38一下 today: Are you still alright?

Life has been hard for many people, especially those in the tourism industry.
What’s even more worrying us is that there is no sign that things will improve anytime soon.

Are you still alright

Spare a thought for those who have it worse than us.

In 2013, it was my first flight with Malindo Air to Kota Kinabalu. From then onwards, Malindo Air (OD) became my preferred choice of airline within the regional countries. I like the crew’s sweet smile and professionalism. I particularly love their authentic uniform, Kebaya. Of course, occasionally I also miss the lovely stewardess on MAS.

October 31, 2020, Malindo Air suddenly announced that the 7-year-old OD would lay off its 2200 from total 3200 employees and reduce its fleet size from 27 to 11. Sadly that the uniforms they have been proudly donning these years have now become their personal collection, perhaps. A friend sighed: I’d rather get COVID than lose my job!

In the meantime, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific (CX) just announced it would cease operating 35 years of Dragon Air with immediate effect. Not only has the Dragon now become history, together with the parent company CX, further 8,500 employees have been laid off, including 2,000 staff and a hundred pilots from the Dragon.

The global pandemic is unquestionably the most destructive disaster we’ve seen in a century. So long as the virus still keeps us grounded, it is a matter of time the tsunami-like domino effect will befall us. Life has been hard for the people in the tourism industries. The sad thing is, with no signs the bleeding will stop any time soon! And this may very well just be the tip of the iceberg in our troubled world today!

Boeing is axing another 7,000 of its workforce. As a matter of fact, the struggling aviation industry is directly impacting the cruise, hotel, hospitality, F&B, souvenirs shop and other tourism related industries. From what we understand, aviation and tourist industries will lose some 46 million job positions globally because of the virus. Isn’t that horrifying?

Malaysia’s tourism is not immune to this at all, who will be next in line or how many more will be severely affected after Malindo Air?

To be honest, carriers like Thai Airways and SIA which have shifted to the sale of inflight meals and inflight dining experience in a desperate bid to survive, deserve our utmost respect. To a certain extent, this change has lifted their staff’s morale. Of course, such a short-term solution may not help much in the long run.

Sitting alone at a quiet corner in the café, I was thinking about those lovable Malindo Air stewardesses, and began to worry also about the ladies aboard our MAS and AAX.

Suddenly a kindly lady popped up in front of me and warmly greeted me, “Hi, Leesan, are you still alright?” Simple as it sounded, I instantly found this forthright salutation warm and powerful. I used to think that life couldn’t have been harsher on me, without realizing that I could be infinitely energized by offering a word of comfort and hope to those who suffer as much as I.

In a private dinner get-together, the much respected Tan Sri William Cheng asked me, “Are you alright, Leesan? Hope to travel to Hokkaido with you again!” I felt flattered. He then said caringly, the third wave of coronavirus infections is wreaking tremendous havoc on the country’s economy and her people.

I’m worried for how long more we have to go on like this. He suggested that we should come together and think of ways to weather the crisis. He also urged the government to open up the country as soon as possible. I respect Tan Sri a lot, as he has repeatedly written to the prime minister to offer multifaceted solutions to tackle the pandemic, including the German-
style universal screening.

Although the virus is the primary cause of the massive unemployment tsunami which in turn may herald another global depression, humans must also take the blame for allowing the virus to spread this fast. They are duty-bound to find the solutions to their own woes.

This October, the Chinese city of Qingdao screened some 10.8 million of its residents in a span of five days, and managed to promptly break the infection chain of the heinous virus in that city.

Over here in Malaysia, what we need is a government that is resolved and responsible. The German-style universal screening should be implemented at once in Sabah red-zone in order to solve the problem once and for all. Unfortunately, we have been too idealistic, as those in power are busy with nothing but seizing more powers and personal gains that they miss the critical timing to block out the virus. The government will never admit that it is at fault, so we can only blame our poor luck!

We’ll never get to wait for the government to offer a word of solace: Are you still alright, my fellow countrymen and hardworking front liners? (*to date, 1099 medical front-liners have been infected direct or indirectly).

By right Malaysians should have a lot of respect for and a lot to look to from our government? We don’t yearn for free handouts every now and then, but what we want is a government that will deliver us out of this damned virus thing.

Luckily I still have the contact of the Malindo Air’s stewardess on my IPhone. I’ve got to rush a warm greeting to her: Ah Ling, are you still alright?

We shall not be afraid of Covid-19, instead together we can overcome the pandemic.

No one is a winner in this pandemic.
Domestic tours long waited for recovery, yet we can learn to smile in the storm.

You can’t imagine how the airlines can manage themselves … the majority of the industry has been grounded.

Airlines are by far the most vulnerable and should be given priority over other corporations, due to the long supply chain in the aviation industry, which includes aircraft manufacturers and airports. They suffer the most because they are the first in line, If traffic is not coming on the plane, all the supply chains will be suffering.