Dr Mahathir Go Back To Langkawi And Teach Them Customer Service. It Is Reaching Chicken Sh_t Levels Already.

 

Dr Mahathir is  pondering if he will run for Parliament again or not in the next General Elections. 

May I suggest to Dr Mahathir to go back to Langakwi instead and do something about the service standards on the island - which really need serious re-engineering.

I have written about the poor service quality in Langkawi more than once before. This will be one more time.

Before I was complaining all by myself. But yesterday we all read about that kerfuffle over that RM1,000+ bill for a fish dinner in Langkawi.

"PETALING JAYA, Nov 5 ― A tourist in Langkawi was gobsmacked after he was charged RM1,196 for a whole sea bass"

What can I say, except "I told you so".

I visit Langkawi usually about once a year. My wife and I were there in September 2020 (in between the Covid 19 MCOs) and the September before that .  This year susah lah. And in the years before. Each time we go there I notice the quality and the service levels going down.

People are a little rude, dictated by bangsa, agama, negara etc. Once we went to that Mat Cincang Cable Car. There was a long line of Mat Salleh tourists and we joined the queue. After waiting for more than a few minutes we noticed the queue was not moving. So I went up to the local boy manning the gate and asked him what was the matter. The fellow rudely said 'Rosak, tak jalan'.  So we left. But all  the Mat Sallehs were still standing in line without anyone telling them about the 'Rosak tak jalan'. 

Another time we stayed at a 4 star hotel by the beach. There was no remote to turn on the TV in the room. When we told the girl at the counter closeby she disappeared. Tak mahu layan. 

We went to the duty free shops. The displays and the merchandising were often poorly done. The service was poor and one time (again) rude. 

Before we used to take the ferry from Kuala Kedah or Kuala Perlis. That was real Third World.  As a teenager I once read a novel about a river ferry boat in Africa called the 'Limpopo'. There is also a famous river by that same name in South Africa. Kuala Kedah and Kuala Perlis reminded me of that novel. 

But by now we are a little bit wiser on where to go for makan, who and what to avoid in Langkawi. Including where to shop (and not shop) for duty free. 

Langkawi reflects the rest of the country. We have spent taxpayers money to build First World infrastructure and First World facilities.

But the mentality of the people manning all these assets is often Third World village idiots. If you dont teach the people to upgrade their own selves first, how are they going to manage all these First World assets?  Especially when it was built not using their own money? It was built using taxpayers money. So "Saya peduli apa?"

Take that Kilim Geo Park. That geo-park is world class. The water, the mangrove, the sky, the limestone outcrops, those eagles etc are just unbelievably gorgeous. But just like that complaint about that expensive fish dinner  - the service quality has gone kaputs.

The hardware is First World. Why? Because it was built with taxpayers money. Dr Mahathir took billions and billions of our taxpayers money and dumped it into his pet project in Langkawi. 

Sadly the software - the human capital - is just not there. It is not difficult to fix this problem.  Just launch "quality service" campaigns. Be nice, be friendly, be polite, be honest, be consistent,  be punctual, be there etc.  Apa susah sangat?  And follow through with constant monitoring, reviewing and improving. 

Dr Mahathir, I believe Langkawi will develop its own momentum - if the lebai donkeys do not mess it up. But your folks may drop out of that momentum.  The software is more important than the hardware. 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.