In May/June, I flew Malaysian Airlines from LAX-KUL (via Taipei, I think) in first class and then KUL-SYD and flew Qantas SYD-LAX also in first class. Two of the MH flights had flat seats and one had older seats but my colleague and I both slept better, surprisingly, on the older seats.
Service was generally exceptional on the MH flights. We had young female FA's as primary and males sometimes helping. I like to drink sparkling water and whenever my glass was close to empty, it was refilled. When we changed planes in Taipei, the new FA asked if I wanted the usual sparkling water. The first FA was cute and cheery but a little too talkative. The next ones were great. The food was very good as well. No complaints at all.
I recently flew roundtrip BOS-LAX-SYD on Qantas, also in first class. Like the previous QF flight, service was excellent. Food was very good. FA's were less cheery, typically older, but more professional, I would say. I hope the high quality and reliability don't decline when the airline is purchased by private equity funds.