A Kadir
Jasin
PREAMBLE: Views
expressed herein are entirely mine. I am writing in my personal capacity as a
blogger. It has nothing to do with whatever position I may hold
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| Dr Mahathir and KLIA:Still going strong after 21 years |
TIME passes so very quickly in this fast moving world.
It feels as if it was only yesterday that I landed at the
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and had to wait nearly an hour to
disembark.
I was arriving from Hong Kong on the Cathay Pacific
jetliner and the delay was attributed to the aerobridge. But my suspicion was
on the operator.
This was the evening of the first day of the airport’s
operation on June 27, 1998.
A few days before that editors and journalists were taken
on a tour of the facility and were given the assurance that the
“big move” from Subang at midnight and the operation from KLIA the next morning
would be smooth and seamless.
The proud (and patriotic), the editors and journalists duly
reported the operators’ assurance.
The sight of the imposing space-age
structure in the middle of nowhere provoked a sense of patriotism and awe.
Soon after the visit, I took off for the last time from
the iconic Subang International Airport for the board meeting of Asia Magazine
Limited in Hong Kong.
The now defunct weekly magazine was the joint venture
among the New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad (NSTP), the Singapore Press
Holdings Limited (SPH), and the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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| Once upon a time a Sunday must-read in Malaysia |
I was the Group Editor of the New Straits Times Sdn Bhd and
sat on the board of the magazine.
It was during one of these board meetings
that I called on the then controlling shareholder of SCMP, Mr Robert Kuok Hock
Nien.
I wrote about the delay in the tone that didn’t please
many in authority and was, in no uncertain term, told off.
I was accused
of being unfair for not recognising the airport’s teething problems.
To me, being criticised, told off and chased away had
been part and parcel of my growing up, maturing and survival in the rough and
tumble of the journalism world.
So yesterday (August 13), sitting among the guests of
Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) to join the Prime Minister, Tun Dr
Mahathir Mohamad in belatedly commemorating the 21st anniversary of
the opening of the airport, I felt an acute sense of nostalgia and achievement.
How quickly time passes and how, in some small ways, I
have been part and parcel of so many events that shaped this beloved country of
ours.
At 21, KLIA has matured. It is many times larger than it
originally was. From 13 million passengers in the first full year of operations,
it now handles 60 million passengers and has the capacity of handling up to 75
million at its two terminals.
But undeniably it is also getting a bit old and tired.
Gladly, however, things should be looking up not the least because the Prime
Minister himself is paying keen attention to its revival.
Thank you to the many parties that saw it fit to share
their hopes, aspirations and, not the least, their disappointments about KLIA in particular and the aviation industry in general, with me.
Thank you for sharing.
Allow me to make a mention of MAHB, Malaysia Airlines,
Air Asia and Malaysia Aviation Commission (Mavcom).
Having listened to them and, yesterday, to the briefing
by the Group Chief Executive Officer of MAHB, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin, and the
speeches by Dr Mahathir and the Chairman of MAHB, Tan Sri Zainun Ali, I must say
that my hopes and confidence are renewed.
And if my two-sen worth of advice is at all relevant, let
me say this. Consultation is better than confrontation and negotiation is better than litigation.
With so many iconic global brands like Alibaba, Airbus,
Dassault and Boeing coming to invest in our aviation-related activities, it would
be a big shame if the local participants are unable to put their act together.
Still, happy anniversary to KLIA and thank you to all.
I believe you and your comrades are living in the past. Look at DXB, Atlanta and Heathrow and you will notice that the record passenger traffic is based on single airport. MAHB has a monopoly and yet it cannot generate maximum traffic capacity. It is loss making in so many airports in Malaysia despite holding a monopoly.
ReplyDeleteDassault has just taken over Execujet's MRO that by no means says anything about our aerospace landscape and nor will it contribute to anything. Further, Airbus or Boeing as OEMs will not out in any investments unlike Singapore where the action is. We cant even have a major 3rd party MRO locate in Malaysia. And the worst thing an operator should not do is get involved in MRO and aerospace development when MARA, NAIOC, MITI, MIDA Invest Selangor are all involved in doing the same shit!! So Kadir please go research a bit before you start heaping praise because MAHB has achieved nothing being a monopoly!!
Salam DAKJ
ReplyDeleteMANY BAILOUTS, INVESTOR'S NO INTEREST.... WHY???
IT'S 2020 SIR..
TRILLIONS DOLLARS ECONOMIES WAY FORWARD....
NEAC CANNOT THINK WHAT'S...
Salam Dato’ Kadir Jasin
ReplyDeleteSaya ni kalau elok saya kata elok. Jadinya bagi sayalah, KLIA adalah airport orang Islam yang terbaik di dunia hasil wawasan Tun Mahathir. Bersih, moden, cantik, surau banyak, makanan halal banyak, toilet banyak dan dekat, shopping outlet pun banyak dan lagi murah dari oversea. Saya cukup enjoy kalau naik flight ikut KLIA. Polis dan pegawai imigresen kita pun sentiasa tersenyum.
Cuma saya ada beberapa cadangan. Pertama, semua pekerja KLIA biarlah orang kita termasuk penyapu sampah. Biar orang luar tahu muka orang Malaysia macam mana. Tak apalah cucu-cucu Dato’ rupa Pan Asian dan comel-comel, tapi saya tetap bangga dengan rupa paras orang Melayu kita. Macam penyanyi Jamal Abdillah kata, siapa bilang gadis Melayu tak menawan.
Kedua,adakan persembahan kebudayaan pada masa-masa tertentu setiap hari. Tarian zapin, kuda kepang, makyong, sumazau, ngajat, pertunjukan silat cekak, silat gayung dan sebagainya. Sekejap pun tak apa janji pengunjung terhibur. Dapatlah juga kelab-kelab kebudayaan di Malaysia menjana income sikit-sikit dan mempromosi diri mereka.
Ketiga, tonjolkan negara kita negara Islam. Setiap kali masuk waktu je, terus Azan. Seterusnya, beritahu pengunjung dimana surau-surau yg terdekat dengannya. Bukan susah sangat pun. Bagi sayalah, bila Allah redho dekat kita, semua kerja akan menjadi lebih senang.
Sekian, TQ.
P/S: kenapa tiba-tiba Dato’ lari dari topik politik pulak. Sebab baru tersedar Tun dan Bersatu amat-amat memerlukan sokongan orang Melayu sekarang kan? Belajar jawi 3 mukasurat pun jadi isu besar kan. Sedangkan mereka tulis jawi dekat produk mereka utk laku jualan jekan. Itulah hipokrit namanya. Kan saya dah cakap dari dulu, buat baik berpada-pada terutama dengan kafir sebab dah dipesan di dalm Al Quran.
Salam Dato’ Kadir
ReplyDeleteDr Zakir Naik
Izinkan saya memberi sedikit pendapat tentang kontoversi terbaru Dr Zakir Naik. Bagi sayalah, kalau kita sanggup menolong rakyat Palestin yg ditindas, menjadi kewajipan kita membantu sedara seislam Dr Zakir Naik yg di dlm kesusahan. Kita tengoklah apakah jenis tuduhan yg dilemparkan, adakah benar atau palsu. Kenapa Interpol sendiri tidak mengeluarkan red notice terhadapnya. Kalau ini pun tak berani, kitani hipokrit jelah macam kafir dan tulisan jawi pada barang keluaran meraka.
Lepastu, Menteri Sukan Bersatu kata Cina dan India sanggup mati untuk Malaysia. Sekarang boleh tak keluarkan statistic pecahan bangsa Cina, India di dalam askar, polis, polis hutan, askar simpanan dan sebagainya. Cakap saja tak guna bro !!!!!. Tunjukkan bukti sekali. Nampak tak Dato’. Inilah lemahnya Menteri-Menteri Bersatu yg sebenarnya tak layak pun jadi pemimpin.
Dalam buka “Doctor in the house”, Tun menceritakan bagaimana beliau dgn beraninya membantu penduduk Islam Bosnia dlm perang Bosnia-Serbia dulu. Juga Tun lantang mengutuk Israel sebab menindas Palestin. Jadinya, saya percaya Tun Mahathir akan membela Dr Zakir Naik sepertimana sebelumnya. Ini adalah fitrah Tun yg suka menolong sesama orang Islam. Sekian TQ.
Cant wait for Silver Jubilee celebration, you know for 25 years.
ReplyDeleteFor 21 years, I am not sure the significant.
Anyhow, great mega project without over the ori budget.