KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing does not agree to the proposed sale of the national carrier (Malaysia Airline) to outsiders.
“It’s our pride! Solve it we must. We can do it, as long as we aren’t in denial mood and put the blame on others.
“Malaysia Airline System Bhd (MAS) is in serious debt, in billions it seems and there is a move to solve its debt by selling the national airline,” Masing noted.
He said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad must not put the blame on the previous government for the MAS fiasco again.
He pointed out that the rot in MAS started about 20 years ago since Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman was chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director of MAS and Mahathir was the prime minister then.
“So, he can’t deny he was innocent of the crime, if it was a crime. Tan Sri Aziz’s diagnosis on MAS problems is worth listening to.
“Don’t repeat the mistakes. Admit our erroneous ways and do the right things for our national carrier and for MAS staff.
“They are our people. They require our care. Put politics aside and do what is right for MAS,” Masing urged.
Masing said that he was confident there are those with the brain in Malaysia to steer MAS in the correct direction.
Recently a group of former MAS employees and several private individuals came together to express interest in helping the government turn around the ailing Malaysia Airlines Bhd.
They include corporate lawyer Shahril Lamin; Ravindran Devagunam, former Performance Management and Delivery Unit’s anti-corruption director; economist Dr Puvaneswaran Sanjivee; S Suppiah, former MAS executive vice-president of group finance; Sitham Nadarajah, former MAS vice-president of engineering; and Shulhameed Marican, former general manager of flight operations (services and infrastructure).
It was reported that the group had formed a company called Golden Skies Ventures Sdn Bhd and Tan Sri Abdul Aziz is also an adviser to the group.
