Netizens defend Malaysia Airlines after use of alleged pork image draws criticism

Malaysia Airlines (MAB) has clarified that an image of a pork dish which was allegedly featured in the January 2019 edition of its Going Places inflight magazine was actually wagyu beef and squid. The airline apologised on twitter for supposedly offending readers and explained that as an international airline, MAB serves international destinations and caters to various types of passengers.The January 2019 edition of its inflight magazine showcased a restaurant that serves a variety of dishes as part of its menu and among them was an image depicting a cut of wagyu beef and squid. "As with many other lifestyle magazines, the restaurant review was to promote local eateries to passengers from around the world. Malaysia is a multi-cultural country and the restaurant review was not intended to offend any of our passengers," the airline added.Malaysia Airlines apologizes if the recent article offended any of its readers. Being an international airline, Malaysia Airlines serves international destinations and caters to different types of passengers. >>— Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) January 21, 2019>>In the January 2019 edition of Going Places inflight magazine, the airline featured a restaurant that serves many different types of dishes as part of their menu. The photo depicts a cut of wagyu beef as well as squid. >>— Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) January 21, 2019>>As with many other lifestyle magazines, the restaurant review was to promote local eateries to passengers from around the world. Malaysia is a multi-cultural country and the restaurant review was not intended to offend any of our passengers. -NA— Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) January 21, 2019The Twitter apology came after a netizen alerted MAB about an article by Sinar Harian about the airline publishing an image of a pork dish on its inflight magazine and requested for clarification. Sinar Harian's article featured a screenshot calling MAB out for being insensitive and blatantly featuring the image of a pork dish.Since then, many netizens have defended MAB, saying that there was no need for the airline to apologise. Some also said it should not matter whether the dish was beef or pork, adding that Malaysia is a multi-racial society and MAB flies travellers of all nations. Meanwhile, one netizen said MAB "needs to be more sensitive" and that a fake pork image might "tempt" him or her to "do anything my religion forbids".MAB previously caused online chatter after travel blogger Josh Cahill alleged that he was "bullied" by the airline crew and recounted his "terrible" experience in a YouTube video. Last year, it also warned members of the public about fake ads spread by “unscrupulous parties with the intention of fraud and theft”.More recently, it cautioned consumers to be wary of social media posts and phishing websites that seem similar to its official website, adding that the fake websites would entice consumers by extending free air tickets as prizes, before requesting for personal data.Read also: Malaysia Airlines group CMO Arved von zur Muehlen exits Malaysia Airlines investigates travel blogger’s post claiming in-flight ‘bullying’ Malaysia Airlines says fake ads online are ‘disrespectful’ to national airline An insight into the ROIs Malaysia Airlines has set for its new chat platform