Police probe MAS tickets to 'Hell'

Police probe MAS tickets to 'Hell'

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police have launched a probe over "controversial" hell-bound plane tickets bearing the name and logo of national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS), a report said Sunday.

Relatives of the dead may have to think twice about offering their dearly departed holiday trips in the underworld after MAS filed a police report last week over the production of plane tickets sold as burnt offerings to the deceased, the Sunday Star reported.

The aptly named "Hell" tickets were produced in conjunction with last months Tomb Sweeping Festival, an ancient Chinese tradition of honoring dead family members.

The festival calls for the custom of ensuring the material comfort of deceased relatives in the next world by burning gifts, including "Hell money" and cardboard models of expensive sedans.

The ethnic Chinese community believe the gifts, which bear the deceased's name and date's of birth and death, would be received and enjoyed in the underworld.

Previously producers of "Hell" goods refrained from using the names and logos of any existing company.

But local makers unnerved the airline last month when airplane tickets to hell were found to be carrying MAS' name and logo.

"The report was lodged to ascertain if the products were intentionally targeted to insult the national carrier," Zulkifli Abdullah, deputy police chief from the southern Johor state was quoted as saying.

The hell-version of the MAS tickets, sold for a steal at just 1 ringgit (30 cents) per stack, came complete with serial numbers, a "Hell" passport, visa and cheque book. -- AFP