KUALA LUMPUR: A recent visit to a Starbucks outlet in Sunway took an unpleasant turn for a customer when she discovered that a staff member had written an offensive term instead of her name on the cup.
The customer, Bavitra Ramachandran posted on Facebook to express her frustration and demand that appropriate action be taken by Starbucks Malaysia, specifically mentioning the outlets located at Sunway Medical Centre and Sunway Velocity Mall.
In her Facebook post dated May 15, she expressed her disappointment with the inappropriate representation of her name.
She was shocked and distressed to find the term 'babi', which means 'pig' in Malay, written on her cup.
The term is widely recognised as offensive due to its derogatory connotations in local culture.
Bavitra firmly addressed Starbucks Malaysia in her post, announcing her intention to take legal action against the company.
She also raised questions about the cultural awareness and sensitivity of the staff, stating that it was impossible for them not to be aware that 'babi' was not a legitimate person's name.
"Starbucks Malaysia, I'm going to sue you! Starbucks Sunway Medical Centre (and) Starbucks Sunway Velocity Mall, it's impossible that your Malay staff doesn't know there is no human name that starts with 'babi'," she wrote in the caption.
The viral post had drawn mixed reactions from netizens.
Some supported Bavitra's decision to hold Starbucks Malaysia accountable, emphasising that regardless of any miscommunication or misunderstanding, the staff had no right to demean someone's name.
"What they did is unacceptable as everyone knows 'babi' is used in a derogatory manner. Imagine if it happened to them. They would definitely get angry and curse out the barista. I think she has the right to be angry," said a user.
"Simply put, this issue occurred because the barista lacked common sense. Yes, misspelling customer names may be a Starbucks strategy, but logically, no local person would have the name 'babi'. This wouldn't have been a problem if the barista had simply said, 'Sorry miss, can you repeat your name again?'" said another netizen.
Others, however, suggested that it could have been a misguided attempt at humor.
"It's obvious that the barista was just trying to make a joke. She shouldn't have taken it so seriously. Now everyone is just laughing at her," said a user.
"Maybe the barista thought they were being funny, but it clearly missed the mark. Let's hope Starbucks addresses the issue soon," another netizen commented.
A user also expressed her sympathy for Bavitra's predicament as they shared the same name and had experienced similar incidents in the past.
Starbucks Malaysia has been contacted for comments, but the New Straits Times has not received a response at press time. - NST
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