An Evening with the Guy who made sure that ‘Now, Everyone Can Fly!’

On the 30th July 2008, the Dato’ with the red cap was in Penang to deliver a talk on branding as a way of jazzing up your business. Salt n’ Light Communications happily registered with InvestPenang, the talk organizer, and made our way to the Equatorial Hotel in Penang’s Bukit Jambul area.

When we got there about 10 minutes before the event was scheduled to start, the crowd of almost 1000 was mingling at the area outside the Grand Ballroom, chatting and networking away over coffee and refreshments provided by the organizer.

When we first contacted InvestPenang to register, they told us that the talk was reserved only for the first 150 people who confirmed their attendance with payment! Well, we should have guessed that when you have a personality like the flamboyant and charismatic AirAsia CEO, 150 people had to be a gross underestimation.

We made a beeline to the registration tables and then managed to grab some tea. There was not much time to network. With a few pleasantries, eye contacts, handshakes and name cards exchanged, it was soon time to get our seats in the ballroom, for the VIPs had arrived.

Everyone politely walked in organized lines into the Grand Ballroom – very much like passengers queuing up to board their Air Asia flights! Among the crowd, there was also a group of good looking people dressed conspicuously in red, and no, they were not celebrating an early Chinese New Year. It was the AirAsia crew!

Looks like the flamboyant Dato’ really does make it a point to be seen in all public functions with his people in tow.

Smart branding! And, ah, shall we add, good employee relations, too.

Most of the people there were formally dressed with suits over open-necked shirts, while the press members were there in their usual casual attire. We were glad that with our dark jeans and black quarter-sleeved tops we didn’t look too out of place. There were also some people who turned up in their company uniforms.

All in all, we felt that everyone looked pretty good that day. Guess it all had something to do with the topic for that evening – it’s branding, and branding is about perception, and your image is the very first thing that people perceive! ( And yes, of course, it was also the 5-star hotel venue, and the fact that the Chief Minister was going to be there to deliver his keynote address).

The grand ballroom was almost 100% filled up, and when the Emcee announced the arrival of the VIPs, guess what?
We Penangites were civilized enough to lift our butts off our comfortable chairs to give them a standing ovation! WOW. It must be the new government.

The smiling Dato’ and the Rt Hon Chief Minister Mr Lim Guan Eng entered the room with their entourage which also included the famous blogger-politician, Jeff Ooi, chairman of the InvestPenang executive committee, Datuk Lee Kah Choon, and some key directors from Air Asia.

Hhmm.. there’s just something about these two leaders that we admire here at Salt n’ Light Communications. Maybe it’s their smiles that seemed to say “ Hi, there you are” rather than the “Behold, here I am!” often expected of successful people in high positions.

Well, if you are a jaded, overworked member of the human race, you can go ahead and accuse us of an overdose of positive, Utopian thinking, or naiveté even, but we honestly could feel the warmth that they exuded across the huge Grand Ballroom. We rummaged our bags frantically in search of a thermometer to confirm the rising temperature, but alas, found none.

They shook hands and exchanged name cards with the people seated at the front rows, were seated for a while and then it was time for our honorable Chief Minister to deliver his keynote speech.

Mr Lim introduced Dato’ Seri Tony Fernandes as a “towering Malaysian, although he is not very tall physically”, drawing laughter from the audience and the Dato’ himself while cameras clicked and flashed away. Ah, we love people who can laugh at themselves.

Next, Jeff Ooi, the event moderator, took us a through a brief biodata on the AirAsia CEO, revealing some bits on him as a ‘humble man who makes the effort to return SMSes promptly despite his busy schedule’ and ‘a family man who can often be found in London, helping out with his kids’ assignments!’ – in addition to the other already well-known facts such as his early career with Virgin and Warner Music, as well as the credit that he holds for being the person who popularized the Dangdut and Nasyid music genres in Malaysia.

From dangdut to a low-cost airline? From Datuk S.M. Salim (a veteran dangdut singer, for those of you who call yourselves Malaysians but can’t be bothered with Malaysian music!) to beautiful women in figure-hugging red hot uniforms?

A very interesting person indeed. For the interesting anecdotes and jokes that kept us laughing, entertained and all ears, we were glad to be there. For the reaffirmation that ‘you can do the impossible…. except running a low-cost airline!’ (oh Tony, you’re so funny!), we came away inspired and grateful.

From the moment the good Dato’ took to the stage, his charisma was unmistakable. When Jeff Ooi announced, before his talk began, that it was time for the Chief Minister to present him with a souvenir on behalf of InvestPenang, he quickly, much to the audience’s delight, grabbed and put on his trademark red AirAsia baseball cap!

The two leaders flashed their smiles for the cameras and then Tony removed his cap and playfully tried to put it on the Chief Minister. They slapped each other on their backs and Guan Eng left the stage as Tony began to take on the microphone.

And then the fun began.

Stay tuned as we fill you in next on the tips shared by Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes on how to brand your business and take the bull (i.e. competitors) by its horn.