Monday, April 16, 2007
To Tip or Not to Tip?
“To Tip or Not to Tip?”Can be quite confusing. And if to tip, how little is acceptable? And how much is not too much?What about those restaurants which already include service charges, some as high as the cost of the main dish itself – do we pay tips then?I actually find Sinagpore hotels very customer friendly. Tipping is outright not allowed. There are notices at the lobby and in hotel rooms that tipping is not allowed. Now, that is easy. And if you do want to offer gratitude, then simply write a commendation letter / fill up a form and mention his or her name.There is no one answer – for as consultants like to say it – the answer is, it depends! It depends on where you are, and who are you faced with.While for example it is expected that you tip a waiter in the US, it is considered offensive to tip a stewardess in a flight anywhere – although the services they provide is almost the same.My first travel to the United States was way back in 1984, as a young engineer visiting the company HQ in Dallas Texas. And the first day after arrival, I went to a restaurant close by to the hotel for breakfast. As it was only breakfast, and all I ate was a brown toast and an omelet, the thought about tipping did not even cross my mind.Wrong!As I was making my way out after paying at the cashier, the waitress who had waited for me actually went after me at the exit and said some un-complimentary remarks.I learnt my lessons about tipping in the USA the hard way – that too after I got some tuition from my local colleagues at the office.Now I know that Americans are the most notorious when it comes to professional haggling for TiPs. I read somewhere that the word “TIP” stands for “To Insure Promptness”.But most of the time, I actually Tips because I wanted to say my gratitude after the service has been delivered rather than before – so the argument that Tips is to buy prompt service does not really hold true.The confusing bit is also when I feel pressured and harassed to tip. This normally happened at hotels when I check in. the bell-man rushes to help me with my bag, and I only normally carry a trolley bag anyway. The norm in Dubai, by the way, is about Dirham5 for up to 2 begs and if more than 2 begs, then you are expected to be more generous.However, I have not yet come across where people actually tips hotel recptionists.Another thing I feel not quite right is – the normal practice of tipping only in fancy places and almost never at warungs or food stalls, except for loose change left behind on the dining table.In my view the service at warungs is no less deserving of generous tips, so I try to live up my view – by offering tips to the Kakak at one of the warung counter. But I could sense that I have somehow embarrassed or offended her.One incident when I was nearly a receipient happened in Jeddah was when I was waiting for LiL to finish paying at the counter. An Arab came over and offered 5 riyal to me and gestured for me to push his trolley load of goods to his car. I was speechless, and could only smile sweetly and pointed to LiL.Susahkan……or do you have any tips?
posted by Idham @ Monday, April 16, 2007
26 Comments:
At 16 April, 2007, Mama Sarah said…
entry yang berakhir dgn soalan. hihi... anda telah 'menjawab'nya, 'it depends'...
At 16 April, 2007, aez82 said…
tips ?? i dont giv a damn..teruk kan.. ;)
At 16 April, 2007, Nour said…
id,is it true I heard in Saudi, the Arabs selalunye look down on Asians.. I banyak dengar cerita where perempuan Arab will cari gaduh dengan Asian women especially when they always have the mentality that perempuan Asians kat sana are maids?
At 16 April, 2007, Mama Rock said…
when i was in dubai i was treated very-very nice. yeah, i leave tips when i feel that he / she deserves it. well, in the US, whether they deserve or not, you still have to tip - ridiculous huh! so depends la. kalau taxi driver yang baik bawak i balik ke rumah tu i usually dont take the change. tu consider tip ke?
At 16 April, 2007, Futsalbabe said…
my mom cakap kan kita org malaysia ni tak bg tip bukan sebab kedekut tapi sebab bukan culture kita..tapi saya bg tips kalau waiter tu bukan org kita esp, org myamnar philipines sebab kesian la plus diaorg ni layan baik2 senyum manjang..ala bagi 2 ringgit je.tapi kalau kedai mamak pun tips haishh pelik tu.
At 16 April, 2007, kc said…
i think we m'sians are still not into this tipping thingy. maybe bcoz we're stingy people too. we simply dont give tips to them bcoz they never gave good service to us. so its a win win situation....hahahah
At 17 April, 2007, dlt said…
tips? jarang kot. not our culture lah gitu. kalu kita makan dah kena charge segala mak nenek tax sampai kengkadang tu up to 10%, takkan nak bagi tips lagi kot. kedai mamak tak de kena tax apa pun, tak mintak tips gak. tapi tu semua actually depends on ourselves la. pentingnya, ikhlas, kan abe id?
At 17 April, 2007, sYaNa said…
My mom always wonders the same thing. I always tell her to look at the gov.tax & serv.tax. If she thinks it's too much, then don't tip or vice versa. Betul kata Abe Id, it depends hehehe ...
At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
:) hehehehe....betul tu...it depends.-aez82...aha..teruk tu hehehe...kemut betul ek..:)--Idham
At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
nour..that is true...:)and yes, kalau perempuan di sangkan mereka as maids...dan kalau lelaki memang depa ingat kuli la....but but, with so many foreign labour here....depa confused la...:)-mamasarah....keep the change to kira tips dah tu...nak pulak kalau duit tu rm50 dan tambang teksi cuma rm30 kan kan...;)--Idham
At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
futsalbabe...memang bukan cultue kita...itu sbb bila kita travel dan ada cross culture...kita boleh jadi confuse...seronoknya bila tips dan dpt lihat betapa happy nye mereka kan ...:)--k.c....wah....ur definition of WIN - WIN very original tu....in USA kan..the americans never walk around with coins, bcoz they left all coins as tips. Kalau nampak ada tourist kat USA dgn poket2 penuh coins tu ada kemungkinan mereka dtg from Malaysia...hehehe...-Idham
At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
dlt....tang ihlas tu memang betul...culture kita ni kalau salah2 tips kan..ada yg tersinggung...so serba salah la jugak..but to leave behind teh change i think is ok la...more natural...--syana....'it depends' is always a good answer...kan kan...:)-Idham
At 17 April, 2007, Manal said…
I rather kasi tips then kena tip-u.1000rupiah makes a nice tip in bandung.Yea u r right, bro, keep the change tu dah kira tips.
At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
:) i like ur wuick wit there...kasik tip better than kena tip-u....hehehekenapa kita bayar duit kat budak jaga kereta? itu tip ka rasuah ka atau becoz...kita mangsa harassment?heheheidham
At 17 April, 2007, Sienna said…
Idham, what a wonderful blog and writings, it is a great thing to be able to share a small part of other peoples world and glimpses of life...best wishes to you and your family from a small rural part of Australia.Pam
At 17 April, 2007, loveujordan said…
tips dah macam "a must give " habit ..... tak bagi rasa kesian pulak ...taklah bagi banyak mana pun especially kedai yang ditaxed sampai 16 - 20 %.
At 17 April, 2007, loveujordan said…
This post has been removed by the author.
At 19 April, 2007, david santos said…
Here I am again for seeing your work, thanked
At 19 April, 2007, Arif a.k.a Idham said…
sienna...thanks...i really like ur blog and pics too...:)-idham
At 19 April, 2007, Arif a.k.a Idham said…
loveujordan...yea...tips bila rasa terpaksa tu yg tak best tu...siap dah nak bagi pun rasa mcm nak simpan balek duit tu...heheheidham
At 19 April, 2007, Arif a.k.a Idham said…
sir david..tQ...idham
At 22 April, 2007, Lady Patsy said…
I must confess that I normally tip our local taxi drivers especially when I have to travel at night. I guess its my way of saying "Thank you for dropping me safely at home". Whereas in restaurants, I pay the exact amount coz they are already stiffing us on the service charge even if it happens to be a self-service joint ... so apa nak tip-tip lagi?
At 22 April, 2007, Arif a.k.a Idham said…
lady patsy....me too ...especially of the taxi driver tu polite, and did not even hinted that he expects any extras...then i give even more...:)like to feel that i am doing it sincerely rather than being coerced into it.arif
At 23 April, 2007, atehlaila said…
Hi..first time menjengah..masa kat Indon dulu, memang tips tu kira wajib lah..tapi, okeylah..sebab di layan bagus sekali...
At 25 April, 2007, J.T. said…
Our shock into tipping was in the States. It was from a man who drove the shuttle van to the airport and dutifully unloaded our luggage bags. Before we could take two steps away, to arrange our bags in order, he quickly said, "I work for tips". Needless to say we were embarassed into giving even though I don't think he deserved it. He said no word or a smile during our drive there. He had a sulky face and mumbled something incoherent when he put out bags in the van.A tip is to be given when we are pleased with the service.
At 16 May, 2007, datin said…
Ckp pasal tip ni abg Id...sy pun ada pengalaman gak kat USA tulah...eh bkn sy suami...diakan keje kat restoran jepun masa tu...kayaaaaa..boleh idup atas tip je tau...best...
