Working Woes ......

While waiting for his luggage at an airport, a Japanese businessman was approaced by an airline stewardess for help. The businessman who speaks little English was unable to understand what she was saying. However, he was taken aback when the stewardess boldly placed five cartoons of cigarettes in his luggage. Bewildered, the Japanese businessman nevertheless made his way through to the Customs Checkpoint, after which the stewardess came by to reclaim her belongings.

"I cleared the Customs check without any incident. The stewardess then came by to collect her belongings. At that point, I was in a daze and just went ahead with the request without understanding any of it" said the businessman. It was only later that he realised the extent of the trouble he could have landed in if he had been caught. He then proceeded to lodge a complaint with the airline but was exasperated at the length of time to get a response. Finally, the businessan contacted the Hotline of a newspaper and related his encounter.  

"I could have been in serious trouble if the items had turned out to be drugs or something illegal. I could have faced jail," he told the Hotline. The Japanese businessman feels that the airline owes him more than an apology. He had asked for four Business Class tickets and an equivalent of RM 20,000 as consolation fee or a lump sum equivalent to RM 50,000. However, the Japanese businessman is not getting his way so easily. The airline had proposed two Business Class tickets and an undisclosed amount of cash as compensation. It is learnt that the offer had been rejected so far.

The stewardess have since been suspended pending a domestic inquiry by her employer. Meanwhile, the airline had said that the businessman was not entirely without blame. "Based on our investigation we understand that while our crew had approached the passenger at the baggage collection area, there was no attempt from him to reject or abandon the package offered. This could be construed as consenting arrangement."