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