Budaya Sambung Meja - uniquely Malaysian!

Bersama keluarga Hj Z and his extended family~!

Budaya Kita...Budaya Sambung Meja!
Saturday, 14 August 2010 05:50

When I was in Kuala Lumpur, my sister from Kelantan and all four of her children and their respective families came visiting us in KL in conjunction with her youngest daughter's convocation. Together with my own family, there were nineteen adults and half a dozen kids. We went to Mid Valley, and decided to have lunch at the Kenny Rogers.

What did we do?

We went to the usher and said, "Nineteen adults and six children!"

The Kenny Rogers girl, straight faced, said, "Give us 5 minutes Encik, kami sambung meja!"

I took a glance into the outlet and wondered how on heaven's earth was she going to do it. The restaurant was already three quarter full.

We hanged around outside, window spying into the nearby Poh Kong. No, none of the girls in Poh Kong believed for a moment that they were about to get lucky with nineteen hungry looking man and woman! They simply ignored us, which was good for my pocket...hahahaha!

"Serious darling, I meant it when I offered you that diamond bracelet, but they did not layan us, so what to do!" I had to explain to my daughter! *Chuckles! teehehehe*

Five minutes plus a few seconds later, the same usher from Kenny Rogers gestured for us to enter. We paraded in to some curious stares from other patrons. Twenty five in all, and all seated around a few tables joined into one very long master dining table. Fantastic!

It was then that i reflected. This is why Malaysia is so unique and Malaysians so special. it is in the culture. We try out best not to let anyone within a group to feel left out. We do what we can to accommodate everybody. The culture of 'Sambung Meja' is uniquely Malaysians!

The same can be seen happening in plush restaurants or in roadside stalls. Part of the training given to waiters and waitresses, it seems, is to take the 'Sambung Meja' task in their stride. No group is too large, and no space is too small. They will always find a way to 'Sambung Meja! and they know the customers simply expect and love it!

No, please don't expect the same overseas. It is not common and not done. Often, all you would get is a shrug of the shoulder and a curl of the lips, "Sorry, you will have to sit separately!"

"Sorry, we are Malaysians, we want to 'Sambung Meja!'" I wonder what would their reaction be if I were to insist with this request.

Exactly the same thing happened when sixteen of STAR old boys met for dinner at the KLGCC as was reported HERE. Instead of sitting comfortably at two tables of eight, we changed the big comfortable chairs with narrower ones to fit 16 around ONE table.

Guess what? We were even more comfortable. Sitting elbow to elbow, we were able to share jokes, and connect eye to eye with everyone present. No one was left out!