Heart to Serve

I am consistently amazed by the goodwill of the Malaysian people. They love to be helpful. At first I thought it was about the "TIP", you know gratuity. But that’s not the case. I receive the same helpful service no matter what I am doing and no matter where I go. I was walking around the grocery store the other day, with stuff dangling from every finger, loaded to my chin, arms full and too stupid to get a cart. Just when I was about to grab another item and place it on my head, a young store clerk, walked up to me, wearing a humble smile, he offers me a plastic carry basket and stands there as I drop my things into the basket. Then, he smiled and walked away, happy. He never said one word to me. His actions spoke volumes.

This happens all the time here. We took a limo to the airport the other day. When the driver realized that we may have been at the wrong terminal, he left his limo, asked me for my itinerary, went inside, approached to the service counter and inquired, in the local language, if we were okay. Then, he pointed, with a smile, to our boarding gate, wished us a good trip and left.

Gary and I had a coffee at a specialty shop one Sunday afternoon. Gary had ordered and paid for pastries to take home, but he left them at the counter until we finished our coffee. Sure enough, we left and began walking through the mall, oblivious to the fact that his pastries were still at the coffee shop. We had walked quite a distance when I heard “Sir, Sir”. I thought one of my students had recognized me and wanted to say hello. It was one of the employees. He chased us down, quite a distance, to remind Gary that his pastries were still at the store.

These are only a few examples of many situations where the Malaysian people just extend themselves to be helpful. It’s a beautiful thing!