Thursday, August 18, 2011

Astro going spooky

It's annoying how Astro is going crazy with its trailer ads for horror movies. It's been going on for a few months now. It seems to appear on various channels throughout the day. I know it appears on Bloomberg late at night and early in the morning. Not everyone awake at that hour loves horror movies or can tolerate it. I think it is very insensitive for Astro to simply air horror trailers. Astro is aired in homes and in bedrooms where there are possibly faint-hearted audience not to mention children. I certainly don't want children to be exposed to such horrible sounds and visuals. I don't want to be exposed to such horrible sounds and visuals. While watching one news session, the horror ads can appear several times. I really hope Astro will stop airing these horror ads. Or I might just stay on IPTV channels instead.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

MAS, Firefly, Airasia and CSR

One of the most annoying things about school holidays and festive seasons is that airfares are costly.

If there is a need for airlines to do corporate social responsibility ('CSR') it really should begin with school holidays and festive seasons. The best time for family gatherings is during school holidays and festive seasons. School children particularly look forward to spending time with outstation extended family members such as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It is the best time to balik kampung and to visit the family. In fact, when special fare promotions are announced, there is even a note in fine print that the special fares would not be applicable during school holidays or public holidays! It seems unconscionable for airlines to seek a bigger profit during such times.

It would be great if Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and Airasia, being Malaysian, could adopt a CSR approach with regards to such holidays. Follow the footsteps of Telekom Malaysia, where calls made during festive seasons are at a lower call charges, appreciating the sensitivity that calls are particularly meaningful for people who are away during such times. Balik kampung during such times are also particularly meaningful. And this airfare insensitivity particularly hurts people who have to travel between east and west Malaysia with no other means to balik kampung.

During festive seasons, the government monitors prices of food. Could there be a monitoring of airfares too?