It was some time around July last year that I had planned a free and easy tour to Taiwan with my friends, and that was my first visit to the country. The tour lasted for 6 days and it was agreed within the group to check out their MacDonald’s while we were there. The rationale behind doing so was because of rumours about some of the more interesting and exotic flavours like pork burgers, and other localized modifications being available in these places. It is definitely something worth trying, since the Singapore franchise does not sell pork burgers given that they were Halal registered.
Due to the wide variety of local delicacy present, however, we had failed to check out any of the fast food outlets and it was on the last day of our tour that we finally decided to make our way down to the nearest outlet a few streets down in Xi Men Ding for breakfast. The exterior seemed just like any other two-storeys MacDonald’s in Singapore and we made our way to the counters for our orders after finding seats.
Basically, the ordering counter was segregated to two queues where is one is for orders whereas the other for collection. To begin with, the entire experience started with a friendly and chirpy welcome greeting from the staff behind the counter who greeted us in the sweet-sounding tone that Taiwanese girls tend to speak in. This definitely appeared as a stark contrast to the kind of service we had in Singapore, but something very common in the Taiwanese service culture. After placing my order and paid for it, I was politely ushered to another ‘queue’ next to it to wait for my food. The girl responsible for the job placed my food in the tray before giving a 90 degrees bow to thank me for patronizing and hoped that I enjoyed my meal. It was really the last gesture that surprised me, for I was never treated this way and nevertheless to have expected such an encounter in a fast food chain.
The short encounter was one that was certainly pleasant and yet refreshing. This presented to me, a culture difference between Singapore and Taiwan, but more importantly accentuated the difference in terms of service attitude. This in my opinion could be largely related to the Japanese service culture that the Taiwanese had modeled after since Taiwan was once under the rule of Japan during the Second World War.
For those who are interested, I did not find anything spectacular other than bagel in their breakfast menu. And so in the end, I had not tried the ‘legendary’ pork burger which could possibly be due to the meal type offered.
Hi, Li Shan
I was also shocked when I read that the girl gave you a 90 degree bow, which we do not do typically. Japanese seem to do that often, so I agree that their service culture might be influenced by Japanese culture.
Good serving quality always makes customers happy. I think that is the good point that we should learn from them.
Hi Li Shan!
Personally, I have never encountered a service staff doing a 90 degree bow to me. Actually I don't think it makes a difference to me whether the bow is 45 or 90 degrees. To me, good service is showing attentiveness, knowing when to help and when to leave the customer alone, having a genuine smile, saying pleasantries such as "Welcome", "Good morning", "See you again!", or to up one level, have a conversation/friendly joke with the customer.
Looking at the other way round, I think the Taiwanese would experience a cultural change if they get serviced in Singapore. In Singapore, the disparity of treatment can be quite huge, depending on where you patronize.
Thanks for this fairly well detailed description of an interesting observation, LiShan. You give good context to the main incident ad you then focus your cultural eye glasses very well on the behavior of the service girl in McDonalds. I think your interpretation must be correct as well, since it certainly jives with my own experience in Japan and with Taiwan's colonial history.
There are just a few language problems here:
1) The rationale behind so was >>> The rationale behind doing so was
2) we proceeded to find a seat before we make our way >>> verb tense?
3) it was only until the last day >>> it was only on the last day
4) And after placing my order and done with the money transaction, >>> ? (verbs)
5) for I was never treated this way and nonetheless to have expected such an encounter in a fast food chain. >>> ? (nonetheless?)
I appreciate your effort!
Thank you all for the comments! =)
@ Leo: I certainly believe that this is worth learning, well not literally in the exact form but at least I believe we should really learn like what you had said.
@ Yong Feng: I think you are right. Good service should stem from the heart and it is usually the small gestures and minor details that warm our heart. Singapore indeed has a long way to go in terms of service.
@Brad: Thanks for pointing out the grammatical errors and more importantly your compliment. I have also made the necessary changes.