The Khmer Way XIV

旅途上，我们都想一切顺利，不想有任何不开心的事情发生。但是，难免会遇上一些不愉快的。通常，我们会埋怨它使我们的旅途蒙上黑点。往正面去想的话，我们为何不把它当成‘遗憾美’来欣赏呢？假以时日，他很可能是我们回忆里，最耀眼的一颗‘亮点’！

I had a bad impression of our Tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh. He was doing a good job. But, everything vanished when he ‘begged’ for extra tips on top of the payment we were supposed to pay, at the end of the ‘rental’. We did tip him, however, unwillingly.

inside Central Market

We were actually thinking of taking a photograph with him as remembrance. But, we thought: forget about it la! Forget about him too!

Tipping is not something oneself could ask for, but to earn it! We too tipped the tuk-tuk driver & guide in Siem Reap for the wonderful job they had done. Even if we didn’t tip, they shouldn’t have begged for it.

Wat Phnom

Oh well, it’s a whole new ‘tipping’ world that I have just encountered. Luckily in Malaysia, it’s still uncommon to tip.

Was it the tourists, especially the Westerners, to be blamed for ‘blooming’ the culture of ‘tipping’ or the art of ‘begging’?

11/7/08