True or not?

My good friend,Bobby, brought it to my attention,and I tend to agree with him.

I am talking about the general myth that we Malaysians are a friendly and polite people. Are we? On the surface, yes, we seem to be polite and even friendly. Looks can be deceiving. If you say we are almost as polite as the Japanese, that must be the joke of the century!

Some of us are badly brought up.

I was in the cinema the other night, there was this young girl who thought it was part of her ticket price to give a running commentary on what was going on the screen to her friend at the end of the hand phone! I am sure you have met the types. Very irritating, with no consideration whatsoever for other people.

Now, this hand phone business can be a real pain. Notice how some boarding passengers on the plane find it necessary to talk on their hand phone even when they are about to sit. If told by the cabin crew to switch it off, do they welcome the gentle reminder with a friendly gesture?Their body language tells you everything you need to know.

When was the last time a front counter staff in the private sector said “Have a good day” to you? They don’t even bother to say “Thank You”, even after you have given them some business. As for smiles, they are too expensive to go around!

Does a government department ever answer the phone on the third ring? I personally dread the idea of going to a government department. Not only the front counter staff can be indifferent, but, they don’t often give you the correct information which means running around the department looking for someone to help you. Nobody seems to know anything, unless, you happen to know somebody personally.

Is this is not rude, I don’t know what is?

I go to a suburban post office every now and then, this counter staff who used to serve me for almost two years there never smiled, not even once . No common courtesy at all, not even to a regular customer!Thank God, he is no longer there, the current staff is a lot friendlier.

I don’t even want to talk about driving habits.

Some of you who travel often will know the level of service provided in countries like Australia, Japan or even Singapore; helping customers is part of their working culture. Not only the staff there are courteous, but, they bend backwards to be helpful .They do leave a good impression on you.

Is it difficult to be friendly and greet customers with a smile?

I think when you have an education system that stresses on the academic side alone and not much on the soft skills, the whole country can even forget its own beautiful, traditional values!

What a shame!