Yoursay: Let’s not beef over ‘pork image’

YOURSAY | ‘Why can’t we focus on better service and better management, instead of being offended by photos?’

MAS apologises over 'pork image' in magazine, but says it was beef

Vijay47: Malaysia Airlines (MAS), if it was indeed a photo of a pork dish and not wagyu beef or cuttlefish, so what? Why should you or anyone apologise?

From what you explained, the article was on restaurants around the world serving various cuisine, of which pork could be a dish; you were not highlighting the fare on board your flights.

So where is the beef? Are you suggesting that even inflight magazines should not mention pork or pigs or piglets?

I take it MAS in-flight publication Going Places will never feature an article on the Vatican or the Golden Temple. And former MAS managing director Abd Aziz Abdul Rahman, you complain that such a move was inappropriate as MAS carried the national image.

National image? You are right, when the national image courtesy of Umno and PAS is one of extremism as reflected in the recent rabid protests over a lit cross.

Honest: I don’t understand why MAS must apologise if it was wagyu beef.

Not that I agree that they should have apologised if it was indeed pork, but for the sake of argument, why apologise if MAS was wrongly accused of promoting pork?

The accuser obviously is wrong and should be the one to apologise, not MAS. This is disgraceful.

Kookie: I couldn't agree with you more, Honest. To apologise in this and other similar instances is an indication of weak management.

If one is right, they should have the moral courage to defend that right, and not buckle to nasty and unfounded criticism from small-minded people.

Darmakochi: MAS, why did you apologise if it is just wagyu beef and cuttlefish? You can clarify without any apology.

Of course, it did not occur to you to apologise to the Hindus for serving beef since MAS is an international carrier. Anyway, the Hindus will not make a big fuss and quietly seek some alternative food.

Ib: Beef offends many Malaysians too, if they choose to be offended like Abd Aziz. Why can’t we focus on better service and better management, versus choosing to be offended by photographs?

FairMind: Seriously, Malaysia has long needed a complete overhaul on its oversensitiveness. If not, Malaysians will be preoccupied with and wasting energy with senseless reactions over nothing, day in day out.

We had hoped that Pakatan Harapan could initiate the overhaul, but so far nothing has been done.

Anonymous_49d8b96c: The nation is choking herself with too many self-imposed constraints and self-inflicted wounds.

It is a spectrum of Malaysia Boleh and Malaysia Tak Boleh misgivings, all for the wrong reasons, which does not provide any global competitive advantages for the nation.

'Drug mules are being sent to gallows, not kingpins'

David Dass: Drug addiction is a scourge of most societies today. Every nation struggles with the problems of addiction. How do we keep our people, especially the young, safe?

The huge profits made from the drug trade is the problem. Organised crime manages the trade. They work with each other and across borders. The profits are often shared with law enforcement agencies.

The Bar has said over and over again that the death penalty is no deterrent. And that only addicts and mules are caught and sentenced to death.

There are some who believe that addicts are 'the walking dead' and that society would be better off if they were all killed. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is one of them.

Addicts are human beings. And every effort must be made to rehabilitate them. Every effort must be made to keep drugs out of the country.

The US has an opioid problem. That starts with prescription drugs. Strategies being considered in some countries include the legalisation of marijuana. The object is to regulate the trade - to take it off the streets, place it in regulated shops and to tax the profits.

Most countries will not go so far. Some limit it to medical marijuana. It is supposed to give relief for chronic pain and other chronic illnesses that are not helped by conventional drugs. The drug problem is a major problem for us and poses a major challenge for the government.

TCM: Associate professor Azmi Sharom is right. If we send 100 of them to death, another 100 or more will easily take their place. It is not an effective solution to the drug problem.

I have been chopping lalang (weeds) in my garden recently and realise how apt the professor’s words were. Go for the roots. Otherwise, it regrows, sometimes even quicker and more.

Ravinder: Good argument. Why are the authorities not investigating deep enough to find the kingpins and put them out of business? Do the law enforcers fear the kingpins?

KS: Exactly. The abolition of the death penalty should start with drug mule convicts. Not a rash, reckless, ill-considered abolition for all including premeditated murderers. The last can be considered over a longer time period.

Kamaapo: The mother of most social ills and crimes like house break-ins and snatch thefts is corruption. Kingpins are the ducks that lay the monthly golden eggs.

One form of effective medicine for this malignant cancer is the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

There is no reason for the government not to implement it soonest. And such oversight commissions for other institutions are also needed very badly. - Mkini