There is a special breed of Business Leaders who acquire a public profile far beyond their core business. Think trump, branson, and a host of others. But is a flamboyant style and diversification into sports or media necessarily good for the bottom line . My guest today is one of asias best known businessmen, Tony Fernandes, boss of airasia, Football Club owner, one time formula 1 investor, and a dabbler in reality tv. Is it easy to lose sight of what matters most to Business Success . Tony fernandes, welcome to hardtalk. Thanks very much. Thanks for having me. You have been in business for, what, three decades now. Is the Tony Fernandes that does Business Today different from the young man who set out . I hope to think a little bit smarter, a little bit older and wiser, but in principle the same, the same Tony Fernandes from 30 years ago. What about attitude to risk . Umm, maybe a little bit more cautious, maybe thinking a little bit more. But overall, i dont see much difference. I think decisions have to be made critically. I think changing management is critical, especially in this day and age, and sometimes procrastination analysis, paralysis by analysis, as i call it, is a detriment to business. I always talk to my Management Team about being able to change and adapt quickly. I have thought that for 30 years. One of the fascinating things about you is cultural as much as business. You, and i said it in the introduction, you made your fortune and your name by introducing a new form of cheaper budget aviation travel to asia. And you are, of course, proud to be asian. And yet, as people listen to your voice, and as they perhaps listen to your attitudes as well, you seem culturally quite western educated, in the uk, working for branson for a while. Do you see yourself as an integration of both eastern and western models . Yeah. I never thought i would work in malaysia. Going back, i had a bit of trepidation. But business is business. I have the ability to be a chameleon, you can throw me in any part of the world, china, korea, humour is humour, business is business. Is that really true . From the little time i spent in cultures like japan, for example, it struck me, not speaking japanese, but Japanese Business culture is fundamentally quite different to what we see in europe. That is true, that is true, but alcohol is a great leveller. Well, in some countries that wouldnt work. Maybe you are not so big in those countries. Fine, but social occasions, i bring to business a lot of the relationship. Much of it is done socially, creating relationships that go beyond the office. It doesnt matter if you are injapan, india, the middle east, people are the same. They would say people want all the frills, low cost will never work, they say. They are surprised. When you get something injapan they wrap it up in about 25 pieces of paper. But when you strip it down, people want simplicity and a low fare, and they want to travel more. Did you make enemies in asia . You brought a european model of airlines to asia. You took over airasia but you transformed it. You had seen what oleary was doing with ryanair and with Southwest Airlines in the us as well. I wonder how much difficulty you had persuading asian consumers and governments there was a market for a low budget concept in asia. Consumers were easy. Governments had been much tougher. In our part of the world, governments own the National Carriers 90 of the time and the airports. So, i am only beginning, after 15 years, im beginning to see people say, wow, this will make a difference to our economy. But it has been a hard slog and we made many enemies, definitely. Im mindful also, you learned some of your marketing skills at the feet of richard branson, working quite a while for virgin records. Was branson an inspiration for you . I mean, do you model yourself a little bit on his iconoclastic approach to business . I always say the last person i want to be is richard because i have no preconception of going into a balloon at 36,000 feet, or even going to the moon. You arent saying you are a wolf now . He was definitely an inspiration. He challenged the norm. He set up airatlanta to do Something Different against British Airways at that time. And anyone who said he was not inspirational who worked for him, they are not telling the truth. He certainly was. He set a new paradigms. He challenged the establishment. And in some ways that obvoiusly had an effect on me. And he also saw there was a value to projecting a very strong personal brand to drive the business. Have you done that yourself, conscoiusly or deliberately . That came out of necessity. We had no money when we started airasia. There wasnt a marketing budget. My marketing director said we have to make some controversial statements, and always wear your cap, because they will take photographs of you. I am a gregarious person anyway. It wasnt difficult to do that. But ego driven business can go too far. Oh, 100 . I always say youre only as good as tomorrow. As soon as use start believing your own press, that is the end of you. Lets talk about the fine line between being a successful brand yourself, using that to drive your business, looking like an egomaniac, lets look at you in 2013, like donald trump and sir alan sugar, lord sugar now, in the uk, you wanted to get into the business of reality tv. Here is a promotional video of a show he launched in 2013. He asks the hard questions. Who do you think was the weakest . Whose fault is this . Hes very sharp. Are they ganging up on you . It was messy. It was poor time management. He cant be fooled. Who is telling the truth . He is shaking his head. It is a disaster. And he will fire someone. You have your chance to be fired if thats what you want. I have had enough. Youre fired. Tony fernandes apprentice asia compared to donald trump you are actually quite polite, to be honest. It is funny you say that. A couple of things, looking at that makes me cringe, to be honest. My Marketing Team. I turned it down for two years. I kept saying i am not a donald trump or alan sugar. In the end they said do it how you want to. My Marketing Team in airasia were very keen for me to do this. Did you get bored with running airasia . Is that why you began to look for these other things . And im going to talk in a minute, injusta moment, about your activities in sports and leisure and the whole diversification of your brand. Is it because you got bored . Well, i think initially. Airasia, we are a small Little Airline in malaysia. 0urfirst global event was sponsoring manchester united. Very painfulfor me because i hate that Football Club. We all have to be a prostitute once in a while. That became, umm, building a brand. Based in the uk, richard gets a phenomenal amount of media and a phenomenal amount of attention, while ourselves in malaysia, it is hard to get heard. So we saw sport and music as a way to build the brand. It is a question about where priorities are and are running the risk of getting distracted. You have 200 aircraft, 150 destinations, you are committed to aviation. But as you become more ambitious and take more on, you, Tony Fernandes, are telling the staff you have taken over a Football Club, by the way i want to get into formula i. You are correct. Inafew in a few spots we had high is up to 23 celsius, 73 in fahrenheit. About five celsius warmer than it normally is at this late stage in september, so is at this late stage in september, so pretty warm for the time of year. We have also had a weather front with us, and for some that has been bringing outbreaks of rain. The rain over recent houis bringing outbreaks of rain. The rain over recent hours has been getting a little bit more widespread, but this weather front, this lump of cloud, has wiggles all over it and that means pulses of rain are working across the front. It is certainly not an even spread of rain. Nevertheless, some dampness around to start the day for much of scotland, england and wales. It will bea mild scotland, england and wales. It will be a mild start to the day. Through the rest of monday, this weather front will find it difficult to move eastwards, because we have this big blocking area of High Pressure set across scandinavia and europe. It means the weather front is weak and is going nowhere fast any time soon. The far west of wales, parts of south west england, dry spells first thing but for many areas of england and wales are cloudy start today day. Mild with the risk of some rain. In Northern Ireland it is different. Here a mix of sun and dense patches of fog which could cause problems on the road. Scotland dull and cause problems on the road. Scotland dulland damp to cause problems on the road. Scotland dull and damp to start the day. Through the rest of the day our weather front starts more or less in the same kind of area, but the rain will tend to fizzle out on it as the weather front continues to weaken through the rest of the day. So by the time we get to the rest of the afternoon, most of us will have dry weather. The best of the sunshine further west, particularly Northern Ireland, once we have got rid of that Early Morning fog. Here is the chart for tuesday. The front is still with us, draped across scotland, england and wales but barely any rain left on it at all. As we go through the day again, that cloud will then break up and we have increasing amounts of sunshine coming through. In the sunshine it is still pretty warm for the time of year. I is between around 16 and 21 celsius for most of us highs. There will be some changes as the atla ntic there will be some changes as the atlantic against a wake up. This weather front will move in from the west and will bring heavy and persistent rain with it across ireland and Northern Ireland. Could get around 30 millimetres of rain, perhaps even more than that over the hills, and coupled with that, there could be some Gale Force Winds extending up through irish sea coast. To the east of that front, bright, dry and relatively warm. Temperatures peaking into the low 20s. Temperatures peaking into the low 205. It temperatures peaking into the low 20s. It is generally going to turn more unsettled, with rain at times turning quite windy, and those temperatures coming back down to normal. That is your weather. Hello, a warm welcome to the film review. To take us through the releases, as ever, mark kermode. What have you been watching . Borg vs mcenroe, centre court becomes big drama. Kingsman the golden circle. The secret Service Story continues. And on body and soul, described by its director as a shy love story. Have you lost your voice . You were shouting at the screen, that ball was out . No ijust have a cold. I know nothing about tennis, what i know about it would not fill a postage stamp. Im one of the few people watching the film not knowing the outcome. I think that makes it more fun its a showdown between bjorn borg and john mcenroe. Hes on a record breaking streak, john mcenroe is up there for the first time. They are played by shia leboeuf and sverrir gudnason. They are presented as fire and ice, polar opposites. One of them is almost mechanical, everything is calculated with no emotion. 0n the other hand, you have mcenroe, described as the super brat, fiery and hot headed, spending a lot of time shouting at umpires. It is a duality that the public love and publicists want more of. Can we touch it . Can we push the button now . We can get them before the final . Is it not simplistic . This is unique, tennis players are like rock stars. The tabloids are having a field day. The rivalry is forcing people to ask themselves, who am i . The gentleman or the rebel . The central question being asked, are they actually the same person or are they completely different . The thesis of the film is that there is more in common with them than anything. We see flashbacks to bjorn borgs childhood when he had a hot temper, that he had to be reined in. There is a point where he says everybody says he is an iceberg, he is a volcano. Hes channelling at all. When the film moves towards the match, the tennis match, which you will see on the screen now, it does it in a way that is really gripping and engaging. For somebody like me that didnt know anything, i knew the tabloid headlines because i had lived through this, all i remember is that mcenroe had a habit of shouting at umpires, and borg was somebody that everybody loved. It is done rather delicately and intelligently. It leads you through a drama, you have seen these sporting rivalries before, things like ayrton senna in rush, it does it in a way that feels fresh. By the end of it, i thought it was really great, particularly, as i said, because i didnt know the end. You see, you have seen the adverts and the posters, i look at it and think, is somebody that is not a tennis fan really going to want to see this film . I am not a tennis fan, i am somebody who in the past has been very, very agnostic on Shia Labeoufs talent. In this case, i found it enjoyable. I thought he was really good and i really enjoyed it. I thought it was good fun. Nobody was more surprised by that than me. That is good, i am a fan of tennis. But then i think for people that are not. You might know the things that are wrong, factual details. It says inspired by true events, which means we took some liberties. I guarantee you will enjoy it more than kingsman the golden circle. The first movie felt like an anarchic jaunt. My fair lady meets james bond. Real spirit and energy. This is a big disappointment. Taron egertons secret agent travels to america after the hq is attacked by a drugs baron. The vitality and wit of the original has been replaced by more of the leering, laddish humour that undermined the original. Characters that are comprehensively killed in the first film reappear. So there is no threat. Anybody can come back, it doesnt matter what happens. The action set pieces are bigger, but they dont have the bite or the edge of before. The story is sprawling and unengaging. It is quite dreary, despite the amount of stuff that is going on on screen. The overall air is one of naffness. That is surprising. I think Matthew Vaughn is talented, Taron Egerton is a talented leading man, there is so much potential. It really was disappointing. There were moments in it that felt like, for heavens sake, really . What are you . A 13 year old schoolboy . And the answer is probably yes. We will pass on that. I am fascinated by the next one. 0n body and soul, did well at the Berlin Film Festival . The hungarian director, ildiko enyedi, she describes it as a shy love story. Set against the backdrop of an abattoir, immediately interesting. But it is a sensitive story. A young woman comes as a Quality Control inspector, and she is very removed and detached. She doesnt seem to understand normal social interaction. She has a very clinical approach. She starts to develop a strange bond with her manager when she discovers they are sharing the same dream. This dream looks like it might be able to break through the isolation and form some form of connection. Here is a clip. You can see that in the real world, very separate and clinical, but they are having these dreams in which they are dreaming of two deer going through a frozen forest and drinking in the stream. They are both having the same dream, and each one is a separate deer. It explores the idea that, firstly, it is a connection on a different plane, almost an astral plane. Its more to do with the fact there is a juxtaposition of the world they are living in, where animals are slaughtered and processed, and the freedom of the dreamscapes, where there is a sense of magical realism. Although it sounds like the most ridiculous conceit, it works rather beautifully, despite the harshness of the abattoir setting. The film is very tender and sensitive, very touching. Its quite funny, often, in a strangely surreal way. I found it really engaging. It is hard to describe. Its hard to think of another film that is like it. Like i said, the directors description of it as being a shy love story, it pretty much hit the nail on the head. I think you would really like it. I would be interested to know what you thought of it. I am looking forward to it and i have read plenty that says the abattoir scenes are not for vegetarians. That is an interesting conversation. I think they are handled sensitively, i am a pescetarian, i eat fish, you need to know they are there but they are not exploitative. As a mother, i say that the very premise of this, i cant face it. The notion of being in a house, being invaded by strangers, the very topicjust makes my skin crawl. I am not brave enough. It has proved massively divisive. People love it or hate it. You can read it in any numbers of ways, Home Invasion story, invasion of privacy, marital breakdown, a parable for the despoiling of mother earth, you can read it as a biblical parable. When i was in the cinema ifound it really oppressive. I did not like watching it. But every day i get further away from the experience of watching it i like it more. I do think it is really good. I think it is a really well crafted, full on sensory experience. Im not surprised some people hate it. I kind of think that is the point. But i think it will stand the test of time. I think people that hate it now, give it some time. I think they might start to like it more. It took a good week for it to settle down for me. That is mother. Dvd . Red turtle. It has been on my list for so long, everybody says it is glorious. It is one of the best movies of recent years. A beautiful animation by a dutch animated that lives in the uk, Michael Dudok de wit. It was made in france and belgium, brilliantly universal. There are no words. There is sound, but no words. The universal language of film. The story about a man marooned on a Desert Island and then something magical starts to happen. It is melancholy, touching and profound, and wonderful. Anybody can watch it. It does the thing that cinema at its very best does. It speaks the universal language of film. It is breathtaking. Absolutely breathtaking. I was in floods of tears the first time i saw it. I saw it again thinking it would be different and it wasnt. If anything, it was more so. Such a great film. The red turtle, the dvd of the week. Thank you very much. A quick reminder before we go that you will find more film news and reviews from across the bbc online. All previous programmes are on the bbc iplayer. Happy cinema going. We will see you next week. Goodbye. Hi there. Most of us will have enjoyed some fairly warm weather for late september over the weekend. The highest temperatures, in a few spots, up to 23 degrees celsius in the warm spots, about five Degrees Higher than it is at this stage of september. We have also had a weather front with us, for some that has brought outbreaks of rain. The rain has been getting a little bit more widespread. This weather front has wiggles of cloud all over it, parcels of rain working along the front. Certainly not an even spread, some getting more than others. Some dampness around to start today for much of scotland, england and wales, it will be a mild start. Through monday, this weather front finding it difficult to move east because of this locking area of High Pressure a cross scandinavia and europe. The weather front is weak and going nowhere fast. For the far west of wales and parts of south west england, some brighter spells worsening. Many areas, rather cloudy to start the day. Mild with the risk of some rain. Northern ireland is different. A mix of sun and dense patches of fog. It could cause problems on the road. Scotland damped to start the day. Through the west, the weather front staying in the same area. Rain fizzling out as it continues to weaken through the rest of the day. By the afternoon, most of us will have dry weather, perhaps brightening up across east anglia and south east england. The best of the sunshine further west, especially in Northern Ireland after we get rid of the fog. Here is the chart for tuesday. The front is still with us across england and wales. Rarely any rain left on it at all. Today, cloud thinning and breaking up. Increasing amounts of sunshine coming through. In the sunshine, pretty warm for this time of year. Highs 16 21 for most of us. Some changes towards the middle part of the week. This weather front moves in from the west and will bring some heavy and persistent rain across ireland and Northern Ireland. Could get around 30 a0 millimetres of rain. Perhaps even more over the hills. Coupled with that, some gale forced gusts extending through irish sea coast. To the east, bright, dry and relatively warm. Temperatures peaking into the low 20s. For this week, generally more unsettled with more rain at times. Quite windy, and those temperatures coming back down to normal. Thats your weather. Im kasia madera in london. The headlines it looks like a fourth term in office for angela merkel, but her party is punished by german voters. Translation lets not beat about the bush. Of course wed hoped for a better result. But lets not forget, weve just had a very challenging four years. For the first time, the right wing nationalist afd wins seats in parliament. It becomes germanys third party. Im rico hizon in singapore. Also in the programme defying donald trump, american Football Players kneel in protest against racism and police violence. And elmo takes a vacation from sesame street tojoin me right here in the studio
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