Kiam Siap.

The Chinese are scrooges. Thats the stereotype that has been perpetuated for generations, and I was a little skeptical about it. I figured times have changed, and so have people. Working has just shown me that old habits really do die hard.

For the first few weeks of work, I was content with taking orders and punching them in. Until the store manager decided that we need to make more money and told us all to push the average purchase of each customer up. There are a number of ways to do this, of which the easiest is to suggest extra cheese. Then we could ask if they would like some fries or some more bread or ice cream for dessert. RM15 per customer is supposed to be the target.

It was only when I made a conscious effort to see if I can sell more did I notice who were the people that usually do the buying. Customers coming in are split pretty even between the Chinese and the Malays. Indians show up only occasionally. Of the groups, this is how I would rank their tight-fistedness. The freest spenders are the middle easterners, (who thanks to MMU show up in respectable numbers) followed by the Malays, Indians and then the Chinese.

The middle easterners are not really open to suggestions. They typically know exactly what they want, and will order a lot of it. Screw combo meals, its ala carte all the way. And I never have to ask if they want extra cheese. They will ask for it right after making a pizza selection.

The Malays on the other hand, always seem to be looking for a good time and are normally quite happy to follow you as you lead them around the menu. "Nak extra cheese tak?" A lot of the time, the answer is "Boleh lah". They are also more likely to pander to their kid's request for a milkshake which would add substantially to the bill.

Now when I ask if a Chinese family if they want extra cheese, the person with the menu normally furrows his/her eyebrows and look at the rest of the family. The whole clan will then come to the conclusion that the extra expense is unnecessary and will politely decline. The Chinese are also much more likely to try and make the set meals work for them, adjusting preferences and decisions so that they may save RM14.50. And when I walk away from a table with a order for one set, and nothing else to go with it, you can bet that it was a Chinese family.

I think all this scrooginess is in the Chinese blood. Its been passed down from generations ago, and I think the position that the Chinese have in the economy right now can be credited to the kedekutness that they show. Its not really a bad thing actually. I think I have a bit of that streak as well. =)