Restaurants Should Treat The Public With Dignity

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I WISH to offer my two cents on the report “Table for none: Manager removes table after tourist won’t order” and the video of the incident.
Recently, a foreign woman occupied a table at a food and beverage outlet inside the Penang International Airport. Nearby, there are many bench seats for passengers but they are often full.
Hence, the eatery displays a notice stating that tables and chairs at its premises are meant for customers only, but the woman did not make any orders and was busy with her laptop and wearing headphones. The video clip showed she was deeply absorbed in something important.
gnored. After several failed attempts, the manager decided to place the woman’s bag on the floor and then removed all the chairs and table leaving the woman standing and continuing to use her laptop.
At that time, there were still empty tables at the eatery and therefore the woman was not displacing incoming customers. Although the manager removed the table and chairs gently and may have had the right to do so, it was done out of spite and in poor taste.
There are times when we do not wish to eat or drink, even water, and anything ordered or served would be wasted.
Instead, the eatery could levy a table charge of say RM3 for every 15 minutes – a fee that I would pay the public just to occupy a table if my restaurant looks rather empty.
Those who work in the service line, especially in airport restaurants, are blessed with great opportunities to meet international travellers, many of whom are interesting or successful in their own right, and people in transit would be less reserved and open up more about themselves.
But if service staff were to treat everyone as nothing more than passing ships in the night, never to meet them again, they would not benefit much from meeting many people from around the world. A kind act or a meaningful conversation can form a lasting impression, even friendship.
I have driven taxis and bought gifts for foreign customers who used my services repeatedly such as a pewter plaque and ashtray, and had them engraved with the Caucasian couple’s name followed by ‘Hearts of Gold’, and another with ‘Colonel Abdul Hameed – an officer and a gentleman’ who trained Royal Saudi Air Force fighter jet pilots.
Although revenge can be sweet, it is always better to be kind, as people can sometimes make mistakes without realising or unintentionally, especially those under stress, such as the case of this woman traveller as could be seen in the video. Instead, the closeup view was meant to mock her.
Ironically, the video was purposely recorded by the eatery, which could explain why the manager went about removing the chairs and table rather gently and the remarks stated in the video to explain its side of the story before posting the video which had gone viral.
The management of the eatery must have felt that they did no wrong but viewers were divided over their comments, with most agreeing to the views and actions taken by the eatery.
Although not in line with its policy, the manager can be kinder as the eatery did not suffer any losses.
There are many similar eateries and restaurants in airports and malls throughout the country and it will be disappointing to see tired passengers and shoppers seated quietly in almost empty outlets be chased away for resting temporarily.
If so, it would be a sad day for our country, as our friendliness and hospitality can no longer be described as natural, which Malaysia has been renowned for over the past decades.
And no amount of promotions would succeed in increasing the number of tourists to our country.
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT. 
- Focus Malaysia.

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