GST on Public Transport Services in Malaysia

Effective April 1st 2015, Malaysian Government through Royal Malaysian Customs Department, RMCD (Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia, JKDM) will charge Goods and Services Tax (GST) for most products and services offered.

Question: Will there be any GST charge on public transport services?

Answer: No, there will be no GST incurred on public transport services.

Public transport services in Malaysia include KTM Komuter, ETS, KLIA Transit, KLIA Ekspres, taxi and bus services.

Exception: Air transport services

GST will be charged for the following:

Malaysian carrier, domestic flights
Malaysian carrier, international-bound flights from Malaysia

Foreign carriers are not subjected to GST.

Rice with Beef in Black Sauce – AirAsia Inflight Meal

AirAsia is best known for its scrumptious inflight meals. Available for purchase at an additional price, flyers can purchase the meal of their choice at a reasonable price. In this post, we would like to share one of our favourite meal on AirAsia, Rice with Beef in Black Sauce.

This is the meal, packed. You will need to wait for about 20 minutes for them to prepare this meal.

The packaging looks inviting, isn’t it?

One of our favourite feature is their attempt in keeping their customers informed – nutritionally. Nutritional value for most meals are written on the package. This helps the customers to be aware of their nutrition consumption, especially those who are being mindful of their calorie consumption.

There is nothing else in the meal, just plain white rice and beef in black sauce. If you are not that into vegetables and would like to have just rice and meat, this is definitely a must-try.

No-Go for Malaysian First Flying Car Test Flight

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 November 2019: The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia has issued a statement on its Facebook Page barring a scheduled drone flight from taking place. The Chinese-made drone is purported to be the first flying car for Malaysia. The statement is as follows:

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RESTRICTION ON THE DEMONSTRATION TEST FLIGHT
OF UAS E-HANG 216
PUTRAJAYA – The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) would like to announce that the planned test flight of UAS E-Hang 216 (EH216) scheduled for 21st November 2019 has not been authorized by CAAM.
The location of the test flight at the UNIKL MIAT Hangar Subang is less than 200 meters away from commercial airline and helicopter traffic and clearly within the Subang Airport Terminal Control Zone that is under strict supervision by Air Traffic Control.
In addition to this, the EH216 was only issued a Special Flight Permit (SFP) by its State of Design (Civil Aviation Administration of China) which is limited to conduct Research & Development Flights in Grand World Science Park, Guangzhou.
CAAM is also carrying out an investigation into the unauthorized demonstration flight involving an EH216 on 15th November 2019 at the same area within Subang Airport.
As much as CAAM supports the development of the aerospace industry in Malaysia, test and demonstration flights must be carried out in accordance with the Malaysian Civil Aviation Regulation 2016 (MCAR 2016) to ensure safety.
CAAM would also like to state that we are open to consider the request for a test flight of the EH216 at an appropriate location, and with the support of the aircraft’s State of Design.

COVID-19 Movement Control Order: Flight Departure Status

PUTRAJAYA, 16 March 2020: The Malaysian Government has announced a Movement Control Order, which will be in effect from 18 March 2020 to 31 March 2020.

Nevertheless, major international airports across the country such as KLIA and Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI) have witnessed less number of passengers to to some existing travel restrictions.

COVID-19 Movement Control Order: How Travellers Are Affected

Malaysians departing out of Malaysia: All Malaysians are barred from exiting the country, regardless of the reasons. The Malaysians working in Singapore are also affected by the ban.

Malaysians returning to Malaysia from overseas: There is no restriction for them.

Foreigners entering Malaysia: All foreigners are barred from entering Malaysia throughout the MCO period, except those who are working in essential services.

Foreigners exiting Malaysia: Foreigners are allowed to exit from Malaysia as long as they are permitted to be onboard airplanes and receive immigration clearance.

Passengers are advised to check with Malaysian Ministry of Health for more information about COVID-19. More information about COVID-19 Movement Control Order can be found on Majlis Keselamatan Negara (National Security Council) Facebook page.

Malaysia Airlines Possible Acquisition: Go or No-go?

In late 2019, Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) began to appear in Malaysian news headlines again. It was reported that the government has received several proposal with the aim of being a strategic partner to the ailing airline. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has reportedly said that all options need to be considered and some of the proposals is considered as “no-go”. The airline has been struggling to be profitable with years of transformation programme have yet to demonstrate significant success.

Focus Malaysia reported that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said the government has received 5 proposals. While the newspaper has named the first four of them as AirAsia Group Berhad (AAGB), Japan Airlines (JAL), Air France-KLM SA and Malindo Airways Sdn Bhd (Malindo). The fifth proposal has yet to be ascertained from the news reports.

Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL)

Japan Airlines is proposing an RM 1.12 bil of cash injection into Malaysia Airlines. In return, it will have a 25% stake in MAB. However, it was reported that the synergy will not be sufficient to cover losses incurred by MAB.

AirAsia Group

Focus Malaysia reported that AAGB estimates synergies of RM 1.4 bil per year. Besides, the synergy is also expected to solve industry’s overcapacity as well as enabling access to AirAsia’s digital and other aviation business.

There are several concerns on the merger or synergy. The first one is a possible monopoly, given the significance of market share both of them have for Malaysian domestic and Southeast Asia regional destinations. The second one is about the access to AirAsia’s digital and other aviation business. This part of AAGB is expected to bring in more revenues compared to the AirAsia airline business itself. Therefore, MAB may not have a bright future as far as profit is concerned.

Air France-KLM

Being a European carrier, the synergy is expected to bring in more benefits to the airlines in terms of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).

Malaysia Airlines has been seeing itself in red for so many years already. IN 2014, it was taken private by Khazanah as part of a multi-year restructuring exercise by the Malaysian government.

Malindo Airways

Malindo offers a one-year “trial period” before the final decision on merger takes place. It hopes that the scale of economies will help both airlines save cost and earn a better revenue.

Go or No-go?

The first foreign CEO appointed during the restructuring exercise was Christoph Mueller, who then resigned before his contract tenure ends with Malaysia Airlines. The optimists may think that he will be successful in bringing the necessary changes to the airline. However, his premature resignation has led the skeptics into believing that he was not successful in turning around the company to profitability.

With MAB now is having a Malaysian as its CEO, we can only hope for the best for the airline. Perhaps it is the best time for everyone in the airline to think of what will be the best solution for the company to be profitable.

Sources

How JAL proposes to turn around Malaysia Airlines – Focus Malaysia