The Prime Minister should take a leaf out of Tony Fernandes' book.
FMT
The funny thing about rumours is that you can never really choose to ignore them. But then, if you say too much, people will assume that you are acting in self preservation because there is truth to the talk. Say too little, and you add to the intrigue. Say nothing at all, and a piece of gossip takes a life of its own, ever growing in intricacy and complexity till little of the original remains.
Considering the options on the table, you’d think that addressing the situation makes the most sense for the parties involved, in this case, Prime Minister Najib Razak and the elusive Perdana 1, which currently awaits the Prime Minister in Thailand after a week-long jaunt in the United States, stopping in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Los Angeles again and then New York en route to London, Dubai and back to South East Asia.
The fact that the aircraft remained in the US while the Prime Minister rushed home to deal with the flood crisis has intrigued many commenters and critics across the social sphere, with many coming to the conclusion that it must be the First Lady of Malaysia (FLOM), Rosmah Mansor, who is aboard the flight, probably indulging her allegedly infamous penchant for extravagant shopping and travel.
The Prime Minister’s Office has tried to pass it off as a maintenance issue, but as a piece carried by FMT on Saturday suggests, there was only one possible reason for Perdana 1 to be in Indianapolis, and for a week at that, raising even more concerns over the use of the jet, and more important, the doings of its possible passenger.
Najib should have just come out and addressed the rumours before they became such a source of national concern. Had he said, yes, it is Rosmah on board, he would have caught flak for it, but no more than he already has, as many Malaysians have already made up their minds about FLOM’s temperament and passions. Instead, his elegant silence has dealt a far worse blow to his and his wife’s reputations, at a time when he actually has made a public relations score with his efforts to address the floods. Had he clearly told Malaysians that the jet had issues, and the reason why it was in Indianapolis for so long, his honesty would have at least been appreciated by Malaysians whose tax dollars pay RM27,501.75 per hour for use of the jet.
Compare this to the way AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes has been dealing with the biggest crisis facing his airline yet. The ill-fated QZ8501 would have devastated AirAsia had Fernandes dealt with the situation the way that our Prime Minister has with Perdana 1. Had he been as opaque over the issue, critics would have lambasted him for having no sympathy for his employees and the passengers onboard the flight, but what Fernandes has done is give the world a master class in crisis management.
He has gone to the ground, given comfort to the staff of AirAsia, personally accompanied the body of a stewardess back to her home, communicated constantly with the public and media, and his efforts have been rewarded with a positive afterglow on the airline despite the disaster. His constant updates have left little room for rumour, little space for unbridled speculation.
It is this openness that has given Fernandes some leeway as the airline recovers from the disaster, and our Prime Minister would serve himself well to learn from what the AirAsia Group CEO has done over the past week. Due to Najib’s refusal to address the status of Perdana 1, he has given way for gossip to hit him and his wife much harder than anything he could have possibly confessed to, even a shopping spree that spanned the breadth of America, from Los Angeles on the West Coast to New York on the East Coast.
Obviously, the magnitude of the loss of QZ8501 cannot be compared to the extravagance Perdana 1 has been associated with, but the two leaders dealing with crisis and controversy have chosen to deal with their situations in mirror-opposite ways. Najib must learn from his mistakes and stop the cycle of PR disasters marking his tenure as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
FMT
The funny thing about rumours is that you can never really choose to ignore them. But then, if you say too much, people will assume that you are acting in self preservation because there is truth to the talk. Say too little, and you add to the intrigue. Say nothing at all, and a piece of gossip takes a life of its own, ever growing in intricacy and complexity till little of the original remains.
Considering the options on the table, you’d think that addressing the situation makes the most sense for the parties involved, in this case, Prime Minister Najib Razak and the elusive Perdana 1, which currently awaits the Prime Minister in Thailand after a week-long jaunt in the United States, stopping in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Los Angeles again and then New York en route to London, Dubai and back to South East Asia.
The fact that the aircraft remained in the US while the Prime Minister rushed home to deal with the flood crisis has intrigued many commenters and critics across the social sphere, with many coming to the conclusion that it must be the First Lady of Malaysia (FLOM), Rosmah Mansor, who is aboard the flight, probably indulging her allegedly infamous penchant for extravagant shopping and travel.
The Prime Minister’s Office has tried to pass it off as a maintenance issue, but as a piece carried by FMT on Saturday suggests, there was only one possible reason for Perdana 1 to be in Indianapolis, and for a week at that, raising even more concerns over the use of the jet, and more important, the doings of its possible passenger.
Najib should have just come out and addressed the rumours before they became such a source of national concern. Had he said, yes, it is Rosmah on board, he would have caught flak for it, but no more than he already has, as many Malaysians have already made up their minds about FLOM’s temperament and passions. Instead, his elegant silence has dealt a far worse blow to his and his wife’s reputations, at a time when he actually has made a public relations score with his efforts to address the floods. Had he clearly told Malaysians that the jet had issues, and the reason why it was in Indianapolis for so long, his honesty would have at least been appreciated by Malaysians whose tax dollars pay RM27,501.75 per hour for use of the jet.
Compare this to the way AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes has been dealing with the biggest crisis facing his airline yet. The ill-fated QZ8501 would have devastated AirAsia had Fernandes dealt with the situation the way that our Prime Minister has with Perdana 1. Had he been as opaque over the issue, critics would have lambasted him for having no sympathy for his employees and the passengers onboard the flight, but what Fernandes has done is give the world a master class in crisis management.
He has gone to the ground, given comfort to the staff of AirAsia, personally accompanied the body of a stewardess back to her home, communicated constantly with the public and media, and his efforts have been rewarded with a positive afterglow on the airline despite the disaster. His constant updates have left little room for rumour, little space for unbridled speculation.
It is this openness that has given Fernandes some leeway as the airline recovers from the disaster, and our Prime Minister would serve himself well to learn from what the AirAsia Group CEO has done over the past week. Due to Najib’s refusal to address the status of Perdana 1, he has given way for gossip to hit him and his wife much harder than anything he could have possibly confessed to, even a shopping spree that spanned the breadth of America, from Los Angeles on the West Coast to New York on the East Coast.
Obviously, the magnitude of the loss of QZ8501 cannot be compared to the extravagance Perdana 1 has been associated with, but the two leaders dealing with crisis and controversy have chosen to deal with their situations in mirror-opposite ways. Najib must learn from his mistakes and stop the cycle of PR disasters marking his tenure as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
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