Restaurant etiquette has become a hot topic on the internet since the incident in Johor Bahru. And while local internet celebrity Sunny Coco (Datuk Seow Chau Pen) wasn’t involved in it earlier, he is now, after publicising his opinions of the issue! Needless to say, not everyone has agreed.
Sunny Coco has been locked in a debate about who was in the right after a video of a customer retaliating against a waitress’s request to not drink their outside drinks went viral. Most have been condemning the customer, but Sunny has taken their side, much to netizens’ consternation.
At the end of February, a couple visited a restaurant in Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru with the intention of having a peaceful meal. Supposedly, before their food arrived, the lady was seen taking a sip from her drink, brought in from outside the restaurant. But, she allegedly got upset after a waitress came over with a sign reminding them not to have outside drinks.
She retaliated later by purposefully dripping soup over the table with her utensils. She also complained in a review the the waitress hadn’t said a word when telling them about the rule, only held up a sign, and that it was fine for her to have her drink since she had already finished the one ordered from the restaurant.
The incident went viral, with many scrutinising their actions. But, Sunny Coco argued that the restaurant was in the wrong. In his Facebook post, he claimed the restaurant should not have made a big deal of it and focus more on improving their services. “What the catering industry sells first is service,” he stated firmly.
“If a customer comes into your store and takes a (table) to drink their outside drinks without ordering any of your food, then they are in the wrong,” he opined. “Employees should also (talk to) the customers softly and politely (about it).” Sunny also felt that the waitress should have spoken to the customers about the drink before they entered the shop.
“Also, even if a customer intentionally soils your tabletop, just ask the waiter to clean it up. Why bother making a fuss (about it) online?” he asked. He pointed out that as the restaurant charged for service tax, cleaning the table should fall under it as well. But, netizens weren’t happy, arguing that the lady’s actions were not justified and were disrespectful to the waitress. So, Sunny gave an example to argue his point.
“If you take your child into a restaurant one day, and you order a meal, and your child suddenly wants to drink milk, but the waiter holds up a card to tell you, “sorry, we have fresh milk in the store, our store doesn’t welcome customers bringing in bottles”, what is your reaction?” he asked. “Is the shop in the right or not?” One netizen questioned him comparing a child’s wants to a grown woman’s to make a point, but others defended Sunny, with Sunny himself arguing: “Isn’t the milk in the bottle an outside drink?”
Aside from his example, Sunny also claimed he was merely being vocal about the topic to generate a debate about the issue as he believes the restaurant is attempting to use the incident to nab attention. As such, he has uploaded photos of him dirtying tables in restaurants and mockingly asking if this too will go viral on the internet.
The restaurant has since clarified that their reason for sharing the incident online was not about the drinks nor to generate hype, but to call the customer out for being disrespectful to their staff. They hope people will be kinder and more respectful to those in the catering industry in the future.
Well, as the saying goes, “treat others as how you want to be treated“. After all, there’s a belief if that everyone treats each other with kindness, the world will be a kinder place. Perhaps this can be resolved if everyone learns to look beyond themselves and consider others too.
