Malaysia is not a country where tipping is common, and ended up lots of Malaysian don’t really understand the ettique of tipping, or simply saying don’t know how to tip.
First off, no one is obligated to tip for any occassion in Malaysia. We can choose to tip if we like the service of some sort and wanted to show our appreciation, although sometimes a simple thank you is good enough. But if we want to tip, tip properly.
In Malaysia the most common tipping is during dining, common practice in US and Europe is to tip 10-20% of the bill, and it’s quite a fair rate on most situations.
Take note however, lots of Malaysia higher-end restaurants already included a 10% service tax on the bill, so it’s up to us whether we want to include further tipping.
Althought it’s said that there’s nothing as too small of a tipping, one thing that we must try to avoid is to leave just a few cents on the table..
Say if the waiter or waitress bring us the change with a few coins, just leave it there, don’t be so stingy to take all the big coins and leave a few cents on the table, that’s insulting.
Seriously we would have give more than a few cents to a beggar if we want to. So if we got back our change and it’s less than a dollar or two, just leave everything or take everything.
Else we might even add a few bucks on the table if you really enjoy the meal.
We don’t normally see tipping in Malaysia other than for food and beverages.. can’t recall anything else now.
Something special for me is during raining season, I like to take delivery orders from pizzas and that’s the time I’m normally generous with tipping, depends on how heavy the rain is during the delivery.
So.. any tipping concept you want to share?
June 4th, 2006 at 1:11 am
Totally depends on the service that i receive,cos you know my dad sells food so i will also actually not judge the people too much haha..cos providin g services is difficult no matter what…for cab i will always round of to nearest dollar….pizza yeapz i would round off to nearest dollar or sometimes keep the change depending on the weather or perhaps how the delivery guy greets me(haha weird i noe but sometimes a very smiley delivery person makes my day)
June 4th, 2006 at 7:26 am
how about tipping after a good haircut in a salon? tipping is common here in the Phils. Its like, if you give a tip you are generous and rich. pffft.
anyway, i don’t.
June 4th, 2006 at 7:06 pm
Joshy.. I’m not sure about cabs in Malaysia, the last time I took a cab is from airport which was a fix rate from the counter. As said tipping in Malaysia are still pretty uncommon other than in food and beverages. Anyhow rounding to nearest dollars is always a good idea.
Laarni.. depends on how you frequent the place. If you are generous in tips you know you will get a bit of extra service with the places that you frequent.
June 5th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Nah….I dont tip in Malaysia. After all, the taxes are already so high - no need to tip lar. Unlike in US where like u said, I think its compulsory. Weird right?
June 5th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
like wad u said.. there is already service charge.. so i dun find there’s a need to tip..
June 5th, 2006 at 6:54 pm
Yvy.. I wouldn’t say it’s compulsory in US, it’s more like culture. Actually tipping is originated from US if not mistaken, TIPS actually means something like To Insure Proper Service.
alicia.. you are right. That’s nothing wrong for not tipping in Malaysia, just that I saw too many people tipping in a rather laughable manner. I just hope to see people tipping in a more proper manner, otherwise it’s better to not tip at all.
June 7th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
I met a business partner from US who told me that it is very weird to have “compulsory tax” here. The defination of TAX for him is some how related to the provided services. Some restorants provides very lousy services and he still need to give TAX.
In US, not paying TAX is consider rude. However, they will do that for waiter who are rude also..
June 10th, 2006 at 2:23 am
Rude waiter also got tips arh? Sure kah? I’m not sure really, maybe it’s true also.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
[...] is not a common practice in Malaysia. Whether or not you tip in a majority of situations is up to you. You will find that [...]