Warning : This is going to be a slightly boring long post
3 days ago, a suppose to be high ranking government officer who carries the title Dato' came to my practice. The moment he came in he asked my staff for THE best glasses that we have. My staff not used to people like that then got me out to handle this Dato' personally.
He then introduced himself as Dato' X, A Deputy Director for one of the Ministries (I shall not say the Ministry he is in here) in Malaysia. I then showed him a pair of frames that cost around 1K+. He didn't look very impressed and asked me to guess how much his glasses was worth. I had a look at it and saw a GS engraving on the frame. Never heard of such a brand before so I just said I would not want to speculate. He then told me its worth 3K. I just smiled at him and told him a small town like mine can't afford selling 3k frames to the general public. Anyway, he had a few look at my frames and out of the blue asked me to repair his frames which apparently was a bit bent and loose. I got one of my staff to repair it while I "entertain" the Dato' further. He finally found the frame that he wanted and I proceeded to invite him to my sight test room for further examination. Apparently he was in a rush and said that he would come in the next day to have his eyes tested. Upon leaving he insisted that I follow him to his car (which was parked really nearby) to get his namecard. Probably I gave him the "I don't care" look and did not treat him like a dignitary so he wanted to show me his credentials on paper.
Anyways, I walked with him towards his car. While walking I wondered what kind of Merc or BMW he might be driving and both of us stop in front of a Proton Perdana Executive. He then introduced me to his car! I was like.... huh? You got a Proton Perdana and you are proud of it? Good thing I am only driving my Vios which was incidentally parked opposite his. If I was driving a BMW I would definitely then tell him "nice car Dato, by the way, the car over there is mine". Now that would have been really interesting.
The namecard he gave me does confirm him being an Assistant Director of a GLC company linked to a prominent ministry in Malaysia.
I did have a short conversation with him and to sum it up, this Dato' is a total walking ego trip. I think his best line was and I quote
"Its not easy to manage Malaysia" - I was like, WHAT??!! Your only a bloody Assistant Director of a GLC company providing a service for a Ministry in Malaysia. When at any point are you managing the country??!!
I made a bet with my staff that this Dato' would not be coming back cause I suspect that he only wanted his frames adjusted and made up the whole story that he wanted a pair of new glasses. To my surprise, the Dato' really came back the next day. But now here's the catch, he came in saying he wanted glasses and then told me that the frame I adjusted for him (for FREE) yesterday was still a bit loose.
After me doing the necessary adjustments on the frame and also me refracting his eyes, he then told me if I accept cheque. Knowing that his glasses won't be ready that soon, I told him we would take cheque if he pays for everything today. He nodded and told me he would give me a cheque the next day. I was bloody pissed at that point. I was thinking, is there anyone on earth that goes to buy anything without bringing any money (and the fact that he knows roughly how much it would cost from his first visit yesterday) ?? I then told him that we accept credit card but he replied that he don't have any credit card with him. I was totally flabbergasted.
Safe to say I won't be getting any cheque from this Dato' Tin Kosong as it has been 2 days and I have yet to see his face. Good thing I never did the order for him even though he insisted that the glasses be ready in 4 days time.
Lets see if I am right on this one.
P.S To those that don't know what is Tin Kosong, its Malay meaning empty can. We all know that empty can when hit sounds the loudest but there is actually nothing inside.
11 comments:
only those tin kosong like to do this kind of things.. the name card might be a fake one.. he could support making fake name cards, but not fake cars. fair enough!
Seen many of this kind of Dato's and Tan Sri's before. Inside I am bloody disgusted but of course you have to treat everyone that come into your practice with care so you try to give a straight face while they spew their crapology.
Not an easy job!
haha.. BMW.. not bad not bad... too bad you didn't get to show off with that fella dato'
Aisey, where got boring and long winded la.
Very true story la. Reminds me of many incidences in my past jobs la. Datuk & Datin want this want that, but then after pile everything on the counter, ask for discount worse still if can charge to company (like that you know you'll never gonna get your money), really the tiu wan.
They should go to this shop in Ampang, the owner really no tiu, if ask for discount, the owner tell you to "...go fly kite!" Then he say "you want discount go to hypermarket la!" Sometimes, when I'm in that shop I laff until cry when i see ppl trying to get discount.
Samuel,
I said IF I was driving a BMW lah... haha
Gerald,
I couldn't really ask him to fly kite lah. This kind of tin kosong can be real noisy sometimes and go smear you behind your back. So I rather not step on their toes for the sake of my pocket :P
yeah...the rich people want everyone to service them and pay no fee. gosh, they're really demanding. makes me wish that they'll not recover from their sickness.
i really doubt he's a datuk. if he is...behave like one. don't be so low class :P
Dalicia,
Unfortunately there are plenty of genuine Dato's that behaves this way. Sad but true
I know of a datin who drives a kancil. but this one is a humble datin. Serious! no joke!
Datin in a kancil and she was proud of her kancil. (Though her husband drives a BMW)
The real genuine Dato' that I know are normally low profile. Most of them are really down to earth. Only the one that has the loudest voices are normally the "tin kosong".
really an empty can!
what an attitude! some people used to take advantages of their status...darn pissed off!
I think I am right. Till now the cheque is still no where to be seen
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