crossed their path.
...these guys have been eyeing MAS and its routes for a long time now but MAS is suddenly a 'troubled state-owned carrier'
AirAsia poised for Malaysian Airline stake
By Kevin Brown in Singapore
Shares in both airlines were suspended from trading on Monday to allow executives to conclude talks that are understood to centre on a proposed share exchange between Khazanah Nasional, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fundthat owns 69.3 per cent of MAS, and Tune Air, part of a privately held group controlled by Mr Fernandes and a business partner, which owns 23.6 per cent of AirAsia. - FINANCIAL TIMES
The secrecy surrounding it and now the speed at which this mega deal is being pushed through invokes the suspicion of many, including Wangsa Maju Member of Parliament Wee Choo Keong...who has been keeping an eye on AirAsia and the remnants of the infamous FOURTH FLOOR.
KHAZANAH Stop “ANAKTIRIKAN” MAS! How about LSG Sky Chef Brahim?
The Star reported today that “that Khazanah, which owns a 69% stake in MAS, is said to have concluded negotiations with AirAsia chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes to come up with a deal to save the national carrier”. ”Fernandes is to get 20% equity in MAS under the deal that is to be signed this week, with some sources saying it has already received the Government’s approval and could be inked today.”
In my immediate respond to the above, may I pose three innocent questions to Tan Sri Datuk Azman Hj Mokhtar:
Why these so-called negotiations of the share swap were done with such secrecy?
Why was there a need for such a rush for this so-called share swap to be signed by this week?
Is MAS really in dire strait of collapsing or other airline?
It must be noted that the primary objectives of Khazanah Nasional Bhd (Khazanah) are:
• To hold and manage the investments entrusted to it by the Government of Malaysia; and
• To undertake new investments where there are strategic opportunities, in new sectors and in new markets
Why is Khazanah, which is headed by Tan Sri Datuk Azman Hj Mokhtar, was not interested to look into why MAS was left in such a state and AirAsia “is flying so high” (from what I can see from all the moves)?
Since Khazanah is entrusted by the Government to “hold and manage the investment”, why is Khazanah not interested to look into how and why the growth of MAS was stifled directly or indirectly by the unseen hands!
If you have the time, also read about the Rural Air Services in Sarawak & Sabah and how the Government-subsidised RAS was snatched from MAS at a time when the national carrier was finalising its Business Turnaround Plan then (Idris Jala should know better).
The issue of the RAS' Twin-Otter planes being cannibalised for parts before the whole RAS forcefully dumped on MAS' lap within a year after snatching it away (with the full backing of the powerful Fourth Floor outfit under the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi regime) is another matter altogether.
And then during the tail-end of the failed Abdullah Ahmad Badawi regime, AirAsia was involved in a LABU-LABI deal.
TQ, DATUK SERI NAJIB TUN RAZAK!
The Government has REJECTED both Sime Darby andAirAsia's proposal to build 'Tony's airport in Labu' after a 60-min meeting this afternoon. -
Badawi was still the lame Prime Minister then but Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak put his foot down after widespread opposition to the dubious project which was also seen as a 'golden handshake' for some of the Fourth Floor boys.
Now, let me end this with little but scary facts.
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the man who failed this nation and her people miserably, is the current ADVISOR of MAS.
I understand, Badawi's brother is also milking MAS.
The infamous Fourth Floor boys are very much in the game (only that the HinduGod-MuslimPriest is preying well below the radar) So, who have been advising whom now?
Badawi-MAS or AirAsia > x4thfloor > Badawi > MAS ?
Is this the same circus, the ones which were all too common during Badawi's disastrous reign?
Whether MAS is a "troubled state-owned carrier' or AirAsia is a carrier that is waiting for its empty "PR Bubble to Burst" - lets hope the Government and by extension the rakyat are not shortchanged ... again!
p/s We did save IJN via the SAVE IJN campaign in the past, is MAS in need of something similar?