YOURSAY | ‘Clothes sometimes get so dirty that the only solution is to throw them away.’

Union: Mueller's departure will see leakages in MAB again

What The Dickens: With all the eyes of the higher-ups and cronies looking over his shoulders all the time and his hands tied behind his back, Christoph Mueller's departure from Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) is not unexpected.

For the sake of your sanity, health and loved ones, it's timely (maybe overdue!) that you quit, Mueller.

As head honcho of MAB, you should have had a free hand in running the show capably, efficiently, fairly and with integrity but it looks like the free hand came with overwhelming "terms and conditions".

Mueller, thanks for your leadership and managerial contributions to MAB to-date. I’m sorry things did not work out the way you had expected and I believe it was not due to your doings.

Pemerhati: There could be many reasons why Mueller is leaving. One of them could be that he does not want to stay and work in a Third World country which has an allegedly very crooked and corrupt leadership and is showing signs of going downhill rapidly.

Even though it has become increasingly obvious that the PM has allegedly taken billions through the 1MDB scam, he is fully supported by all the top ministers and bureaucrats.

As the amount of money is so huge, things could get very much worse in future when some of the large payments for 1MDB come due. So he must have decided to leave before things get really bad.

SSG: As noted before, it all started in 1981. Now the man who created this Frankenstein monster is trying his best to kill it before he meets "his Maker" (his words, not mine).

What will he tell "his Maker" when he meets "Him" and is told that the Frankenstein monster he created is still alive?

Mueller must have tried his best. I was told long ago about the hard-working nature of the German people/scientists during my university days by my college professor.

He told us in our class of the way German scientists keep working at a problem patiently and for however long it takes looking into the microscope until they find the answer.

It did not matter to them if it was night or day, they would just keep at it until they found the answer or solved the problem.

Mueller has my greatest respect and admiration for having at least giving it a good try in solving the problems at MAB. Good luck in your future endeavours.

Quigonbond: So after sacking thousands of employees and Khazanah spending RM6 billion on a rescue plan, we finally still come up with no improvement? Can't say Malaysians are surprised.

It's too much to expect one man to turn a sinking Titanic around. He's probably quitting to preserve his own reputation.

Pahatian: National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam), you are partially right by saying something is not right with MAB.

Actually it is something not right with the government policies that saw many government-linked companies like MAB, among others, losing money with their heads being incompetent and allegedly corrupted, which is a way of life for these people.

No one can save MAB or the others unless the government does away with the rent-seeking. We don't have to look far away. Just across the Causeway, Singapore Airlines (SIA), a spin-off of Malaysia-Singapore Airlines, is doing so well that it is among the best in the world.

Tan Chee Hong: And the person who took over SIA and made it into a top airline was a Malaysian, Chong Choon Kong.

Hbasill: Nufam itself has also allegedly been self-serving since its formation. They may paint a picture that they are concerned with the departure of their CEO but deep down they could be hoping that the next CEO would submit to them.

All this will not benefit the airlines. If the CEO left because of internal politicking and obstruction, then no matter who takes over, MAB will go downhill and the government will not be able to help this time around, now that the 1MDB scandal has exposed the sorry state of the government.

Straight-Talk: Better for Malaysia Airlines to close shop than to allow it to continue bleeding.

If Malaysians and other people wish to travel by plane, there is always AirAsia, which is well run, to serve them. Never mind that there are no first-class seats - times are bad, let’s do it the ‘budget’ way.

James_3392: How naïve we were years ago when we were told Idris Jala was turning Malaysia Airlines around. If this German ‘pun tak jadi’, we need 'Tuhan' to come in to turn MAB around, otherwise close it down.

Watch Out: Our top guys always think only a white man can save the company when the brains in many companies are the locals.

Unfortunately, when it comes to a government-linked company (GLC) it has to be a bumiputera or else a foreigner in charge.

Non-bumis are not considered. Anyway, the staff also do not give respect when the CEO is a non-Malay, non-white. It will be difficult until the mindset is changed in the people’s minds.

Kit P: Clothes sometimes get so dirty they are impossible to be cleaned properly. The only solution is to throw them away. MAB may have reached this point.

Mueller really wanted to make it work, but it is obviously impossible with so many leakage areas in MAB.

Apple Polishing I am Not: Perhaps get Arul Kanda Kandasamy to turn round MAB since he is leaving 1MDB.

James_3392: When the stewardess’ attire and halal and non-halal issues can get into the management of an airline, you knew Mueller’s days were numbered.

They may even opt for (PAS president) Hadi Awang as Mueller’s replacement.

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