Friday, June 12, 2015

Khazanah and MAS middle management duped staff


In August last year, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said the MAS recovery plan is not a bailout but unfortunately, it is a payout to some and con job on the many.

One cabin crew shared an experience last year where Amokh was on board MAS. The cabin crew in the business class expressed concern for their future and job.

He said cabin crew have nothing to worry. The key area of the airline namely cabin crew, pilot and engineering would remain.

He lied on that one. All are affected.

The biggest lie he did was when he dissolved the MAS-Air Asia collaboration that was seen by MAS staff as heavily in favour of Air Asia.

If not directly affecting MAS nagatively, it served to safeguard CIMB loans to Air Asia.

Not only he let in Air Asia people inside the management of engineering, finance, and planning, he quietly left behind an important Air Asia person in the form of Zaharah Zaid. She is the chicken dancing, cookie monster Human Resource Director.

How convenient it is for Air Asia to express willingness to do joint engineering with MAS and take in MAS's terminated cabin crew.

Tan Sri Tony Fernandez does not need to spend money to train but he managed to get the MAS's trademark Malaysian Hospitality (MH) for free.

It smells of the old cancelled collaboration still being implemented. Already many realised that the MAS Recovery Plan is the same hodge podge plan implemented since 2001 but kept failed miserably.

Case in point is the obsession with out-sourcing which does not tally with keeping cost down. It shows Khazanah planner have no new idea and lack creativity to turnaround MAS. 

MH the hospitality and the abbreviation will be changed and lost too.


All these years MH had been the competitive advantage over the other airlines. Khazanah is too dumb to understand that all airlines have similar equipments and airplane subject to affordability. It is the human factor that made the difference.

MAS will practically close down the training centre and the Kelana Jaya centre has been sold off. Maybe to be turned into a high priced condo. Isn't it productive for the economy?

All the good multi-certified trainers and course designers are let go.

While they kept those with no clue as to how to do training but are blindly loyal. They are likely to follow instruction to out source training to cronies.

It only increase operational cost, cost a bundle to rid off the good veteran trainer and is hardly concurrent with the new management mantra that every-inches-of cost-count to be a value airline.

This seemed to be the common happening that was heard in various places in MAS.

One Manager with a Masters from an Ivy League University was sent on gardening leave.

He is respected in his field that he could deliver a keynote speech in a conference in Singapore many years ago in front of scholars from all over the world.

MAS had all along been looking at cost but never at the revenue side. He had the solution but was by passed by his immediate superior who herself is intellectually inadequate to understand this genius. She had cold storaged him for thinking outside the box and refuse to succumbed to lost making herd mentality thinking.

One chap is a rather eccentric LAME in Engineering but globally respected was chop off.

Not only he is technically qualified and superior but he kept ungrading himself educationally. The last heard of him is that he was doing a doctorate in management.

He managed to get some management expose in managing overseas office but he will not fit the new management thinking set by Zaharah and justfied by Hay Consulting to listen and follow orders.

There are many more examples of poor judgement because of this old imbedded culture of cronyism.

For instance, one Manager was allowed to stay on despite being an absolute moron and incompetent. She started out as a managing a Department with 10 people.

Her poor people skill and punitive attitude  led to massive resignations and request for transfer that the last heard she was left with one staff.

Yet MAS kept such character.

Staff are saying that the whole exercise was not done objectively.

Hay is good at right sizing job to position and salary package. But the selection of who to retain and who to chuck out was not done objectively. It is based on who they like and who they didn't like.

It is only expected that those wanting to work did not get the job but in return those wanting to leave was not offered.

One example was of one lady that had dedicated and committed herself with MAS for more than 30 years.

She wanted to leave badly because the company had not appreciated her. There had not been an appreciation long service watch or at least a certificate for her 15th, 20th, 25th and even 30th year of service.

She was left in out in the last retrenchment exercise under Dato Idris Jala and now she was offered a 0.4 x her 30 years as severance pay plus an offer with more than RM1,000 pay cut.

If she refuse today, she gets nothing for her more than 30 years commitment. While those rejected for what ever reason are endowed handsomely.

She will have to slug out for many more years and tolerate the incompetent, indiscipline and lack of dedication Gen Y to get the same income those leavers get.

For someone with income more than RM2,000 there is no provision in the Employment Act and Industral Act for a certain stated severance payout. She loses out and the company will argue that at least she got something.

It is not stated but management is on a whispering campaign to the demotivated offered staff that they will get as much as those that was asked to leave on a 1.5 x no. of years of service. On top of that there is a set aside monthly bonus after serving time (like in a prison).

Put on paper la ...

It is really unfair and travesty of justice. At her age, why would they still want her? So that the punitive Manager and the Gen Y can enslave her?

Even the way the termination and offer letters by Mueller and Tan Sri Mohd Nor Yusof was worded, it was pathetic schoolgirl letter. The language was like a personal letter than an official one. This is the incompetence that are running MAS now and it is set to die.



Not sure whether the unions are aware, but the MAS Act was set to favour management.  It was announced in August last year, received the royal consent in December last year and gazetted in January this year. Fast track law which contains:



The intention is:




If the old MAS was liquidated and newco is totally separated entity, then all the severance package have to be consistent to all.

However, the newco is a "successor-in-title".


Note 25 (1) (a).

There is still a link between the past company and present newco so that enable them to offer certain staff 0.4 and certain staff at 1.5 at their ducking fancy.

On the other hand, everything in the old company should remain in the newco. They can't bust the union and they have to resot to being a co-op. The the law is clear that the newco cannot offer less favourable term.

Kesian for some of the staff that was getting RM2,800 per month salary. Suddenly, it is slashed down significantly to slightly more than RM2,000 or something to close to that.

They are not getting the large severance package that would enable them to have some money and start out in another job or small businesses. Now they have to accept a severely reduced salary that reduced them to abject poverty and need BR1M to survive.

Union talk a lot but oftenly lose their head and do something stupid.

They were silent when former Human Resource Minister Dato Dr Fong Chan Onn (maybe Tan Sri by now) amended the * Industrial Act to cap compensation in order to safeguard Chinaman employer. All the union including so-called union man and now PKR MPs, Abdullah Sani and Syed Syahrir kept quiet.

Do not think MAS Unions will ever be relevant but if they wish to try to be so, here is a room for them to challenge their employer legally. So please la, don't tell me NUFAM will the voice that will champion MAS staff?

* Correction 5.00 pm

12 comments:

Tebing Tinggi said...

So, how did SIA get it right? It operates a much bigger fleet tan MAS, flies to more destinations and does so profitably.

While having a smaller workforce than MAS!

Malaysians are not stupid. Many have travelled widely and seen the differences between MAS and SIA (and Changi Airport and KLIA).

Don't tell me that Maseu and Nufam leaders have no idea about competitive pressures in the global airline industry?

Anonymous said...

When you have an untutored clown for a pee em you're not going to get high fliers in your cabinet and bureaucracy. An untutored clown badly needs stupid cronies by his side to make the comedy happen.

maae said...

Make it public. We slash them to pieces. Those Rascals....

Anonymous said...

What do you expect from the biscuit and chicken dance HR Director who is incompetent and given the role for lying her way into MAS. Check around the market on her and you will know that she is more air than substance. Was a failure in the biscuit company before MAS. She knows how to apple polish her boss and talk about LV and parades with them for personal glory. This fat ass hired a chicken dance trainer (Azariah H) who failed in her previous company. She surrounds herself with failures so that she is not challenged. Now, do you think MAS will have a chance to become successful based on these shady characters. Bet my last ringgit MAB will disappoint us all again.

How many of MAS directors and heads of department were kept and moved into MAB? All of them should be fired for bringing MAS down. Mueller - watch out as they will pull you down.

Anonymous said...

SIA Aircraft Operating Lease For the Year 2014 with Total of 49 aircraft having an average age 6 Year 8 m The Total Lease cost SGD $553.6 as stated in Annual Report 2014. Convert into MYR at 1 SGD $ 2.68 MYR the cost for SIA paying aircraft leasing is MYR 1,483.65.

MAS Aircraft leasing cost stated in Annual Report 2013 for 28 Aircraft average age is 7.3 years MAS is paying about 1.3 billion Ringgit

MAS have Significant increase in borrowing is due to Term Loan secured facility and Finance lease from 2010 to 2013, last debt reported were 11.7 billion Ringgit in 2013. All these for purchasing of A380 but do not know how to use for profitable route. And resulted having significant increase in Assets deprecation over 3 years period biting the profit.

The airline’s operating lease expense were MYR1.3 billion in 2013. At the same time it incurs finance charges of about MYR400 million. Significantly although the finance charges are lower than its leasing costs, it has to provide substantial amount for aircraft depreciation - about MYR860 million.

Is Human Capital the main culprit. These are meritocracy screwing or screwing meritocracy. You got the best of the best brain in there.

Nobody bothers and who cares. Because they got thick skin.

Anonymous said...

All the incompetent top management maintained. These are the people that failed MAS and made a living hell for many CEOs.

MAS is doomed to fail again and again.

Midnight runner said...

Can the two singadick dick stuff their sia gloating up their behind. This is an internal mas affair about incompetency and sabotage in the organisation. The statistics are irrelevent to hide dishonesty and incompetency by the management for the past one and half decade. It only shows mgmt unable to efficiently address issues and manage company affair.

Anonymous said...

Is a fraud. Except it. Management con to the highest order.

Tebing Tinggi said...

@Midnight runner 12:39 AM

"an internal MAS affair"? You gotta be kidding!

Do you need to be reminded that MAS and SIA started at the same time after the break-up of MSA?

How many bailouts, using public funds, has MAS gone through since then?

Has SIA ever been bailed out of a financial mess by Temasek Holdings or the Singapore government?

Don't tell me that the MAS unions have been blind, deaf and dumb all the while about competitive pressures in the airline industry?

Or is it a belief that MAS is somehow magically protected from competition?

Statistics are irrelevant? That's the mother of all excuses!

midnight runner said...

We heard you the first time and likely second time. Can see through you from the first time.

Sorry that you lack of confidence that you need to repeat yourself many times.

This exercise has nothing to do.with SIA but an internal management issue to improve the airline to one day rise to be another SIA.

If you think SIA need to come into the argument then it is about SIA appreciate competency and would not allow the middle mgmt to behave like a fiefdom.

It is pointless to keep arguing MAS is not as good as SIA but you fo not appreciate the problem looming.

Sense you are a Khazanah cybertrooper because you will not acknowledge that it had been the problem of Khazanah all along.

Tebing Tinggi said...

@midnight runner 10:18 PM

Oh, really?

Are you afraid to admit that, from Day One, SIA has been better managed than MAS?

Are you refusing to admit that MAS and SIA sprang from the same parent?

Can you explain why a city-state with a population of 5 million can produce and support a world-class international airline that has been consistently profitable?

Where were you when MAS started incurring losses? Which was when?

Where were the vocal MAS staff unions when the airline was running up losses? Were they blind, deaf and dumb about what was happening with their employer?

So, don't shove off blame on "Khazanah cybertroopers". Just answer the simple questions I posted above.

Anonymous said...

Tebing Tinggi,
"Can you explain why a city-state with a population of 5 million can produce and support world class international airline that has been consistently profitable?"

We need to understand the core of Malaysia Airlines first. The Airline comes into existence in the spirit of developing the whole Country of ours. It is not simply a business entity on its own.

There are a few international sectors created simply to meet the aspirations of the Country to close bi-lateral business commitments. These kind of sectors, the Airlines suffer losses after losses however our Country as a whole flourished.

We also need to look at our social obligations towards rural area services, honestly none of these rural services bring in profit, in fact we're pouring money out simply meeting the schedule.

All these while, even with those lost making services, Malaysia Airlines can still stand as there are sectors that we are making therefore it does in a way off set those losses.

The real challenge actually started when our currency being hacked terribly, we are down closed to RM4 to 1 USD in 1997, this is the beginning of the fall. Almost every aspect of Airline operation cost is using USD, our operational burden blew out of proportion. Aircraft spares, International Airport cost, International fuel cost and many other things simply goes up like there were no tomorrow.

So the point is, Malaysians, stop and think clearly for a while, our Country's prosperity all these while due to our flag ship carrier.

My Say