December 26, 2002
Perspectives on Malaysia: Tourism, Telkom and Service
Posted by kraabel on December 26, 2002 2:40 PM
Malaysia is an awkward pre-teenager in the tourism industry. It seems that Malaysia was thrown into the hospitality industry before it was fully ready, or maybe they just forgot to read “Customer Service for Dummies”. The Malays have mastered the art of the glossy brochure, but don’t quite understand that travelers have some expectations when they book a vacation.
I think it’s important to note that what we experienced on Malaysian Borneo and what we experienced on peninsular Malaysia were two different things, almost as if we were in two separate countries. The people on Borneo were really friendly and helpful, while on the mainland, they were the complete opposite. Being treated like an outsider is acceptable while touring in areas not typically exposed to western travelers. But we were treated more like outcasts in places like Kuala Lumpur and Penang (two very developed areas of Malaysia).
That’s not to say we didn’t run into friendly people in peninsular Malaysia, but it became obvious that we were not wanted by some people we encountered. We couldn’t quite figure out the pattern, until we noticed an overwhelming number of Chinese Muslim women completely ignoring us or treating us with a great deal of distain. We tried to eat at “Super Noodles” in KL and waited around for nearly 30 minutes while tables around us ordered their food, ate and departed. We were never approached by a waitress to even take our order. This happened several times in various shops around the city. This was especially clear at the ferry terminal when Muslim women pushed past us with not even an “excuse me” or “may I pass.” If I could read minds, it would have been more like, “get the hell out of the way you infidel.”
But despite the cold shoulder, we moved on with our plans to tour the various areas of Malaysia and experience as much as we could in such a short time. One of the things that we rely on to save us time and money is doing research online for hotels, transportation and activities. We’ve had great success in all our travels over the years using this technique. The unfortunate down side is that we’re forced to travel with 10 pounds worth of laptop and seek out local pre-paid internet access, or rely on cyber cafes and shared 28 kbps lines.
We have never had a problem getting a local dialup number for Internet access until we traveled to Malaysia. For a country so preoccupied with technology, growth and westernization, we were shocked to find that the entire telecom system was based on a per-minute fee (about $.10 per minute minimum no matter where we went). Furthermore, the only prepaid Internet access in Malaysia came directly from the telecom company in charge of the nation’s entire infrastructure. Usually we pick up pre-paid cards at places like 7-11 or any number of mini-mart stores.
In Malaysia we had to go directly to the Telkom (that’s the name of the big company) headquarters, running between the numerous offices trying to explain what we were looking for, to purchase a simple pre-paid card. Once we had the access card it was virtually useless due to the nature of the telephone systems in hotels and resorts. Of the places we found with phone systems, very few had IDD (international direct dial) phones. The ones that did charged insane rates to make a local call – charging by the minute for every call. The others required operator assistance to get an outside line.
This was just one example of how the infrastructure in Malaysia is severely lacking. The busses run consistently a few hours late, hotels routinely loose reservations (despite pre-payment); VIP busses are switched to minibuses half-way through trips. Hotels are never like the brochure … NEVER. Not even close. In addition, there must not be any regulations on travel agents in Malaysia. Either that or they believe that everyone’s ideal vacation consists of checking into a sub-standard hotel, eating a stale buffet and getting a wonderful sea-view room to remarkably resembles a busy street.
What we can only assume is that there are a few translation errors between Malay and English. Here are a few words we discovered:
Super: late, smelly, overbooked, no service. Interchangeable with the English word “sucks.”
VIP: Very Ignorant Person to have booked this mode of transportation or hotel.
SuperVIP: Combination of above terms.
Garden View Room: A patch of grass behind the dumpster.
Sea View Room: You pay for a sea view but get a street view. If moved to a street view, add the noise of runny toilet to depreciate value of sea view.
Leaves at ______: The bus, van, car will leave whenever it is so full that it can’t possibly fit another person. Generally this happens 2 hours after your scheduled time.
Telephone in Room: There is a phone in the room that was once in working condition, usually around the time the brochure photo was taken.
Mini Bar: Place for hotel to store overly priced items (this term is the same in America).
Posted by kraabel at December 26, 2002 2:40 PM
Comments
How could you sit around like wankers in the Super Noodle shop for 30 mins!
In KL the culture in hawker centres is to shout out for the waitress or go directly to the person to order. Only in Western restaurants is there "service". This has nothing to do with rudeness - only about local eating culture.
You should learn a bit more about the culture before disparaging it so much.
Posted by: anon at November 21, 2003 9:19 AM
I guess you had to be there. We were literally flagging down the server everytime they went by. They were clearly ignoring us. I may be a wank, but these guys had no intention of serving us.
Posted by: kraabel at February 6, 2004 10:37 PM
Dear Mike,
I've read your travelogue and what I found that what you've written is true in some ways. I can say that the people in Peninsula Malaysia are quite ignorant about manners when encountering tourists. Only in hotels that the hotel employees show sort of hospitality gestures to the guests. For backpackers, we are not resenting them, it's just the attitude of not acknowledging others makes it difficult for the Malaysians to approach tourists. However, if you ask them for directions, I think they might help you, if their English is OK. Malaysians typically feel quite embarrassed to talk in English in public if their English is not good. Their respond usually not talking or pretending not to understand English. Our government has addressed this problem and the exposure in English has begun to spread among the citizens, especially the ones who live in the city.
Regarding about taking orders in the restaurants, sometimes in a packed restaurant, we Malaysians also being left out. I understood that this situation happens a lot of time. But we usually approach the counter or the waiters/waitresses, informing them that our orders haven't been taken yet. Basically, if I feel that the service is too slow or not satisfied, I just leave the premise and go eating somewhere. But ensure that the restaurant that you want to eat is clean because to choose of where to eat is self responsibility.
Regarding the courtesy, I admit that we Malaysians are lacked of it. When we come in contact with other people, we seldom open our mouths. To the tourists, this is rude. I understand that since I was living in the States also, and I learnt that Americans are much more polite when talking to other people or when in public. Regarding this, Malaysians are not being reminded of their behaviour and that's why this situation occurs most of the time. Although we brag ourselves as a moderate Muslim country, but our manners don't show who we are. Malaysians, especially Malays, are not being exposed much to the outside world. Our mindset is still about our country and it is hard to be changed. This has caused shocked to the foreigners when they encounter people of our country, which are not as being described by the brochures or the commercials. However, they are not bad people, it's just less exposures and less reminders make them ignorant about other sides of the world.
Regarding the tardiness, yeah it always like that if you want to travel by bus or taxi. If you want to travel in KL, just pick LRT trains or commuter. They are on time. Buses are not an option that satisfies people anymore because of the traffic jams. KTM trains or express busses are the choices for budget transports if you want to travel outside of KL. Malaysians are really lack in the sense of punctuality. Sorry for that.
For the internet connection, it is true that although we brag about the ICT industry, the implementation is not widely spread. But if you go to medium class or high class, which the rate about USD 50 to 100 per night, they might offer broadband internet connection for free. There are also hot spots being set up around KL fro wireless internet connections. Ask you hotels about the place. To call for IDD, buy calling cards. They are available at hotel counters, or bring cellphones with international roaming. That helps you from looking for payphones, which obviously vandalised and not working here.
Just an advice, if you want to travel conveniently in Malaysia, in KL or cities, try to find hotels that above USD 50 per night because the service is good. Below that, I don't know if Malaysians consider good. If I travel, I may check the hotels with someone else first before check in.
Last but not least, Malaysia is not a bad country to visit. It's just, there are problems that hard to be tackled but we are willing to make our country better with the feedbacks that you wrote in your travelogue here. Thanks...
Posted by: stevensmith80 at October 29, 2005 2:21 AM
I just returned from my trip to Genting and KL. I mus say it was a very very disappointing experience. This is the worst trip I've had, among others that included Europe, Middle-east and Australia. As a Singapore citizen, my problem is not the culture but rather the poor customer service, from the hotels to the restaurants. Everytime we walked into a restaurant, we gotto look for our own table. And this is a restaurant, not a hawker centre! This has nothing to do with culture but rather poor attitude and service! I can still live with the taxi service as long as the pre-negotiated price is reasonable. The people are less than friendly and often misunderstood simple english! And this coming from a local singaporean! The feeling I got from the locals is that they do not welcome foreigners and it's a big shame to M'sia's Tourism industry. You can have endless tourism campaigns but it's useless if the local people are not educated properly in the right direction! I'll never ever visit M'sia again as a tourist, unless it's to visit my relatives in Penang and Johor. The only positive lesson I learnt from this awful trip is that I appreciate my country Singapore so much more! At least the service here is top rated and the people here are so much friendlier!!!
Posted by: Bret Cheng at November 14, 2005 4:36 AM
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