Cross-Cultural Conversations

Observations by a Malaysian studying in Australia

Language Barrier

A colleague came over to me with a short, middle-aged lady following closely behind her. She told me 1) The woman needs help; 2) The woman speaks very little English; 3) They both don’t understand each other.

The woman made hand gestures that look like she’s carrying something, so I asked her if she was looking for her baggage. “Very little English”, she reminded me again, with a hapless smile etched on her pleasant, but currently desperate, face.

I imitated her gesture of carrying a bag, to which she nodded vigorously. The woman continued to speak in a language that I determined as being German. “This is going to be a bit of a challenge”, I thought to myself. The only German words I know are danke, deutsche, sauerkraut and Mercedes-Benz, none of which is of much help in this particular conversation.

Luckily, there was a signboard with a picture of a bag, intended to highlight the Baggage Enquiry Office. I showed her the picture and the direction to the office, and explained, in both English and rigorous hand and body gestures, that the people at the office would be able to assist her find the lost luggage. She nodded for the last time, and hurriedly made her way to the office.

A picture is worth a thousand words. And when you don’t know a single word of a particular language, the picture is worth much more.

posted by: Tembaga2 at 07:51 | link | comments (2) |

  Guy Sebastian look-alike…not!

In my line of work, hundreds, if not thousands, of people will pass you by. Some take the trouble to acknowledge your presence, most simply ignore you, and a few will buy tickets from you (God bless them). Most of our customers were air passengers from Singaporean, European and Indonesian flights, and whenever planes from these countries touched down, we Sales Ambassadors would hastily position ourselves at strategic locations to attract potential buyers.

For me however, the crowd I anticipate the most is the also the one who I know will never buy train tickets from me. This crowd comprises air stewardesses, who’ve got transportation arranged for them already. These pretty ladies are such a delight to see as they pass you by, all clustered in one group and still donning their flight uniform.

The Malaysia Airlines stewardesses are my favourite, as quite a few of them take the trouble to smile or just say hello to their fellow compatriot (me) as they sashay past in their elegant kebaya.

One particular stewardess, upon seeing my curly, puffy hair, commented to her colleague that I look like Guy Sebastian, the Malaysian-born Australian Idol winner. “I’m much more handsome!” I hastily corrected her, not wanting the two to identify me as his look-alike.

I hate it when people compare me to Guy Sebastian. As I’ve admitted earlier, I’m better looking and my hair is naturally curly. But if that comparison gets the attention of the stewardesses, I guess I’d just let it go, just this once…

posted by: Tembaga2 at 07:50 | link | comments |

The sombre dudes

I was doing my routine “EXPRESS TRAIN TO THE CITY!” promo-shoutings when I spotted two guys who looked like they didn’t know where they were headed.

 

“They’ve got potential…” I thought to myself. Potential to buy tickets from me that is. I cleared my throat with the aim of throwing my voice just loud enough to grab their attention, and their attention only. Having been in this job for 10 hours, I’ve realised that although people generally dislike being “harassed” by promoters, deep down they do feel flattered if the promoters were to give individual attention to them. If I was going to get these guys to buy tickets from me, I just have to be thick-skinned and give them the undivided attention they subconsciously desire.

 

“EXPRESS TRAIN TO THE CITY, SIR?” I called out. The taller of the two looked at me, but didn’t show any expression and looked away to the other side. That’s OK, that’s only like the 347^th rejection I’ve received today. It’s time to look out for other potential customers.

 

15 minutes and no customers later, the two dudes came over back to me. Berbaloi jugak rupanya aku jerit kuat kuat. They enquired about the train service and I told them the essential details – journey time, frequency, price, etc. I was in a particularly helpful mood at that time so I offered to show a map of Kuala Lumpur and also provide some insights on hotels and places of interest. Throughout our conversation, both of them put on a permanently serious face, only giving small nodding gestures while I berceloteh (babble on) about the popular destinations in KL.

I wondered to myself, where do these rigidly serious dudes come from? I desperately wanted to know which country harboured such grim and solemn faces. “Are you from Germany?” I asked one of them. “No, we’re from Austria”, he replied, with what looked like an ever-so-slight, but thoroughly sincere smile.

 

posted by: Tembaga2 at 05:32 | link | comments |

First day on the job

 

I was stationed at the International Arrival Hall. When I reached my workplace, there were already 3 of my colleagues, standing and shouting ‘EXPRESS TRAIN TO THE CITY’ to hordes of air passengers who’ve just been cleared from the immigration counter and were now heading over to the baggage carousels.

 

I didn’t have a clue what I should do, so I followed my colleagues and shouted ‘EXPRESS TRAIN TO THE CITY’ in all directions, trying to get as many people’s attention as possible. Some heads turned, but before I could reach them, my colleagues snatched them first. This is competition at its truest.

 

It was depressing as you try to catch people’s attention and they just walk past you like you don’t exist. But it was pure ecstasy when you do get people to notice and purchase the tickets from you.

 

After two-and-a-half hours I sold my first ticket. The target sale for each Sales Ambassador was 100 tickets. That day I sold 78. This job was going to be a bit harder than I originally imagined.

posted by: Tembaga2 at 01:39 | link | comments |

 Phone survey

My first day off. It just feels so good to not have to go to work. I have only been working for 3 days and I already get to experience the same joy billions of people feel during the weekends.

The phone rings. I pick it up. A sweet, female voice, around my age, was on the other line. She asked if I would be kind enough to participate in a phone survey.

Now, normally I would politely say no and quickly hang up. But this time it’s different. It’s different because less than 24 hours ago I was doing the exact same thing this girl’s doing right now. I didn’t do it through the phone of course, but I pleaded with complete strangers to participate in a survey nonetheless. She promised it wouldn’t take too much of my time. That’s my line, woman.

I know how horrible rejections can be. It breaks your confidence. It makes you feel ignored and unwanted. I did not want this girl to feel unwanted. So I agreed to be included in the survey.

It turns out the survey was for a company that is planning to construct a shopping mall in KL Sentral, the transportation hub I go to everyday to get to my workplace, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The girl asked me my opinions on shopping malls, which, if you have read my previous posts on Midvalley Megamall and Ikea, is quite extensive.

 Needless to say I was actually enjoying giving out my two cents’ worth on a subject I feel very strongly about. At the end of the conversation she sounded sincerely happy that I obliged to the survey. Either she’s very good at making people feel appreciated, or she’s been rejected a few times too many.

posted by: Tembaga2 at 04:24 | link | comments |

 The first rejections  

It was to be expected that not everyone would be willing to participate in the survey. Quite a few could not, due to their inability to understand English, the language used in the forms.

One woman refused to fill the form, claiming that the font was too small, although no one else had problems with this. A number of passengers felt that ticking the boxes were too much of an effort. The more persistent of my colleagues obliged to read the questions to the passengers and tick the boxes for them. I did no such thing. Such pampered behaviour should not be tolerated

An English lady politely declined to fill out the survey as she was too tired from her flight. I know exactly how she felt. I have been standing and walking back and forth the train for 5 hours, 3 more to go, begging weary passengers like her to participate in the survey.

posted by: Tembaga2 at 15:48 | link | comments |

 

The pre-job

 

After weeks of looking for a job, I finally received an offer from an express rail company. They were conducting a month-long campaign in which Sales Ambassadors, which is really just a fancy term for Salespeople, would promote and persuade air passengers to purchase train tickets, instead of taking a taxi, to get to the city from the airport.

 

Before I begin my proper job, I was assigned to hand out survey forms to passengers to find out their expectations of the train service. The survey form consisted of mostly tick boxes and a small space for passengers to give their comments. In general, foreigners were more willing to write in comments than Malaysians.

 

This is less than surprising, as our culture does not promote the practice of giving opinions. Elders unjustifiably label children who speak up as kurang ajar (rude). The rote learning philosophy of our education system prefers students to memorise information rather than question them, and our self-censoring media discourages views that lean towards the opposition for the sake of national stability.

 

It should be noted, however, that both Malaysians and foreigners were equally adept at ticking the boxes in the survey forms.

posted by: Tembaga2 at 15:45 | link | comments |

 

Work experience

Yesterday, after a 20 day stint as a Sales Ambassador for an express rail company, I resigned from my job. During the next few days I will write about the lessons I gained from my first ever work experience.

 

posted by: Tembaga2 at 15:42 | link | comments |