P and Q

When I was little, I read this short story in one of the Enid Blyton's about this girl who always forgot to say Please and Thank you. So, her mother told her, everytime she forgot to say Please, she will pin a small piece of cloth with a big letter P on her frock and same as for Thank you, with a big letter Q.

After a few days, her frock is full of Ps and Qs and she started to cry because she was ashamed. Her mother then said, each time when she remembers to say the word Please and Thank you, she will take off that piece of cloth from her frock one by one. And of course, in the end, it is a lesson learned for that girl and she never forgets to say those 2 magical words.

I say they are 2 magical words. Whenever you ask someone for help, it is more polite to say please or tolong. Then, when the work is finished, saying thank you won't hurt, isn't it?

Well, just now I went through the forum for my ministry's community. There is this topic call "suara hati" and a few subtopics related to that issue. The sad thing is, many complained that the officers are very rude and saying tolong or terima kasih seems like the hardest words to say.

I wonder, how humongous is their ego when they can't even utter those words to their subordinates.

Last Hari Raya, I can't remember any of the kids saying thank you when receiving raya angpau and the parents couldn't be bothered to ask them to say it.

Now, I have my 2 anak buah at home. And whenever they ask something like, "Che Yaya nak air masak" I will rephrase their sentences, "Che' Yaya, TOLONG ambilkan air masak". And if they don't repeat the sentence, no air masak for you kiddo. Garang tak? :D