1. “In the English language, tip may refer to a gratuity (a voluntary additional payment made for services rendered)”… found on Wikipedia.org
2. “A small present of money given directly to someone for performing a service or menial task; gratuity”… found on Dictionary.com
Not too long ago, I tipped a valet in Ipoh… the jockey tapped me on the shoulder and told me I overpaid. I explained to the hotel employee that the tip was for him. He had a wry smile on his face and looked around so as to check whether his colleagues were watching him. He kept the tip in a hurry and thanked me thrice. The amazing thing was that it wasn’t even a large sum… in America I probably would have been beaten up for being a miser or charged under The Ebenezer Scrooge Act 1843.
We don’t tip very much in Malaysia do we? I rarely tip because the service from waiting staff is often not praiseworthy and undeserving of the tip. I do tip when the service from waiting staff exceeds expectations (which honestly is not difficult to exceed in Malaysia as the service standards are really low). Restaurateurs, I mean no disrespect… but you do know it is true. The Malaysian level of service is not comparable to our neighbours like Thailand and Indonesia.
One day when I master the camera, I’ll stop stealing photos from Lyrical Lemongrass
… but back to the point… why don’t we tip? Why don’t YOU tip? Is it because there is already a 10% service fee included in our restaurant bills and we consider THAT a tip? Do share your thoughts.
For the sake of this discussion, I’m going to assume that most of you DO consider the 10% service fee as a tip simply because that is what most people I asked answered. Isn’t it then possible that the 10% service fee be contributing to the lacklustre quality of service in Malaysia? I mean think about it… the point of tipping is to reward for a job well done (well… that’s how I see it). If the majority of us consider the service fee a tip, pay it unquestioningly and do NOT tip beyond that… then there isn’t any real incentive for the waiting staff to go out of their way to do an outstanding job. Even if they did a mediocre job, they know they’ll get a slice of that service fee.
Can we fix this? Yes, I believe we can. Restaurateurs need to continue doing what they are doing… selective hiring, continuous training, corrective action, employee of the month awards… etc… and we as consumers can reinforce all that by tipping (beyond the 10% service fee). We need to show the waiting staff that if they put a good show, they will get an encore.
Alas, I fear my ideas and thoughts on this topic could be flawed. As it is, many restaurateurs and their waiting staff take it as a given that they are deserving of the service fee (whether or not they did a good job). This is partially because Malaysians normally pay the service fee without question. I guess you could liken this to how everyone expects to be tipped in America. Walk away without tipping and you’ll most likely be stopped and reminded to leave a little something behind. It is this which I am afraid of… the tipping point! If we begin to tip generously and over time build a culture of tipping in Malaysia, I am concerned that one day we will reach the tipping point when tips are expected and demanded. Do you think it’ll happen?
Tip like this at your local “mamak” and you’ll most likely get beaten up for “spoiling the market”
Perhaps one way to prevent this is to use both stick and carrot to help promote quality of service in Malaysian restaurants. Send them a message. Do a good job… and we’ll tip beyond the service fee… but do a bad job… and we’ll reconsider even paying the service fee. This way the point of tipping will never be forgotten and we can avoid reaching the tipping point.
Lisa just rolled her eyes… I know that means my post is too long. I best end here for now.
In AD, many ppl tip. And not just in restaurants. You bag their groceries and/or push the trolley to the car and/or put the groceries into the car, you get tipped. Road sweeper gets tipped. Sometimes. Petrol stn attendant gets tipped. (I tip when they pump my tyres. Yes, we don’t pump our gas and we don’t pump tyres. I park my car at the air gauge and an attendant comes..).
In restaurants, general rule is 10% or more of the bill, regardless of whether there is service tax or not. (In hotels, there is a 10%+6%, but most stand alone restaurants don’t.) Depends on the service. Luckily it has not come to a point where they demand you leave something. But there are times where I tip a bit more out of sympathy, like to the car jockey who parks my car in an extremely crowded area in the middle of the 42C summer heat.
But I must admit, I have never tipped in KL. For one, I will never use valet in KL. But mostly because service has never been good enough, let alone outstanding to warrant one.
Well I think the 10% was added there because majority of us do not tip and I don’t know if the owners do pass the ‘tip’ to their employees, but let’s assume they do, then it is sort of their only chance to get some tips for us. Even with excellent performance, let’s face it, many of us do not tip, simply because it is not in our culture or are we not used to the idea. To me in order to start fostering people to tip, then the 10% have to be gone, but before people start tipping, the owners/employees might need to make do with none/very little tip first but they might not be able to thus the ‘chicken or egg first’ question comes into the picture. Tipping point for this? I can say not in the near horizon for sure. But first we have to solve the chicken or egg thing.
Thanks for sharing gfad. I must admit I feel “guilty” when I don’t tip overseas… but when I am at home, I am often reluctant. I’ll try to change that for this year… but of course, first the experience (food and service) needs to be worthy!
@rokh you’ve been reading waaaaay too much quantum physics… very confusing!!!
I have tipped a few times. My general rule is if they charge service tax, it’s not necessary. I usually tip if I had really good service or if they don’t charge for service tax. I mean, with the standards of service in some places, tipping is pointless…