Malaysian Hospitality in Manglish style!

I was excited when I saw Malaysia Airlines jumped into the social media bandwagon. As I read about the latest ASEAN Pass promotion in their Facebook page, I was appalled with the English!

I tried to rationale with myself that the style of writing may be intentional i.e. talk like a Gen Y! As we know, Gen Y speaks with a dose of letters and symbols such as :-), lol, brb, :-b

Then again, is their grammar and spelling that bad too?

Check it out below (I 'copied and pasted' from MAS's Facebook.)

- Ohh, what wonderful spots you'd be able to visit at a go..
- Don't have a too much time off?
- You can play it by ear,
- is subjected to USB 25 per change.

I hope MAS's level of (English) standard and carelessness are not reflected in the way the pilot maneuver the plane I'm in or the standard of service I'll receive from the stewardess.

cc, MAS management,

Try using a grammar and spell check. Boleh, tak?

Here are the pages (1 and 2) if you can't view it from Facebook.

How To Win Friends (and Customers)

HSBC is an epitome of 1st class customer service. I decided to become loyal to them after an encounter with a call agent few days ago. I’ve been using HSBC credit card since year 2001 and I foresee myself using it for another 30-40 years. What will be my customer lifetime value to HSBC?

Just the other day, I realized my credit card was due few days ago. I hate paying unnecessary fees. In this case, a RM5 late payment penalty (for being forgetful). Without haste, I paid the full amount at the cash deposit machine after my office work. Then I call HSBC to request for a waiver of the RM5. Without hesitation, the call agent agreed to waive off the RM5 on the spot. I was surprised that the call agent had the power to make that decision. I was expecting the call agent to replied, “I will put your request in for consideration”. Instead, the call agent considered it on the spot and made a decision. A decision which I favored and appreciated. Rarely, companies favor the customer’s request or needs. Most times, companies’ needs or policies come 1st. Customers come 2nd. Sometimes 3rd too. In Malaysia Airlines case, passengers from developing countries come in 3rd.

With that pleasant and satisfying encounter with HSBC call agent, it made me wonder whether the justification of merging several local small banks into a large bank in order to compete with international banks (HSBC, Citibank) makes logical sense. Chances are if you are a big bank with every branch or ATM in every city, town or fishing village, you will never have my business if you cannot understand the importance of putting me 1st. If you refuse to waive of the RM5 late payment penalty when I request it, I’m walking into a HSBC branch.

Can the local large banks rise to the occasion? The way HSBC rose to the occasion when I called. Boleh,tak?

You have my loyalty, Toys “R” Us

Not Zara though. I decided to become Toys “R” Us loyal customer after a pleasant encounter with its customer service staff recently. All my future Christmas shopping (gifts for my nieces, cousins & future children) will be with Toys “R” Us. You may ask why I made such a brash decision. Well, simply because the customer service staff gave me 1st class treatment when I dropped by Toys “R” Us in Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur to exchange a Christmas gift I bought earlier. The Christmas gift was a Junior Pictionary for my niece but her mum (my sis had bought her one. (Nowadays, kids have everything). As I explained to the customer service staff that I bought the gift wrongly, she simply refunded me 100% on the spot (by filling up and signing a simple form). No questions asked. I was speechless because I didn’t expect her not to question (or interrogate*) me. Truly, she exceeded my expectations. Being so used to Malaysia’s 3rd class customer service, I went there with the hope of at least exchanging it for another item. A full refund was beyond my expectations (Sorry MAS for quoting your tagline).

Zara has trendy clothes. Spanish-inspired design as they say. As my friend casually commented, Zara is so metrosexual. During the recent Christmas shopping, I bought shirts from Zara for the 1st time. (Oh dear! Am I turning into a sensual guy living in a metropolitan city?!). I splurged approximately RM500 on 3 shirts. Does that make me a loyal customer? Clearly the answer is no because it was my one and only purchase. Zara will never be able to convert me into a loyal customer because it doesn’t put the customer’s convenience first as compared to Toys “R” Us. Sale or not sale, Toys “R” Us allows full refund or exchange. In contrast, Zara displays prominent signs during the sale season that reads ‘No refund & No exchange during SALE period’. Is Zara implicitly saying that customers who pay less for a shirt will not enjoy the same privileges as a full price paying customer? I will not vow to buy all my shirts from Zara but I will vow to buy all the toys from Toys "R" Us.

Keep up the good job.

Yours faithfully,
Alan

* Note : I was ‘interrogated’ by the customer service staff at Giant Supermarket, 1Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya when I wanted to exchange a bottle of spoilt olives. After much debate and prolonged form filling, I got a new bottle of olives. I walked off feeling emotional exhausted. That is a classic 3rd class customer service. Go and experience it yourself!

Tourists from 3rd world countries, beware!

An article in the Star Newspaper…

“The Penang Tourism Action Council had received a complaint on Tuesday that an immigration officer was rude to two Indonesian women at the Penang International Airport. The two women had claimed that on arrival at the airport, the officer rudely asked them why they planned to stay so long in Penang. When the elderly woman answered that she was here to undergo medical treatment for cancer, she claimed the officer replied ‘Indonesia no doctor ah?’ She was very taken aback with such a question,' he said.”

This incident confirmed my perception regarding the 3rd class treatment towards nationalities from developing countries (eg. Indonesia, Bangladesh) by front line staff such as immigration officers or flight attendants of Malaysia Airlines System (MAS). A Caucasian tourist will never (I repeat, never) receive such treatment. I'm not sure whether the strength of a country’s currency has a direct correlation with the level of customer service provided or is it the master-slave mentality?

Note : Malaysia was colonized by the British, Portugese, Dutch & Japanese once upon a time. Ask any Malaysian student which is their 1st choice of country to pursue their undergraduate study.
Hint : Caucasian.

Official Air Transport of "BolehLand"

In the past few months, I noticed Malaysian Airlines (MAS) has been in the news headlines. Not only did MAS post a surprising profit in the recent quarter, the headlines highlight MAS new partnerships, new rates, revision of routes and investment in IT systems. Specifically, the tangible technology investments received much press coverage. I wonder whether after reading these numerous articles, the Malaysian public is calling MAS call centre or booking flights online in great numbers this coming holiday season. Conversely, do customers flock to an airline because it gives friendly and satisfying customer service a.k.a. world class customer service?

The press coverage of MAS reminded me of an incident I happened to observe in a MAS flight from Kuala Lumpur to Dhaka last year. While preparing for take off, a distraught Bangladeshi asked help from the stewardess. As the stewardess was too busy getting ready to take off, she told the Bangladeshi off. Her facial reaction reaffirmed that point. My colleague and I were shocked by her treatment towards the Bangladeshi. Then, being typical Malaysians, we rationalized that he deserved it because he is a migrant worker. With that observation, I concluded that if you are a migrant worker from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myammar or third world countries, you will receive 3rd class treatment by MAS. However, if you are migrant worker or rather expatriate, from America, Europe or developed countries, you will receive 1st class treatment (even though you are sitting in economy class). So what if you are a Malaysian. Well you will receive 2nd class treatment (That’s what I call home advantage). Why not 1st class you may ask. Well we Malaysians have an unexplainable tendency to treat people from Europe or America better. I’m not sure it has anything to do with being colonized few decades ago. (Clue : Master – slave relationship).

A proud fact is MAS always win the Skytrax 5 star rating. Yet, I have never experience a 5 star rating service. I can bet no Bangladeshi has ever experience 5 star rating service too (Any Bangladeshi out there who beg to defer with me?). Then it dawn on me when I tried to seek the answers from Skytrax website. The market researchers probably surveyed caucasian passengers from developed countries. A truer and balanced survey would give the following results :

Malaysia Airlines Star Ranking

1. Cabin Staff Service

a. Economy Class - service efficiency
= 4 Stars (for caucasian passengers)
= 3 Stars (for passengers from Malaysia with titles such as Tan Sri, Dato, Datuk, Datin aka VIP)*
= 2 Stars (for passengers from Malaysia without any titles aka not Very Important Person)
= 1 Star (for passengers from 3rd world countries)

b. Economy Class - staff attitude & friendliness
= 5 Stars (for caucasian passengers)
= 3 Stars (for passengers from Malaysia with titles such as Tan Sri, Dato, Datuk, Datin aka VIP)
= 2 Stars (for passengers from Malaysia without any titles aka not Very Important Person)
= 1 Star (for passengers from 3rd world countries)

c. Responding to Passenger Requests
= 5 Stars (for caucasian passengers)
= 3 Stars (for passengers from Malaysia with titles such as Tan Sri, Dato, Datuk, Datin aka VIP)
= 2 Stars (for passengers from Malaysia without any titles aka not Very Important Person)
= 1 Star (for passengers from 3rd world countries)

* Malaysians are a class conscious society. The consciousness is probably due to the remnants (or legacy) of the British colonial masters. These titles are similar to the British tiles such as Sir, Lord, Baron, Knighthood and the list goes on.

Fear not my fellow Malaysians, if you don’t resemble a white man or woman or don’t possess any title of nobility, the way out is get a title. However, before doing that, you may want to read this information.

Good luck on your next flight. Going beyond expectations.