MAS Cabin Crew Spanish Language Graduation

The Fantastic 25

When you see Tina Azura, Reefa, Azila, Azlina, Roseni and Ravinthran in Caribbean carnival costumes at MAS Training Academy, and tune in to the song, Besame Mucho, presented by 25 cabin crew members, you would have thought you're at a carnival of dance and fiesta. It was hot when they took to the floor dancing away with Captain Mohamed Azharuddin Osman (Director of Operations) and Ms Kitty Lee (Head, KDU's School of Hospitality, Tourism & Culinary Arts)!

Roseni, Tina Azura, Reefa, Azila, Ravinthran

Guess who's on the dance floor?

"Besame Mucho" was dedicated to trainers, Paola and Javier

You would never have guessed then that it was the graduation of Batch 1/11 for Spanish Language class, under the tutelage of Mr Javier Ferreri and Ms Paola - until you hear Reefa thanking her employer, MAS, their Cabin Crew Service Training (CCST), Mdm Choong, Heryanti, Ruby, Lina and their trainers. She delivered her speech with a Spanish accent and suavely. Her colleague, Tina Azura translated it to English. She said, "We take pleasure to share this day of pride; it's a new beginning, and a new challenge ahead. We may not be fluent yet, but make no mistake, we will get there!" Wow! She continued, "We will fulfill the company's objective in providing premium service to our invaluable Spanish-speaking passengers. We thank CCST and Inflight Service for advancing our knowledge and our competency level. Gracias, Gracias, Gracias to Profesor Javier and Profesora Paola for their perseverance. We are a happy Spanish-speaking family."

Presents! An appreciation from their students!

"Gracias, Profesora Paola!"

Indeed, the embraces they gave each other and the tears that flowed today indicated just that - a family that has bonded after 120 hours of learning the language. When Mr Javier was asked why this was such a happy family, he said, "Ya, the Latinos are joyful people, as you can see from here." The Fantastic 25 as they called themselves, passionately delivered not only the song, Besame Mucho, but a hilarious sketch titled, "Good Cop, Bad Cop" (in Spanish), a video presentation of their class learning the language (which they dedicated to their trainers), a spot-on Latin dance, and a most impressive doa (prayer) in Spanish by IFS Mohd Ghafar!

IFS Mohd Ghafar prayed in Spanish

A Sketch: Good Cop, Bad Cop

Mannequin in a flamenco costume: courtesy of Ahmad Fariz

The audience watching the video clip

Ms Kitty Lee complimented IFS Mohd Ghafar too for having delivered the doa in Spanish in her speech about the values of education. She said, "It's the right of all Malaysians to have an education and the Malaysian government has done very well. At KDU University College, we have multi-cultural lecturers and students. As a wise man once said, "Education is a journey, not a destination." Everyone of you has managed your time well, juggling between work, family and learning a new language. You are a testament to the commitment and your employer is proud of you. You must not forget MAS and the Cabin Crew Service Training. Thank you too, Paola and Javier, for your dedication."

Ms Kitty Lee delivered her speech on the values of an education

In his opening speech, Captain Mohamed Azharuddin Osman lightheartedly said to Paola and Javier, "I acknowledge your effort in bravely taking on the challenge to teach these 25 people. They have learned what to say in cultural exchanges, when visiting places of interest and night spots. We should seek new skills and be on the lookout to learn a lot from people of other cultures. Spanish is among the top three widely-spoken languages in the world, and language learning at MAS is one of our many initiatives. When a foreigner speaks to us in our language, we are honoured, and it will be a pleasant surprise when our team of good-looking crew can speak the language of our foreign guests. Besides Spanish, MAS has embarked on the learning of French, Arabic and German. Learning is a lifelong journey, so speak the language you are learning all the time and you will be more fluent."

Captain Mohamed Azharuddin Osman,
"We should seek new skills and learn from other cultures."

And so, just as Javier described in his speech, "This journey is like the plane taking off to its destination. The journey could be turbulent, but you have reached the right airport on time. It was intense (in a good way), and we have been like a family. Hope to see you again at the intermediate level."

"We're a joyful family."

Javier and Paola acknowledging their students' determination to learn.

Congratulations, Spanish Language Graduates, Batch 1/11:

IFS Muhammad Zafri Muhammad
IFS Mohd Ghafar bin Abu Bakar
IFS Anderson Tan Huat Chye
IFS Azila Lahadzir
IFS Chantra Bos Vadamalah

CS Azlina Kamaruddin
CS Ravinthra Baradan
CS Mark Lim Cheng Juan
CS Ramesh Gopal Nair
CS Lee Khoon Kit

LS Roseni Che Hasan
LS Nor Rohani Ashikin
LS V. Vignesvari
LS Hasrul Affendi bin Abdul Hamid
LS Kulisia Jipem

FS Glen Ernest Pinto
FS Mohd Izuar Semoil
FS Ahmad Fariz bin Mohamed Nor
FS Awang Hisamudin b. Awg Ibrahim
FS Azhar Azlan bin O.I. Ashraf Ali

FSS Choi Mee Yen
FSS Raja Reefa Raja Musa
FSS Sarah binti Sanif
FSS Tina Azura bt Ahmad Tajuddin
FSS Teoh Ming Lee

The ceremony saw Fantastic 25 receiving their certificates
from Captain Azharuddin and Ms Kitty Lee

Your passion is inspiring. See you at intermediate level!