Service Staff Who Can Only Speak Chinese

last SG · 2008-12-01T12:54:45+00:00

either way we r TIONG-ed!it's a good thing i'm more comfortable in speakin mandarin.n one more thing, sinkies r not very good in english either, tok bout cri...

gasband SG

If you can speak in mandarin, just do so lah. Dun need to make such a big fuss. But i think its reasonable to say that they should be trained in basic English to serve the needs of our non-chinese friends. And if you are in a business where your products need to be explained in English, please make sure your chinese staff know lah... I went to buy some chocolates and the Chocolates only have French words on it and I ask the staff what flavour it is, she tell she dun know...what the hell...

I think it is not necessary to speak excellent English but:

1. basic english to attend to the needs of non-chinese friends and customers.

2. Product knowledge is a must, its not a matter of English or Chinese. Its a matter of service.

I am fortunate that I am pretty ok with my languages (that saved me during my O levels, my maths and sciences sucked haha). So i can communicate in both english and mandarin or Hokkien and Teochew if I have to haha.

Honeybunz SG

I suggest when we encounter such service staff, we insist on speaking in English. If they fail to deliver good service due to communication barrier, lodge a complaint.

How will they feel if we go china to work and refuse to speak their language?

They simply think highly of themselves and do not see the need to spare a thought for non mandarin speaking singaporean. they just don't see the need to show singaporeans any respect.

Shotgun SG

I think it is not necessary to speak excellent English but:

1. basic english to attend to the needs of non-chinese friends and customers.

2. Product knowledge is a must, its not a matter of English or Chinese. Its a matter of service.

Actually, No. I will not entertain them especially if they are in the service industry.

They are here to work, and they will assimilate themselves to our society, not the other way round. If they are unwilling to assimilate, then they should pack up and leave.

Problem is, most of them are so rude that they don't even apologise in mandarin for being unable to communicate. That really gets on my nerves!

gasband SG

I suggest when we encounter such service staff, we insist on speaking in English. If they fail to deliver good service due to communication barrier, lodge a complaint.

How will they feel if we go china to work and refuse to speak their language?

They simply think highly of themselves and do not see the need to spare a thought for non mandarin speaking singaporean. they just don't see the need to show singaporeans any respect.

What if the staff is sincerely apologetic about her/his language inadequacy? And what if you really can speak mandarin? Why make things difficult for that person? What if that person just wanna earn some extra cash? What if he/she is in the midst of taking English lessons to brush up her/his English?

FireIce SG

yes, sometimes i perpersly speak all the way in english, and cheem english so that they 知难而退 and find me a senior who can attend to me more professionally
or i simply go to elsewhere

gasband SG

Actually, No. I will not entertain them especially if they are in the service industry.

They are here to work, and they will assimilate themselves to our society, not the other way round. If they are unwilling to assimilate, then they should pack up and leave.

Problem is, most of them are so rude that they don't even apologise in mandarin for being unable to communicate. That really gets on my nerves!

I accept what you said. Its true some of these Chinese staff from China are rude about it. They seem to suggest sometimes through their expressions that we owe them a living instead of giving us a smile for buying things from them. Those are no longer the issue of language, that is the problem of attitude which is not contained to just China chinese or non-chinese staff.

But not all are like that. I do have good experiences for Chinese staff who make an effort to speak in English or apologise if they do not understand me and try to get someone else to help. And if there is no one else, I can speak in Mandarin, no issues with me.

rainee SG

Those who are apologetic are tolerable. I will eventually feel sorry for him/her and will speak to them in broken Mandarin to help them to understand, otherwise I will get my husband to translate for me (if he is there).

It is those rude ones that I can't stand. Like take for granted everyone must speak the way they do. And made sarcastic comments like."Wa, you chinese oso dunno how to speak chinese ah...". What right do you have to judge me who is your customer??

FireIce SG

singapore is famous for bad or no customer service
but now we know it's not singaporeans' fault

Shotgun SG

Agree. Sometimes, depending on my mood, I will tell them that they have to learn the language because we are a multi-racial society. Just like how Mandarin is the common language in China, English is our common language here.

If I had to go China to work, I will have to suck thumb and brush up on my mandarin man.

gasband SG

Yeah then those are not language issues, those are attitude issues like I said. And I encounter them everywhere. Asia also have. Australia also kena. Go Europe the Ang Moh also like that haha.

skythewood SG

english is indeed the primary working language in singapore. but i don't think it is wrong to assume chinese can speak chinese. i bet you will assume most indians can speak tamil or most malay can speak malay too.

fudgester SG

Once, I was at Sim Lim Tower, trying to buy some electronic components....

Me: Ten resistors, 1 kiloohms, please.

PRC salesgirl: Har? What?

Me: I want 1 kiloohm resistors, and I want ten of them.

PRC: Huh.... kee-loh-om?

Me: I WANT ONE KILO-OHM RESISTORS!!!!

PRC: One kilogram?

Me: NO! NO! NO! ONE KILO-OHM!!!

PRC: (hands me a piece of paper, and gestures at me to write it down)

Me: (writes down '1k ohm x 10 resistors' in English)

PRC: Uhh..... (goes off to find boss to find out what I just wrote)

Basic English: FAIL. Product Knowledge: SUPER FAIL.

rainee SG

Yeah then those are not language issues, those are attitude issues like I said. And I encounter them everywhere. Asia also have. Australia also kena. Go Europe the Ang Moh also like that haha.

It is an attitude issue linked to language lol.

skythewood SG

Once, I was at Sim Lim Tower, trying to buy some electronic components....

Me: Ten resistors, 1 kiloohms, please.

PRC salesgirl: Har? What?

Me: I want 1 kiloohm resistors, and I want ten of them.

PRC: Huh.... kee-loh-om?

Me: I WANT ONE KILO-OHM RESISTORS!!!!

PRC: One kilogram?

Me: NO! NO! NO! ONE KILO-OHM!!!

PRC: (hands me a piece of paper, and gestures at me to write it down)

Me: (writes down '1k ohm x 10 resistors' in English)

PRC: Uhh..... (goes off to find boss to find out what I just wrote)

Basic English: FAIL. Product Knowledge: SUPER FAIL.

hiring someone who have no product knowledge is fail.

rainee SG

I have already mentioned, there are too many dialects in Chinese. You can assume that a Chinese speak Chinese in some way or another but not all can speak Mandarin.

Not all Indians can speak Tamil either.

gasband SG

It is an attitude issue linked to language lol.

Ya maybe...just that when I was in Paris restaurant, when i asked the waiter over and order Chicken Chop, he gave me a "you are a 2nd class citizen becos you spoke english look" and pretend not to understand me and replied me in some French words and ask me to point to him in the menu. Yeah so its attitude linked to language haha

rainee SG

That is expected cos French are very passionate about their own language. And French is the national language there, so it is reasonable to expect people there to converse in it.

skythewood SG

I have already mentioned, there are too many dialects in Chinese. You can assume that a Chinese speak Chinese in some way or another but not all can speak Mandarin.

Not all Indians can speak Tamil either.

yup, that's why i say most indians speak tamil, not all indians.

yes, chinese has alot of dialect, but there is the most popular one that is taught in school.

i can't speak dialect, so i can't talk to some of the older singaporeans, but don't think the china people talk in dialect. do they talk to you in a dialect like cantonese or something?

rainee SG

yup, that's why i say most indians speak tamil, not all indians.

yes, chinese has alot of dialect, but there is the most popular one that is taught in school.

i can't speak dialect, so i can't talk to some of the older singaporeans, but don't think the china people talk in dialect. do they talk to you in a dialect like cantonese or something?

No, they usually speak to me in Mandarin with their heavy China accent which sometimes make it hard for me to understand.

What I mean is, why is it always expected for every chinese to know Mandarin? They are not forgetting their roots if they do know of some of other chinese dialects. It just happens that those dialects are not as popular as Mandarin.

I hate it when people come up to me and say that I am a banana or potato because I can't speak Mandarin that fluently. I happen to speak in English most of the time now because if I speak Hokkien, nobody except the older generation would understand me.

elindra SG

It's really quite terrible especially for the non-chinese who can't speak mandarin in Singapore and it's not fair to them because the official business language is English

And if the old hokkien speaking uncle at the kopitiam can learn to speak English, I don't see why those young PRCs can't!

Then again I think they think Mandarin is the only language in the world. Just last month I think there was this article about this PRC guy who got beaten up in a PRC resturant in China because he placed an order in English because he had been living in USA for like the past 10 or 20 years and is used to speaking English.

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