SUPPORTING MH/AK

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 27, 2011

1. I have been asked why I support bringing MAS and Air Asia together. Don’t I know that it is a bad deal; that MAS has been cheated by Air Asia?

2. I support MAS/Air Asia cooperation because for years now I have been fed-up with the management of MAS. Government had supported MAS with funds and protection but MAS had never done well.

3. Air Asia is a newcomer but it has managed to sustain itself. Despite giving free seats and cheap fares it is still surviving. And it is apparently making some profits. By right it should close down by now. That it is still around must be because its management knows something that I don’t know.

4. I visited the head office of Air Asia and I flew Air Asia to London and I understand a little how Air Asia operates.

5. Let us take one example. Air Asia Airbus A340 flew into Stanstead, England, with a full load of passengers and I mean full load. The business class was full.

6. I will not mention the VIP treatment that I got. It is not standard and therefore it should not be cited as an example.

7. But what I noticed about the operation is that having flown for 13 hours non stop KL-London, the aircraft flew back to KL one-and-a-half hours later (with a different crew of course).

8. But MAS aircrafts stay on the ground in Heathrow for at least 12 hours. On some routes the air crew would stay in hotels for four days before flying back.

9. When airlines stay on the ground they will not help earn income for the company. Instead they have to pay ground parking charges. Commercial aircrafts should be flying most of the time. Then and then only will they earn money for airlines. And air crews should fly after the statutory rest requirement. Can it be that four days rest is required to certify that crews are fit to fly.

10. This is just one example of not so good management. MAS has a huge staff but Air Asia make-do with a very much smaller staff. They engage in multi-tasking. In fact Air Asia does everything possible to minimise overheads. It would be interesting to compare MAS’ overheads per aircraft against that of Air Asia.

11. Long ago I told a very senior man in MAS to learn from Air Asia its operations and how to cut cost. I don’t know whether he did.

12. When I was told by Azman Mokhtar that MAS was looking into ways of working together with Air Asia, I did not object. In fact I welcome the proposal.

13. How the co-operation is to be carried out was not told to me. That is up to the parties concerned. All I wanted to see is Air Asia’s management playing a role, indirectly or directly in the management of MAS. I believe Air Asia can contribute in this area i.e. unless MAS is not prepared to learn from a “cheap” airline. That would be a tragedy.

14. I hope I have made clear why I support MAS and Air Asia working together.

RADIATION

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 21, 2011

1. When X-Ray was first discovered it was used extensively in medicine. X-Rays were taken of the human body to detect diseases. Medical assistants and doctors operate X-Ray machines quite oblivious to the dangers from radiation.

2. After many years it was found that X-Rays cause certain diseases and affect fertility. Now when an X-Ray is taken, the radiologists stay outside the X-Ray room.

3. But we still use the X-Ray on patients because the effect of radiation is only felt when exposure is continuous or very frequent as with the staff in the X-Ray room. I was X-rayed many times during treatment for my heart and lungs.

4. I am against nuclear power plants because nuclear material once activated cannot be reversed. The nuclear wastes keep on radiating harmful rays for a million years. There is no really safe way to dispose them.

5. During the time when I was PM, we had problems with activated tin mining waste or amang, used for colour TV. We had to bury the waste in thick concrete deep in the ground. Now colour TV use plasma or LED and they produce practically no radiation.

6. However, there is now no more radiation at the site where the activated amang was buried. It is now safe to live on the site.

7. Chernobyl is near the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

8. Although the Chernobyl nuclear plant is still dangerous, Kiev is quite safe from the radiation emanating from the damaged nuclear power plant. The level of radiation is very low.

9. There was fear of Tokyo being affected by the accident to the Fukushima nuclear plant. But the radiation level in Tokyo is reported to be quite insignificant. Tokyo is safe.

10. Clearly the danger from radiation is dependant on the intensity of the rays and the duration of exposure. We are all exposed to some radiation from the sun, but it is not harmful.

11. The question is whether the Lynas plant for processing rare earth is a dangerous source of radiation. There are such plants in many countries where rare earth is processed for use in batteries and magnets. There have been no reports of radiation affecting the health of the workers or the people living in close proximity.

12. The proposed Lynas plant has been inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world authority on nuclear material. They have not reported that Lynas is a dangerous project.

13. But protests are still going on. The only conclusion one can make is that the protests are political. No matter how many investigations and studies are made the protest will go on. It is not about danger to health. It is about defeating the Government in the coming election.

14. We should be careful with radioactive material. But we should not allow political activists and non-genuine environmentalists deprive us of the economic benefits rare-earth offer through unsubstantiated scare stories.

15. Although I am still not in favour of nuclear power plants, I have nothing against the Lynas project. The Government should not be afraid to let the project to go ahead.