MALINDO AIR LANDED BKI !!!

22MARCH 2013, an important date in the aviation history of Sabah. A Malindo Air's brand new B737 900ER landed Kota Kinabalu! 

Their B737 900ER is fitted with 12 business class and 168 economy class seats offering full inflight services, like personal TV and meals. 

The airline would fly to 12 destinations by the end of 2013. They are looking at India, China and Indonesia. "We are now flying with two aircraft and will take delivery of two more in June," the CEO announced during the launching ceremony in Kota kinabalu yesterday. He added that the airline would have a fleet of 12 aircraft by year-end.

Malindo Air is also planning to make Kota Kinabalu a second hub, offering flights to/from Indonesia, Korea, Japan and China direct.  

With the new services, Sabah will have an improvement in air connectivity in the region. Let's hope the traveling public can continue to enjoy low fares from Malindo Air. 

Will Malindo Air be a threat to Air Asia? In my opinion, Air Asia will definitely lose some traffic if Malindo Air continues to offer low fares with added-on inflight service.

MALAYSIA'S NEW AIRLINE - MALINDO AIR

A brand new airline "Malindo Air" will fly the Malaysian sky before the end of this month. The airline is set to start operations on 22 March from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport using the 180 seats B737-900ER.   

 

This airline is targeting destinations within five and a half hour range. Initially they will provide 4 x daily to Kuching and 3 x daily to Kota Kinabalu offering a low fare of RM38 and RM68 respectively. These fares are relatively lower than Malaysia Airlines or even Air Asia.  A quick look at their website revealed that Malindo Air is operating with a hybrid business model. They provide full in-flight services in their Business and Economy class and yet they are offering low-cost carrier-type fares with 30kgs check-in baggage allowance for Business while 15kgs for Economy class.

Malindo Air is operating at high cost from the start. I hope they can continue to offer low fares all the time.

To be profitable, I believe that Air Malindo Air is looking beyond Malaysia, like the lucrative South east Asian routes.        

Currently, we have Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia and MASwing serving all the Malaysia domestic destinations and their load factors are just average except during the few peak months. Can Malindo Air survive?  

FOREIGN ARMED INTRUDERS IN SABAH - THE END IS NEAR?

Following an all-out assault on the intruder group using fighter jets and heavy artillery fire, the Inspector-General of Police told a news conference  that the police and army have achieved their objective in the operation. He also confirmed that the intruders did return fire but there were no casualities.

 Malaysian solders were seen firing towards Kampung Tanduo.

There was no immediate confirmation of how many intruders were killed in kampung Tanduo. According to the Inspector-General of police, both the Police and army were immediately deployed to "flush out" all the invaders after the bombing.  To date, 53 intruders have been killed while Malaysia police lost 8 men.  “Up to now the police have arrested 85 suspects whom we believe have some links with the intrusion,” said the Inspector-General of Police.

Let's hope the continuing action taken by our Police and Armed forces will end the conflict in the very near future. 

FOREIGN ARMED INTRUDERS IN SABAH - BREAKING NEWS!

Malaysian Security forces have launched an attack on the intruders in Kampung Tanduo, Felda Sahabat here this morning. As early as 07:00, three fighter jets bombed Kampung Tanduo before troops moved in. A press conference was held later with the present of Malaysian inspector-General of Police and an Army General confirming the attack. However, they did not provide any further details.  One of the fighter jets seen above Kg Tanduo, Lahad Datu, Sabah. The villagers of Kg. Sg Merah, a village neighbouring Kg Tanduo, fleeing the village upon hearing loud explosions.  We hope that this will be the final episode ending almost a month of stand-off between  Malaysia forces and the intruders.

FOREIGN ARMED INTRUDERS IN SABAH - LATEST!!!

The three-week siege by armed intruders, ended today with 14 killed and three wounded after Malaysian security forces exchanged gunfire with them. A Malaysian Online news also reported  a curfew has been in place at Lahad Datu town and surrounding areas since 4pm today. 

Twelve intruders and two Malaysian commandos were slain. The stand-off between the security forces and the group continued.

FOREIGN ARMED INTRUDERS IN SABAH - RIDICULOUS!!!

It's ridiculous that the intruders were permitted to stay in Kampung Tanduo by our Malaysian security forces. For 2 weeks now, our forces have done nothing to "remove" them. No body knows what is happening as all media have been cut-off.  

We are wondering as to what is going on and why are these intruders allow to stay?  "What the hell is happening to our country ?" All we know is that the Inspector General of Police has told the press that the "situation is under control and we know what we are doing."

Do they know what they are doing? We are not asking for operational details but merely want to know the truth. Why is it taking them so long? It seems nothing is done!

The funny thing is that our Prime Minister does not seem to be concerned over the sovereignty of our country and the Sabahans in Lahad Datu.

May God bless the people of Sabah especially those who are affected by the intrusion.

FOREIGN ARMED INTRUDERS IN SABAH - UNBELIEVABLE !!!

Unbelievable !!! A group of more than 100 armed foreigners from a neighbouring country landed on Sabah's east coast undetected about 12 days ago. It caught the Malaysian Security forces by surprise and they are now " negotiating" with the group who claimed to be the “royal army” of the Sultanate of Sulu in Mindanao.

 Picture extracted from newspapers.   

According to the report, the group has been surrounded and cornered in "Kampung Tanduo", a local village in Lahad Datu by the Malaysian security forces.  The standoff has sparked one of the biggest security scares in recent years in Sabah, 

2 days ago, Malaysian Home minister visited the area and informed the press that the situation was under control and there was nothing to fear. He also confirmed that no Malaysian citizen were being held hostage or for ransom,  “Security forces are still in control and negotiating with them, some of whom are armed.” said the Minister.

Many concerned Malaysian have voiced their disappointment with the authorities through local newspaper and especially through "face book": There have been many questions raised, like, how did the group passed through our Security forces stationed along the coast? What has happened to our armed forces, we were supposed to have high-tech surveillance aircraft and super-duper Scorpene submarines and yet they could not detect this group of insurgents? Why negotiate? and so on.

As a Malaysian I strongly feel that there should be no compromise on the sovereignty and security of Sabah. These intruders should leave the country immediately. 

CHINESE NEW YEAR - 農曆新年 !

It has been a very busy week for us celebrating the Chinese New Year. We started off with a reunion dinner on the eve in a local Chinese restaurant. 

The most popular dish for the celebration - the raw fish salad "Yee sang 鱼生"  for prosperity toss.

Followed by special dishes recommended by the Chef. 

 The dinner ended with a mango pudding.

Fireworks to welcome the year of "Snake" just after midnight.

The Popular Chinese sweet - the sticky rice cake "年糕" and the red "Angku" 

 It's "Yam Cha" on the first day of the New Year.

Our home was greeting by a Lion troupe on the second day.

 Family and friends enjoying the performance by this red "Lion"

A feast in the evening cooked by my wife - in house chef.

This year, My son and daughter were back for this special occasion - a good family reunion.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

WISHING EVERYBODY A VERY HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!

Yee sang "鱼生" A Chinese New Year Dish for prosperity toss. 

恭喜, 恭喜! 祝贺大家新年好！

THE PYGMY ELEPHANT CALF HAS SURVIVED

The latest count of the dead Borneo pygmy elephants have increased to 14. The good news is that the calf found alive is surviving in the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.      

The three-month-old calf looks set to survive as it has been getting use to the infant formula milk and adapting to his new home at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.

A spokesman from the Sabah Wildlife Department said they were also getting a lot of support from elephant experts both locally and internationally. 

Mean, Wildlife rangers, Police and the relevant Authorities are continuing their check of the area in the forest reserve for the possibility of more dead elephants while also searching for the source of the poisoning, which could possibly be some form of chemical pesticides.

Let us hope the investigation could reveal the truth and who are the culprits responsible for such cruel act.