Military time is nothing new to many Malaysians, having learned about it in school.
But thanks to the ease of smart phones and smart watches to tell us the time, some students do not understand how to read military time.
Recently, a university student missed her flight from Sandakan to Kuala Lumpur due to her inability to understand time in the 24-hour format or military time.
Her brother, Mohd Hisham Romel took to Facebook on April 15 to explain his sister’s plight.
“I was thinking my sister would be the only one who missed her flight, but I was sorely mistaken,” said Hisham, adding that many others had missed their flight.
“In the boarding pass, there was no mention of ‘am’ or ‘pm’. All that was mentioned was 01:15 and not everyone can understand whether it’s in the morning or the evening.”
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He also mentioned that the flight ticket that cost RM500 was automatically burnt.
To make matters worst, “when checked today (Monday), the price has gone up to RM1,200.”’
Hisham then advised people going back to their hometowns to check the time on their tickets to avoid a similar fate as his sister.
“Students from UIS (University Islam Selangor) are back in their dorms while my sister has to extend her vacation.”
The Facebook post has since gone viral with 4.5K shares with many users explaining that passengers need to be alert about the concept of military time.
“The system operates 24 hours. It adheres to international standards for SOP. The use of AM/PM is rare. Seek knowledge in line with the changing times for personal use. The SOP for airlines is different from the SOP for city bus stops,” said Facebook user Luqman Lorenzo.
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