FROM KISSING NAJIB’S BOOTS TO LICKING MAHATHIR’S SPIT: THE STORY OF AIRASIA BOSS TONY FERNANDES EPIC BLUNDER & SHAMELESS U-TURN

SEPANG, 3 Mac -- Mantan Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad bersama (dari kiri) Pengerusi Air Asia X, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Pengerusi Air Asia Berhad, Datuk Aziz Bakar dan Ketua Eksekutif Kumpulan AirAsia, Datuk Seri Tony Fernandez pada sidang akhbar selepas mengadakan lawatan ke ibu pejabat Air Asia dan Akademi Air Asia di sini, hari ini. --fotoBERNAMA (2011) HAKCIPTA TERPELIHARA

In the morning of May 10th, just hours after opposition Pakatan Harapan stunningly won the 14th general election, rumours spread like wildfire that the coalition leader Mr. Mahathir Mohamad might not become the country’s prime minister after all. The rumours had it that the defeated Mr. Najib Razak of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition had bribed Sabah-based Warisan to defect.

The rumours, of course, exploded largely due to refusal of Election Commission to sign the Form 14 acknowledging Pakatan Harapan’s victory while at the same time the delay by the Agong (King) to swear in the 93-year-old Mahathir – the world’s oldest prime minister. The answer finally emerged after a press conference by outgoing Najib Razak.

Looking sombre and spoke as if he had cried moments ago, Mr. Najib reluctantly admitted that his coalition was defeated. Still, the defiant 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia, like Hillary Clinton, had chosen to blame everyone and everythingunder the sun but himself. It appeared he was still shocked from the humiliating defeat and couldn’t accept the fact that he had lost.

While celebrating their spectacular victory in bringing down the most hated leader – Najib Razak – the people of Malaysia are sharing a joke on social media. The joke was that Najib’s wife Rosmah, the spendthrift former First Lady, scolded him – “I asked you to call an electrician, but you called an election. Now, we have no power!!”2

Najib Razak wasn’t the only clueless person who hallucinated about an easy win. AirAsia owner Tony Fernandes, with net worth of US$745 million, was another businessman whose wealth has clouded his judgement. Malaysia’s reputation, already tainted and embarrassed by Najib’s thievery in the 1MDB scandal, received an open endorsement from Fernandes just a day before the polling day.

Unlike other billionaires who chose to remain low-profiled, multi-millionaire Tony Fernandes attracted attacks from majority of Malaysian netizens when he uploaded a video in which he attributed AirAsia’s success to Najib government’s policies. He even painted one of his aircraft with the Barisan Nasional #HebatkanNegaraKu theme, clearly a copy of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

Fernandes told Malaysians to “vote wisely” at the May 9th polls, obviously urging voters to support the Thief-in-Chief Najib. The AirAsia Group CEO praised Najib for being a “great leader who puts the people first”. He also praised Najib for achieving a GDP growth of 5.9%, a low unemployment rate of 3.3% and the creation of 2.26 million jobs since 2009.

There was a photo of Tony and Najib laughing together on their seat in AirAsia plane. Heck, Fernandes was such a bootlicker that he even instructed AirAsia stewardesses to wear blue uniforms, which is BN’s official colour, as opposed to their normal red uniforms. Perhaps the airline carrier boss got arrogant and had forgotten who made him rich in the first place.

After Najib’s spectacular loss in the election, with tail between legs, Tony Fernandes is singing a different song. Almost instantly, AirAsia planes were sent to hangar to undergo changing of coat – from “HebatkanNegaraKu (Make My Country Greater)” to “A True Malaysian” with an image of Mahathir thrown in.

Had the dumb AirAsia Group CEO remained silent instead of playing politics, he would not have had embarrassed himself. In truth, it was Mahathir who had made him super-rich today. Back in October 2001, Fernandes was granted a meeting with then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, where he presented his idea of starting Malaysia’s first discount airline.

A few years before his appointment with Mahathir, Tony failed to secure a license. The opportunity came when he heard of bankrupt government-linked conglomerate DRB-Hicom’s airline, which had US$37 million in debt and two Boeing jets. After listening to his presentation, Mahathir said – “I like the idea, I like the passion and the drive even though you do not seem to have any experience, you have my blessing.”

With Mahathir’s blessing, Tony Fernandes founded Tune Air Sdn Bhd in 2001. Together with three other partners, he only had to pay a token of 1 ringgit (then 26 cents) and assume US$12 million of AirAsia debts. And the rest is history. Sure, thereafter, it has been his business acumen that made AirAsia successful. But it was Mahathir, not Najib, who gave him the opportunity.

As a businessman, Tony Fernandes should not have taken side in politics, let alone telling lies that Najib was a “great leader who puts the people first”. By saying so, he was suggesting that the then-opposition Pakatan Harapan would discriminate against the people. He should understand that business and politics should not be mixed.

Yes, he has every right to endorse Najib Razak. But he certainly does not have the right to urge people to vote for the world’s biggest crook. The fact that Fernandes took the trouble of stripping his air stewardesses red uniform for the blue, just for the sake of sucking up to Najib, speaks volumes how he was willing to prostitute himself. And now, his dignity is thrown away – again – by sucking up to Mahathir.