Service Staff Who Can Only Speak Chinese
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Originally posted by ~N3RD~:
cafe cartel at tm also tio... Ask for any recommendation, the waitress told me bread and butter for the day??? loss of words... bread and butter not set meal leh...
lol. -
Originally posted by honeymouse:
Over here in Australia, when you go to some Chinese restaurants, if you can't read Chinese, you might miss out on nice food. The menu in Chinese posted on the wall is usually different from the menu in English.
Oh yea, that happened to me in US as well. We used to ask someone who can read Chinese to go with us.
Actually I find that to be acceptable, because if we ask, the staff there will still explain to us some of the menu items to us in English. They are really nice and patient about it. Whereas here, if you ask, you might either get a blank stare or a "huh"?
Which reminds me, I called up several catering services to ask about their menu and prices, encountered a few who couldn't speak English and continuously replied to me in Mandarin and they got more and more short-tempered as I asked more questions in English and finally they said,"You cannot speak Mandarin ah?"
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Originally posted by charlize:
I really feel for those non Mandarin speaking Singaporeans.
Where once everybody got by speaking a mixture of English, Singlish, Hokkien, Malay to each other, the message got across and everybody was happy.
Last time, who working in the kpitiams didn't understand mee pok tah, prata kosong, teh tarik, kopi siu dai, mee siam mai hiam (not hum
) ?These days, you order in malay or hokkien or English, you get a blank stare and a blur look.
Yea.
And I happen to be one who can speak all those languages you mentioned to be disappearing.
I must be ancient. I can speak Malay, Hokkien but can't speak Mandarin fluently. Meh.
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Originally posted by rainee:
Oh yea, that happened to me in US as well. We used to ask someone who can read Chinese to go with us.
Actually I find that to be acceptable, because if we ask, the staff there will still explain to us some of the menu items to us in English. They are really nice and patient about it. Whereas here, if you ask, you might either get a blank stare or a "huh"?
Which reminds me, I called up several catering services to ask about their menu and prices, encountered a few who couldn't speak English and continuously replied to me in Mandarin and they got more and more short-tempered as I asked more questions in English and finally they said,"You cannot speak Mandarin ah?"
Why you cannot speak mandarin, why?
You want to be served or not?
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so far i think secret recipe still having 80% malay staff
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Originally posted by charlize:
Why you cannot speak mandarin, why?
You want to be served or not?
Ask my parents.
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Originally posted by FireIce:
so far i think secret recipe still having 80% malay staff
They are one of the rare establishments then.
But I suspect that will change in the near term.
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Hilarious ad from mandy.com (I got this from the Facebook group, the ad has since been taken down)
"Taken from actual ad from mandy.com
http://mandy.com/1/jobs3.cfm?v=28270359
ONLY MANDARIN SPEAKING SINGAPOREANS OR SINGAPORE PRS MAY APPLY.
WRITER/PRODUCER
A flair to write quality scripts (documentaries, reality programs). He/She has to possess a strong command of English and good research skills. And of course he/she must possess passion, enthusiasm and the ability to organise and produce assigned projects and meet deadlines.
Assistant Producer
He/She must possess a strong interest and enthusiasm towards film production. And not forgetting the ability to carry out assigned duties, conduct research and co-ordinate projects if required. Candiates with the knowledge of FCP will stand a better chance... :)"Anyone notices the contradiction?
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Originally posted by rainee:
Oh yea, that happened to me in US as well. We used to ask someone who can read Chinese to go with us.
Actually I find that to be acceptable, because if we ask, the staff there will still explain to us some of the menu items to us in English. They are really nice and patient about it. Whereas here, if you ask, you might either get a blank stare or a "huh"?
Which reminds me, I called up several catering services to ask about their menu and prices, encountered a few who couldn't speak English and continuously replied to me in Mandarin and they got more and more short-tempered as I asked more questions in English and finally they said,"You cannot speak Mandarin ah?"
That's why I am usually the one who order the food when I go to Chinese restaurants with friends who can't read Chinese.
I don't think it's fair to have only things in Chinese especially they are in Australia. I get annoyed sometimes as they only display the midweek special in Chinese which means people who can't read Chinese miss out on the midweek special. That's discrimination!
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Originally posted by honeymouse:
That's why I am usually the one who order the food when I go to Chinese restaurants with friends who can't read Chinese.
I don't think it's fair to have only things in Chinese especially they are in Australia. I get annoyed sometimes as they only display the midweek special in Chinese which means people who can't read Chinese miss out on the midweek special. That's discrimination!
Quite true.But some dishes are very hard to be written in English lolz. If you do a literal translation, it will probably come out sounding quite..wrong.
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I ever ordered milo-peng from a China coffeshop auntie and she told me, "Ni yao mi lu bing ah?
And there was one other who asked, "Ni yao ke le ah?" when i ordered coke.
F&*$ man! Milo peng is milo peng....not mi lu bing! Coke is coke, not ke le!
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
I ever ordered milo-peng from a China coffeshop auntie and she told me, "Ni yao mi lu bing ah?
And there was one other who asked, "Ni yao ke le ah?" when i ordered coke.
F&*$ man! Milo peng is milo peng....not mi lu bing! Coke is coke, not ke le!
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
I ever ordered milo-peng from a China coffeshop auntie and she told me, "Ni yao mi lu bing ah?
And there was one other who asked, "Ni yao ke le ah?" when i ordered coke.
F&*$ man! Milo peng is milo peng....not mi lu bing! Coke is coke, not ke le!
Mi lu bing is lost soldiers right?
Tell her that.
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nowadays, the average coffee shop also have chinese helpers.
yesterday experienced a chinese lady helper at a kopi tiam who also didn't understand orders in english.
this customer asked for 7-Up, but the woman had no idea what it was. so the customer got fed up and ordered Coke Lite, but end up he was given Coke. :/
but at least the helper in this case was quite apologetic. after tt, when an indian guy asked for chinese tea and she din understand, she asked another customer to help her translate.
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Originally posted by cathykitty:
nowadays, the average coffee shop also have chinese helpers.
yesterday experienced a chinese lady helper at a kopi tiam who also didn't understand orders in english.
this customer asked for 7-Up, but the woman had no idea what it was. so the customer got fed up and ordered Coke Lite, but end up he was given Coke. :/
but at least the helper in this case was quite apologetic. after tt, when an indian guy asked for chinese tea and she din understand, she asked another customer to help her translate.
the customer shd have said "qi shang". lolsigh these helpers really have a hard time too....needing translation for everything.
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Originally posted by cathykitty:
nowadays, the average coffee shop also have chinese helpers.
yesterday experienced a chinese lady helper at a kopi tiam who also didn't understand orders in english.
this customer asked for 7-Up, but the woman had no idea what it was. so the customer got fed up and ordered Coke Lite, but end up he was given Coke. :/
but at least the helper in this case was quite apologetic. after tt, when an indian guy asked for chinese tea and she din understand, she asked another customer to help her translate.
I once ordered "Barley, guan (canned)" and the chinese lady gave me a blur look.
For a moment there, I forgot how to say barley in mandarin until my regular singaporean koptiam lady came and took the order for me.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Mi lu bing is lost soldiers right?
Tell her that.
But i wana order a drink man, not soldiers lol. I wasn't really irritated too la...was just pure bemusement. -
complain here no use.... should jz complain to watever restaurant managment n tell them u will boycott their store if they keep using these cheap cheena ah tiongs...
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Karang guni men also chinamen now. Taxi driver, bus driver.....maybe next time traffic police also. Haha cant imagine if the TP stops next to me and asks, "Qing nin jiao chu nin the shen fen zheng. Xie xie nin de he zuo."
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Originally posted by BrUtUs:
complain here no use.... should jz complain to watever restaurant managment n tell them u will boycott their store if they keep using these cheap cheena ah tiongs...
I am not against employers hiring them...but should at least teach them how to speak basic English if they want to broaden their customer base. If the waiter/waitresses only want to speak in Mandarin then they are limiting their customers to just Chinese.
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Originally posted by rainee:
I am not against employers hiring them...but should at least teach them how to speak basic English if they want to broaden their customer base. If the waiter/waitresses only want to speak in Mandarin then they are limiting their customers to just Chinese.
employers wun care if they can speak english or not as long as they r still earning profits... so 1 way to make them to increase their service standard is by boycotting their branch n send them a good feedback... -
Originally posted by rainee:
I recently noticed a lot of people in the service industry, especially restaurants, who expect you to speak Mandarin to them. If you can't, you wil get a glare or they might even refuse to serve you.
Does it mean that if I look Chinese I am assumed to be able to speak Mandarin automatically? Apparently it has also got to a point that they expect other races to be able to speak Mandarin as well, including Malays and Indians.
Is this place turning into China?? I don't have anything against speaking Mandarin, I am learning to speak it more fluently as well but I don't like the idea that if I can't speak it fluently, I can't order my food or something. What do you guys think?
I am Singaporean and tired of service staff who can only speak Mandarin
wat to do.... cos all the singaporeans are so well educated, some educated till dun know how to speak mandarin ..... i thot we singaporean are Bilingual? why some cant speak our own native language? i just wanna say remember your root.... not trying to be ahmoh
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Originally posted by rainee:
I am not against employers hiring them...but should at least teach them how to speak basic English if they want to broaden their customer base. If the waiter/waitresses only want to speak in Mandarin then they are limiting their customers to just Chinese.
Agreed. Others who cant understand chinese will find this sort of dining environment a big turn off. -
Originally posted by rainee:
I am not against employers hiring them...but should at least teach them how to speak basic English if they want to broaden their customer base. If the waiter/waitresses only want to speak in Mandarin then they are limiting their customers to just Chinese.
Who will be willing to spend the extra time and effort to teach them English? -
liddat spore becum more cosmopolitian mah. wif diff languages n races mah
