Cowboy Caleb the liberal arts, grown-up stuff & random mischief

SIA: Lack of Understanding & Common Sense

On my flight back to Singapore the other day, 2 gentlemen of the Muslim persuasion with full flowing beards sat next to me on the plane. From their speech, I’d hazard a guess they were from Pakistan.

So along comes the air stewardess, and asks them to confirm that they were having the Muslim meal. They replied in perfect English that, they were indeed having the Muslim meal (because they were Muslim). And they then stroked their full flowing beards to make their point.

Shortly thereafter, the air stewardess brings them their meal. And they begin to tuck in.

The same air stewardess then returns clutching bottle of red wine and asks them “Sir, can I offer you any red wine?”.

Stunned silence.

The gentlemen look at each other in horror.

The air stewardess has a look of puzzlement on her pretty little painted face.

I say “No, the gentlemen are Muslim, so they won’t be having any alcoholic beverages”. At this, she smiles and walks away.

The gentlemen breathe a sigh of relief and thank me later.

You have to wonder why the air stewardess made such a dreadful faux pas. Even if this wasn’t part of flying-waitress-school, this shite is supposed to be common sense. What’s wrong with people these days?

Being brought up in a clinical environment and mechanical education “system” that emphasise on scoring high grades instead of general knowledge on how to live like a human being, robotic traits and behaviour are bound to develop.
The SIA girl cannot be blamed. It is the system.

i think it’s more of protocol. some modern muslims do find red wine acceptable and would be offended if they weren’t offered like everyone else.

mayhap you’re making a hoohah out of a small deal?
to say that they’re insensitive, and then linking the whole issue to a lack of professionalism…
i mean come on, it’s their job to offer service, not to be mamasans. it’s not like they started throwing racial slurs.

i feel Cowboy’s thoughts are justifiable. a modern muslim will not spot a traditional look of e.g flowing beard. that SIA waitress deserves a good scolding if highlighted to her supervisor.

in such jobs, there should be some sense of moderate judgement + sensitivity. if the 2 muslims asked why they are not offered wine (given the SIA waitress didn’t approach them initially), a good short explaination that she thinks it might be inappropriate since they are having muslim meals will actually make people pleased with the level of sensitivity she’s equipped.

i’ll attribute this to a lack of professionalism/training + innate hare-brained of the individual than faulting the system.

i’ve seen well educated caucasians who can’t tell the difference between 12am to 12pm, as in, which is nightime and which is daytime.

sorry, i’ve a typo for “explanation”

Mile High Club dude.

I had the same experience when i was on my way back from Dubai.

The air stewardess was pretty rude actually. But that i didn’t care much knowing SQ standard has dropped badly.

She asked whether i’m having a muslim meal and i said yes. and a min later, offered me do i want a red wine to go along with my dinner.

for goodness sake, i’m wearing a head scarf and i just told you i’m having a muslim meal.

If it was a modern muslim lady/man, they wouldn’t even care whether it is a muslim meal or not.

For goodness sake! because you wear a headscarf and you ask for a muslim meal one should deduce you don’t want wine?

The world has fallen in a sorry state when some muslim people expect everyone to guess:

a/ that they are muslim : it is not because one is Pakistani, has a beard, has a muslim meal that one is muslim; it is not because one wears a headscarf and orders a Muslim meal that one is muslim.

b/ what kind of muslim they are: I have seen some who only eat halal, some who don’t eat pork but refuse that other at the same table eat pork, some who only eat in halal places, some who drink wine but do Ramadan; some who eat pork but don’t drink.

Dear muslims of South East Asia: open your eyes.

there are hundreds of religions in the world, and even people of the same religion practise it differently. it would be abit too much to expect the service staff to know each and every particular taboos for each religion.

aiyah.. anyways the staff are damned if they do and damned if they don’t…

Have you guys ever worked in the Service line before? Even more if you work in the airport environment? Let me tell you, it a pretty tough job to be in and even worse if there are people who judge one person’s action and make it into a big thing. saying tat they are stupid or incompetent. They are all trying their best to serve you and here you are saying all these things. they have protocols to follow and if they dont you guys complain. if they do follow their instinct, you guys makes a hooha like this. So modern muslim be it man or woman, they might drink alcohol forwatever reason, sometimes food is another factor altogether. Whatever it is this stewardess is just doing her job and that is to bloody well serve ppl like you.

it’s unreasonable to expect service staff to actually know each and every taboo of each and every religion. there are hundreds of religions in the world and each person understands and practises it differently. how to know which muslim drinks and which one doesn’t? just serve lah, they can just refuse if they don’t want it what.

Dear all,
I happened to work in the Airport(P. Lebar/Changi) for about 15 years, it certainly is a very tough place to work in. But, I will also say, I was happy to have friends of different races, genders and religions(atheists included) working together, eating/drinking together, socializing and even sleeping together(in restrooms and any places where one can catch a little sleep/rest).

And yes, SOME Muslim friends have withdrawn somewhat, but others are as usual, some are more opened up and live very much like many of us; Non Muslims.

Lastly, I would like to suggest to Cabin(Air) Crews to ask passengers ‘What drink would You like?’ and have misunderstandings such as that mentioned, solved.

Nicely put there, patriot =) They should put that in the manual!

I think most Singaporean Chinese (I assume that the stewardess was one) are still relatively uneducated about cultural taboos in our part of the world. For example, it is a common misconception that halal food simply implies no pork products - few are aware of the other prerequisites.

Having said that, I also believe that many of us who have Malay friends would know at least one that knows his/her beers and wines pretty well.

i’m sorry for really disliking religion now.

I’ve been working in the service line ever since I started working, I do understand that it’s tough and that some customers really are a handful. just studying the general guidelines on how to serve people will never be enough. serving customers/complainants/passengers could be a more pleasant experience if it were done with a bit of tactfulness and some common sense.

In this case, like what patriot had mentioned, misunderstandings could have been avoided by asking ‘What drink would you like?’ instead of offering wine straight away. Especially when the signs are already there; the person looks like he could probably be a muslim and had specifically asked for muslim food.

The world would be in a better state if people exercise more common sense and sensitivity towards other people’s race, nationality and religion. For this mistake to happen in a Singapore-based airline is incredulous. All those racial harmony campaigns and education went down the drain I guess.

“there are hundreds of religions in the world, and even people of the same religion practise it differently. it would be abit too much to expect the service staff to know each and every particular taboos for each religion.”

Hello, Islam is now the world’s number one religion, surpassing Roman Catholicism.

FACEPALM!

come on, the system teaches clinically to look for flaws and spot them. This is not something you can blame on that. I’ll say the general lack of initiative to think and a vast lack of common sense (though both common place) is to be blamed. You’ll be surprised. I’m sure, as thoughtless as she was, she wanted to make it a pleasant flight.

So well, perhaps, just stupid.

does it really matter if she made a mistake? everyone makes it sound as if she made a really grave boo boo. you can just politely decline, saying that you’re muslim. being malay and sporting a long beard doesn’t necessarily mean i’m a staunch muslim.

precisely! is there a need to berate an air stewardess on her professionalism just because she offered something as ubiquitous as red wine to a muslim? it’s not like she accidentally screwed up and gave the poor chap a non-halal meal.
and hafiz, as part of the service industry, I’m sure you know how hard it is to please everyone. Singaporeans should just stop expecting the world when they pay peanuts(not the million dollar kind)

even if islam is number 1 religion, how to know which version the person is practicing? islam also got different flavours: sunni, shi’ite, sufi, wahhabi. then different people also have different degrees of religiosity.

“They ask Thee concerning Wine and Gambling, Say: In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.” (Surah Al-Baqarah:219)

Surah Al-Maaidah verse 90: “O Ye who believe! Intoxicants and Gambling, Sacrificing to Stones, and (divination by) Arrows, are an abomination, of Satan’s handiwork; Keep away from such, that Ye may prosper.”

It’s interesting how people who give poor service always have tonnes of excuses why their service was sloppy.

It’s interesting how people who claim to receive poor service have never been in the service industry.
And, with the same irony, it’s interesting how it’s always the rich upper class people, who with perhaps too much time and money on their hands, are always the ones who claim to be the recipients of poor service.
And, with even greater sarcasm, it’s always interesting that while Singapore debates about income inequality, grievances about poor service are aired more frequently than those about income disparity.

I’ve been in the service industry for years, and I have received poor service often. It’s not always their fault though. Bad service can be categorised into many different causes.

Perhaps you are right, it’s not her fault. It’s her company’s fault for inproper training, which can be a real problem.

Just because we have “income inequality” doesn’t mean we cannot talk about poor service ain’t it?

Do you always have a one-colour perpective?

i’m only demonstrating the solipsism that the debate on service always manifests.

In all truth, people who are in the worst/worse bucket of the society are mostly becos they dun work for it. we are not talking about rich men’s sons + daughters attending gala balls. i’m talking about people who are disadvantaged in life yet fight a way out for it.

esp for s’poreans, which i’m a thoroughbred, i regret to say 95% of poor s’poreans are poor becos they ask for it. they dun want to work hard and slog their way thru. at the end of the day, got embittered about income disparity and stuff.

but i’m glad, for without these people, i can never stand out. if i’m a China-Chinese, with so many people fighting for the better light, i may not even stand a chance in my life at all.

btw, to put the curious in perspective, i was in the hospitality industry. and retail. and gym membership sales. i know the shit in all these places, and i know how half-hearted most of these people in the local services line are. i’ve since worked my way out of it and happily trains these people as my way of returning to the society when i do my shoppings. i grill them well.

i was grilled in those years and i appreciate the customers being tough to me, ‘cos without it all, i’ll not make it as a good corporate salesperson now. looking back, i return the society by being a customer who dishes out the whips and praises to any service staff who deserve very well.

tat SIA waitress is simply appalling for not knowing such simple GP knowledge. simple as tat.

Sorry Hamie.
So can I imagine you profusely thanking a customer after he has put you through a thorough grilling? After a customer has ranted, in the loudest possible voice he can, and proceeded to call for your manager in the most disrespecting, callous tone he can muster, in the hopes that people in the vicinity can hear it, you can still maintain your wide, plastic smile, and still “appreciate the customers being tough to me, ‘cos without it all, i’ll not make it as a good corporate salesperson”?

I’m disengaging from this debate.

i dun maintain a wide smile + dun thank him, but i quickly went thru the steps in my heart where i might have gone wrong and prepare for the mitigation.

it’s the tough path tat make someone mature up. tis, being someone who’s been there, i totally agree.

i’ve also seen people from m’sia who had got a job in s’pore + work their ass off for it, ‘cos they appreciate the opportunity given. s’poreans being too comfortable in their lives do not.

i’ve a frd, her husband is a m’sian (now a PR), works his way in s’pore from an aircon repairman to Uni to a Risk Management Consultant now staying in Bayshore with my frd happily married. he suffered so much shit to get here.

tis, is the nearest possible true life account of making it in life i can recall. if tis sort of stories dun wake me up (i tot to myself when i heard it), then i think i’m worthless in my career.

if u want to be There, be prepare to be buried in shit and crawl your way out and sometimes, get buried with more shit tat threatens to kill u, is wat i’m trying to imply.

been there done that, to serve or not to serve, onboard/offboard. conclusion? there’s no sure way to win - u get accused either way.

perhaps, more psychic/mind reading/tarot sessions can be included in the infamous flying school to win every passenger’s heart - to deduce how not to stereotype/perceive as “discriminating” (although i strongly disagree with the use of this word here in case bullets fly again) but yet be sensitive to everyone’s needs within that few chances of interaction. and from there, maybe start a part time psychic reading business. goodness, i see an ingenious money making plan already ;)

Aiyo… all these agitated people!

1. SQ girl. You think MP ah? Mistake mistake la! Nair mind one…

2. SQ girl. Got Muslims also mah… After duty, they will some more go clubbing together. They also drink mah…

3. SQ girl. Meet lots of men who like exotic Asian cuisine. How she know this hairy man different from the other hairy men she meets?

Faaaaaaakkk lah. All the people who wanna debate bout religion can go farrrrk some spiders.

Toleration, don’t discuss bout money/religion. Idiotproof.

look @ u all…how a small minor incident trigger such a big fuss..sicko

you are so pathetic, you should actually interview to be an air steward. It is a job pathetic enough for you.

Posted by
Robots
20 April 2008 @ 10am

Being brought up in a clinical environment and mechanical education “system” that emphasise on scoring high grades instead of general knowledge on how to live like a human being, robotic traits and behaviour are bound to develop.
The SIA girl cannot be blamed. It is the system.”

Funny that someone who failed and did not excel in the same system should make this observation. But air waitresses are all failures of this system, all poly and O level holders or from NUS arts, which means they should not be robots? Hahahaha! =D