YOURSAY 'MAS cannot be turned around merely by treating the symptoms.'

Casey: The turnaround of MAS requires political will and the resolve to do the right thing - something which is so glaringly lacking in plutocratic Malaysia where corporate GLCs have always been a government subsidised, bubble-inflating, swindlers' game; in which the leeches and plutocratic personalities - not the true job creators but the rent-seekers - thrive.

MAS cannot be turned around merely by treating the symptoms, such as shifting of and sale of assets, nor paper shuffling or share buyback.

In fact, any meaningful turnaround calls for crisis management by going deep into and addressing two of the very root or core or structural problems faced by the mismanaged airline, that's to say:

1) revamp the management and staffing structure with the introduction of some semblance of meritocracy; and

2) renegotiate all supply and procurement contracts with all its suppliers and contractors, from the supply of everything from beverages to jet fuel, to get rid of the arbitrageurs and rent-seekers.

If that can be done, leakages would be reduced considerably thereby reducing the cost of goods purchased; and staff morale would be significantly improved.

Anonymous_4031: Pemandu chief Idris Jala was the man who turned around MAS within two years. First, he shifted his office from the MAS building in Kuala Lumpur to the old Subang Jaya Airport; in process reducing the debt incurred by selling off the building.

One senior Umno minister told him not to sell the pride of our national carrier; but pragmatism won the day. This was business acumen.

Second, he trimmed the staff strength and saved overhead costs. Sadly and regrettably, when he joined the Prime Minister's Office, MAS went red again; and staff strength was bloated.

However, business sense did not figure in the new CEO's plan to sustain growth and maintain profitability. Now, with two tragedies, MAS has sunk deeper into red. Now, the plan is to privatise it. It makes no difference if the same mentality remains.

"It does not matter whether a cat is black or white, so long it catches mice," so said China's Deng Xiaoping, who made Chian the second largest economy in the world. MAS need to get the right cat.

Negarawan: In reality, Idris did not increase the profitability and operational efficiency of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) during his tenure.

He sold off MAS assets, and did some clever accounting like forming a company to buy MAS planes, then get the company to lease the planes back to MAS.

How would MAS benefit from this? Nothing short of a complete overhaul will save MAS.

Anticonmen: Enough of so-called 'turnarounds' which are just cosmetic eyewash and juggling of assets and costs to special purpose vehicles (SPVs), but do not address the real problems which are governance, competence and accountability.

Such 'turnarounds' will never work so long as the major shareholder keeps putting his hands in the till through inflated contracts and inflated employment of stragglers. Just adopt meritocracy and employ the best managers, some of whom may be non-Malays.

Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad's 40-year policy of marginalising the non-Malays is the root cause of the problem.

Appum: Getting back the same old people means telling the same old story. Where's the change so sorely needed?

Cops: Militants bought explosives to hit Carlsberg

Swipenter: Islamic extremism and militancy is the biggest threat to the national security and well-being of Bolehland and not anything else.

It baffles us why the officialdom is perceived to be conniving with home grown right-wing racialist and religious groups. These extremists can utter threats of violence and bloodshed against the minorities with impunity whereas others are hauled up for the slightest hint of provoking and hurting the sensitivities of the majority.

Is race and religion more important than what is right and wrong? Are we so blinded by them?

Anonymous #20513663: Clearly, we have learned no lessons. Just read the Friday sermons coming out of the Prime Minister's Department. It is still promoting hatred against Shiites, Christians, Jews, etc.

And they are being read in mosques nationwide. Not to mention the same sort of thing being promoted in our public universities and civil service training programmes, most notable by BTN (Biro Tatanegara). Is this news of a plot to Carlsberg really any surprise?

Vijay47: The first thing the police should do is to investigate everybody who is an open or closet supporter of the ISIS terrorist movement wherever they may be lurking.

And the first person to be investigated should be Najib Razak who proudly extolled the virtues of the group and asked Malaysians to emulate them.

Maybe the police are too busy investigating schoolboys who "like" Israel.

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