Holland Tourists' China Visa Problem

On the 11th Aug 2009, I took a Guang Dong group from China. The group consists of 25 adults and 8 children. Among the the tourists, there are 2 tour members from Holland.

Their itinerary is that I pick them up from KLIA ( Kuala Lumpur International Airport ) and immediately transfer them to put up a night at Melaka. Then early in the morning we will tour the Melaka city tour. After the city tour, we will head for Singapore.

So, I have to send the tourists to Singapore for a night. This means that after sending off the group, I will have to spend a night at Johor Bahru with my driver. The next day then only we will receive the group again at 2pm from the Gelang Patah immigration point.

After picking them up, the group will directly go to Genting Highlands. Usually we will reach Genting Highlands very late at about 9pm as it is a very long journey from the check in point to Genting Highlands. I will be able to finish work by 11pm.

The next day again, early in the morning we will check out from the hotel and head towards Kuala Lumpur for the city tour.

The above mentioned itinerary is a new itinerary for the China Guang Dong group. This is again one of the most economic tour group for the tourists and that’s why this kind of itinerary is getting more popular.

So, when I am taking this group, the two tour members from Holland ( a father and his daughter ) came to tell me about the visa problem. The father told me that his daughter’s China visa has expired and asked me if it is possible to arrange the visa for his daughter.

It was a hectic tour and I told him it is not possible to arrange for the visa. So, after gone through the tour, we were heading to airport.

I told the receptionist that there are 2 foreigners from Holland in the China group. She checked the China visa for both the tourists. She found out that the visa expiry date for the daughter.

She told me according to the IATA regulations, it is not possible to arrange the embarkation card for the daughter. She said that if she issue the embarkation card to the tourist who does not have the China visa, the Holland tourist will not be able to go into China. Hence, she will be sent back again to Malaysia and the Malaysia airline will be penalize for her mistake. And for this mistake, she will receive a warning letter.

So, I told the father about this matter and they decided to buy the flight ticket to Hong Kong. While we were at the MAS office to purchase the ticket, the lady also did not want to issue the flight ticket to the Holland tourists. According to the MAS sales person, the Holland tourists must have an onward flight ticket, then only she can issue the Hong Kong flight ticket. So, finally the Holland tourist has no choice but to buy the return ticket for her daughter as well in order for his daughter to go into China from Hong Kong.

So, my point here is that this is a very great lesson for tour guides and a very good experience for me as well. It is very important that tour guides should know about the IATA regulations as well. So, the next time when your tourists do not have visa for the destination country, make sure that you know the procedure about it.

When Is The Best Time To Visit Malaysia???

Throughout my profession, I have been asked by tourists when is the BEST time to visit Malaysia...so here I would like to share with you with my own opinion when should be the best time to visit Malaysia.

First of all, before visiting Malaysia, one has to know what are the reasons or motives of visiting Malaysia. This is because the tourists can have various reasons for visiting Malaysia.

For those eco tourists enthusiasts, please be well aware that it is not suitable to visit Malaysia during the monsoon season. Malaysia's monsoon season is usually from November till February.

Even though Malaysia is well known for its wetness, but the monsoon season is the wettest of all. It rains so heavily that usually the north east of Malaysia ( Terengganu and Kelantan ) is flooded.

For those who are interested to go for diving, please be well aware that those islands at the north east of Malaysia, namely Pulau Redang, Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Kapas, Pulau Lang Tengah, etc. are closed due to the monsoon season.

Other than the monsoon season, any time is the best time to visit Malaysia.

But please don't misunderstand that during the monsoon season is not suitable to visit other parts of Malaysia. As I have mentioned, it depends on the reasons for you to visit Malaysia. If you are visitting Malaysia for the sake of enjoying Malaysia, then of course ANY TIME IS BEST TIME TO VISIT MALAYSIA.

But then, for the shopaholics and fruit connoisseurs, the best time to visit Malaysia is always during the month of July and August.

For the shopaholics, the annual Malaysia mega sales is held during this time. All shopping complexes throughout the country will organise crazy sales during this time of the year. Unbelievable prices for clothings, electronical products, etc can be bought.

As for the fruit lovers, it is the Malaysia fruit season of the year. Every where you go in Malaysia, you will bound into fruit stalls selling variety of local fruits. One of the best durian species, Mau San Wang ( in Mandarin, and if translated in English it means King cat of the hill ) is at its cheapest price during this time of the year. During the normal season, this durian price can fetch up to RM42.00 per kilo. But during the fruit season, its usually at RM18.00 per kilo. One can even buy mangosteen at RM10 for 3 kilograms.

As for divers, those who go for diving at the north east Malaysia reported that the whales and dolphins can be seen during this time of the year. Last month ( June ), when we went for our company trip to Langkawi, we saw a school of dolphins swimming around. This is indeed an unforgettable experience!!!

Cost of Drink Driving Tourists To Other Places

Cost of drink driving tourists to other places

By K.P.WARAN

One of the main draws of Malaysia is its great food and beverage sector. But the country stands to lose tourists to neighbouring rivals if it does not relook the price structure, especially for alcoholic beverages.

MALAYSIA’S culinary attractions have long been a hot topic of discussion among locals and foreigners alike.

Ask Malaysians what they miss most when they are overseas and they will most likely reply “the food”. Ask foreigners what they enjoy most when they visit and they’ll also probably say: “the food”.

Statistics from Tourism Malaysia show that last year, tourists spent a whopping RM8.77bil on food and beverage, the third highest tourism sector to rake in the ringgit after accommodation and shopping. The F&B sector last year saw a 5.2% growth on the RM8.34bil spent in 2007, thanks largely to the culinary accomplishments of both local and foreign chefs.

Tourism Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen recently announced that a total of 20 million tourists are targeted to arrive this year, down from 22 million last year. One of her strategies to raise tourism revenue is to make them stay longer and spend more money here, including on food and beverage.

With the slowdown of the global economy and with the expected decrease in overseas visitors, the need to focus on tourists who are willing to spend more money in the country cannot be underscored.

Newly-appointed Tourism Malaysia chairman Datuk Dr Victor Wee Eng Lye is quick to admit that fine dining – involving both local cuisines and international fare – has a lot of potential for growth and the sector has always been one of the priority promotion areas. The former secretary-general of the ministry said activities involving promotion of the food and beverages sector has focused on the diversity of food available in Malaysia with its unique blend of ingredients, spices and tastes brought about by the “melting pot” of different ethnic groups in the country.

“While we aspire to be a major shopping hub, this programme runs hand-in-hand with the promotion of making dining and spa facilities premier attractions for tourists,” he said in an interview.

Wee admitted that one of the major complaints from food outlet operators is that while the price of food is reasonable and competitive in the region, the high prices of alcoholic beverages tend to be a put-off, since fine dining in the Western world is often accompanied by wine, whisky, beer and stout.

“Unfortunately, wine and beer have become a victim of the so-called sin tax here. It is important to see beyond this issue and look at the implications of higher taxes and look at ways to be competitive, especially when our neighbours have much to offer under this category,” he said.

Wee said during budget dialogues and proposals and recommendations submitted to the Treasury prior to a new budget, the issue of not raising taxes for alcoholic beverages is often stressed.

He said that apart from supporting events such as the Malaysian International Gourmet Festival, road shows involving celebrity chefs and food festivals hosted by hotels here, efforts to promote Malaysian food overseas in Britain, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore and China were continuous, with the aim of bringing awareness of Malaysian cuisine and luring tourists here.

Deloitte Consulting Southeast Asia Sdn Bhd, which carried out a study in July last year called the “Economic and Social Impact Assessment for the beer industry in Malaysia” indicated that the excise duty on beer is the highest in Asia and second highest in the world after Norway.

The report also said beer consumption has been on a downward trend over the last 17 years, with consumers switching to drinks that are cheaper and of higher alcohol content.

The report added that surveys carried out in Malaysia among tourists showed that almost 50% of European tourists and at least one third of Asian tourists view beer and stout prices as expensive and concluded that it would be to the mutual interest of the Government and industry to maintain the current level of excise duty on beer and stout.

Guinness Anchor Berhad (GAB) managing director Charles Ireland said that while Malaysia offers exciting tourism products, lovely beaches, nature at its best, warm people and great dining experiences which are about the best in Asia, the high tax on alcoholic beverages has an effect on potential tourists.

He noted that between 1991 and 2006, excise duties on beer and stout have increased by a total of 169%, resulting in a 14% decline of the market.

“Those who have visited the region will come to realise that they can get more reasonably priced food and entertainment elsewhere and they also sub-consciously feel that Malaysia is not interested in Westerners who enjoy a beer after a hot day of sightseeing.”

“The taxes on alcoholic beverages here are so high that Malaysia is about five years ahead of other countries in the region. My suggestion is either we maintain current tax levels until the countries catch up with us or the authorities seriously consider restructuring the tax regime as has been done by some South-East Asian nations,” Ireland said.

Malaysian Association of Hotels vice president Ivo R. Nekvapil also believes that lower taxation on alcoholic beverages would help the F&B sector to be a drawcard for foreign tourists.He said that in order to offer competitive prices for tourists, fine dining outlets and hotels should also re-look their price structure since some of them charge three or four times what is charged by normal restaurants.

He added that in the hotel industry, 60% of the revenue is generated from accommodation, 40% comes from F&B and in some hotels the ratio is 50:50.

“Good food, good service and reasonable pricing can bring more tourists and locals into these eateries and this is crucial in these times of economic slowdown where people are tightening their belts,” he said.

> K.P. Waran, a former journalist, is now a training consultant.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As a tour guide, I strongly oppose this opinion that the expensive alcoholic drink is chasing away other tourists to our neighbour country.

Yeah, certainly when the tourists found out that the alcoholic beverages is just as expensive as in Singapore, they accept it. Furthermore, after explaining to them that Malaysia is a Muslim country, they will definitely accept it.

In fact, just like tobacco, everyone knows that Singapore has one of the strictest law against tobacco. In Malaysia, due to our local regulations, the tourists are also not allowed to smoke in a lot of places. Do they complain about this or turn away from us? Certainly not at all. In fact, some of them really admire us and even told me that after visiting Singapore and Malaysia, they quit smoking. We are actually helping the tourists from all these sins!

The tourists come to Malaysia for other reasons : Our shopping paradise, diversity in culture and traditions, our greenery, etc.

There are so many reasons as to why the tourists come to our country. So, the pricey alcoholic beverage is definitely a very minor issue.

As for food, Malaysia is definitely a food paradise due to its multi ethnic background.

But then again it depends on the profile of the tourists. The Asian tourists, generally do not accept other food easily. For example, most of the Indian tourists are vegetarian. The Arabs will even bring their cooking utensils to cook their own meals in the hotel rooms.

Of course, if you ever ask any Malaysians, they will happily boast off what are the good food there in their hometown or where they are staying.

Super VIP Group ( Guang Dong )

On the 10th Sept 2009 to 14th Sept 2009 I was assigned to take a group from Guang Dong. Following is their itinerary:

10th Sept Arrival from Hanoi at 1.20pm KLIA. Lunch. Transfer to Istana Hotel.
11th Sept Lunch. KL City tour. Dinner.
12th Sept Send the group for meeting at Shangri La hotel at 9am. Transfer back to Istana Hotel and dinner.
13th Sept Lunch. Transfer to Melaka Renaissance hotel. Dinner.
14th Sept Melaka City tour. Lunch and transfer to Tuas, Singapore at 5pm.

No of pax : 8 + 1 ( Using a whole 40 seater tourists bus )

Here I would like to share my experience with these so called Super VIP tourists from Guang Dong, China...

Firstly, for your information, I was having fever from the day I recieved the guests till the final day I sent off the guests. It is very important for tour guides to know that once we are assigned to a group, we are attached to the group and we should take the responsibility no matter we are in what kind of situation. So, I was down with fever but still I have to lead the group.

On the first day, my travel agent boss and I were all the way in the KLIA terminal to recieve these Super VIP guests. Upon recieving them, the guests are sent to the 5th floor Eden restaurant for their lunch. After lunch, I have to transfer them to the Istana hotel.

While in the bus on the way to the hotel, as usual, I am giving my introductory commentary on Malaysia generally. Then suddenly, the boss of this group, put up both legs right on top of the front seat. And worst of all, using his fingers to dig into his nose. ( A good tolerance for tour guides... a very common bad habit of China tourists where they like to take off their shoes and put up their legs on right on top of the seat. )

At night, sent the group for dinner. Only 2 of the tourists turned up for the dinner. I was told the others were having their own arrangements since they have their friends entertaining them here. While at the dinner, I was told by the tour leader that the boss loves to eat salted fish. So, if possible try to arrange salted fish for every meal.

From here, I realised that in most of our Chinese restaurants, it is rather difficult to get salted fish as part of the meal. Seems that hardly Chinese will go for salted fish for the meals.

The next day, I was early to prepare to take the VIP's for lunch and city tour. Only 3 of the guests and my tour leader turned up. So, I sent them for lunch.

After lunch, I was told they did not want to go for city tour. I have to send them to KLCC and wait for them there. Then send one of them to Shangrila for a short meeting and send the rest back to the hotel. Then wait for information for dinner.

While waiting for the group for dinner, I was told by my tour leader, I have to arrange part of the guests to go for dinner at Seremban and the boss for dinner at Concorde hotel. I told the tour leader, I can only arrange one group whereby the other group has to arrange it himself.

Finally, it was decided that I have to send the group to Seremban for dinner and the boss will go to Concorde hotel himself. The guests were having dinner at Seremban and we reached hotel only at about 11pm.

The next day, 8.30am started the journey to Shangrilan for the meeting. Everyone was very punctual. I was told by the tour leader I have to standby at 11.30am to send the boss to the hotel to rest.

But after waiting and waiting, at 1pm, the tour leader called and asked me to send them back to the hotel. At 2.30pm, again got to send them back to the Shangrila. Then at 3.30pm send them back to Istana hotel again. And finally wait for instruction on what time to take them for the dinner.

Later, I was told by the tour leader that I have to make arrangements for the boss to have dinner at One World hotel and also dinner for the rest of the guests.

I had a discussion with my travel agent boss. It was agreed that the bus driver will send the boss and tour leader to One World hotel whereby I will use my car to send the rest of the guests for dinner.

The boss supposed to have dinner at One World at 7.30pm. I have told the tour leader, its best to be early at 5.30pm to start the journey there. But my tour leader insisted its too early and she did not want that the boss reaching there too early. I told her it will be very jam and its far away from the hotel. But she insisted on going at 6pm.

Then, at 7.30 suddenly I recieved a phone call from my tour leader asking me whether the driver know the direction to the hotel. And the driver told me it is terible jam every where and he could do nothing about it. The tour leader was blaming me for not organising it properly for her. I was very angry for getting the blame.

Later I was told by the tour leader, the boss is not going to Melaka with us. He has a dinner in KL and he will need transportation from KL to Melaka. So, I was asked to make the arrangement.

The next day, while waiting to take them for lunch, suddenly the boss said that he need not transportation arrangement from KL to Melaka. I told the tour leader to better make sure of this because once the transportation is cancelled, I cant help him any more at the very last minute. The tour leader told me to give her another hour before deciding on this matter.

So, while having lunch, the tour leader later told me the boss decide to have the arranged transportation from KL to Melaka again.

The boss did not join us to Melaka. Only 5 tour members joined us. One of the tour members has gone back to Guang Dong at the last minute. While on the way to Melaka, we made a trip to Putrajaya.

Reached Melaka at about 5pm. Then took the group for dinner at Nyonya Suan restaurant. Wanted to get something special for them, so I thought its good that I can arrange a baba and nyonya food for them.

Too bad that the tourists do not really enjoy the food. The good thing is that they told me that they are not used to the food. ( M saying this is because if its for those normal China tourists they will be saying the food is not tasty. But maybe because these tourists are more exposed and travelled a lot, they were saying the proper thing that is they are not used to the food. )

However, luckily that upon their requests, the owner of the restaurant managed to prepare a big bowl of porridge and salted fish for them. So, they basically enjoyed this simple meal.

While on the way back to the hotel, the assistant boss inquired me if I can make arrangement for him to play golf. I was told by the hotel staff I can only find out from the concierge captain at 7am the next morning.

So, I have no choice, arranged my own 7am morning call. Then I personnally went down to look for the concierge captain to inquire about the golfing. I was told that it is Sunday so I cant make any golfing arrangement. I waited till 7.30am and called up the assistant boss to inform him that I am sorry that I cant make the golfing arrangement.

At about 9am, I suddenly recieved a phone call from the concierge requesting me to call up the assistant boss to inform him that the golfing arrangement cannot be made. ( It is very usual of the China tourists for not believing tour guides even though we have put in the effort to make the arrangement for them. They will some way some how try to make arrangement on their own. )

The final day, we are going for Melaka city tour and then transfer them to Singapore.

When we were stopping our bus near the Sam Poh temple, everyone was waiting for the boss to make a decision whether to tour the temple. Finally, the boss decided to get down to have a look on what is there in the temple.

Even though, I tried hard to give commentary about the temple and about Cheng Ho, but the boss and the rest just refused to follow. I have to follow them instead. I had a hard time to explain to them on what is there in the temple.

When we reached at the red house, the boss decided not to go for the Dutch buildings tour. So, we went for lunch at the Beijing Restaurant.

While having lunch, one of the tour members told me that the boss is not feeling well. The boss needs to look for a Chinese medical shop to buy some medicine. I told him I will try my best and it is not easy as it is Sunday because most of the shops are closed.

So after lunch, I told the driver to drive to Jalan Bunga Raya to see if there is any Chinese medical shop available. While driving slowly, I finally found there is one Chinese medical shop open.

So, the bus was stopping by the road side and I follow the boss to go to the medical shop. The boss just took his own sweet time to list down the herbal and did not even bother if the bus is blocking the rest of the vehicle. Finally, I have no choice but to call up the driver to ask him to make one round.

The businessman packed the medicine as requested by the boss. And we started our journey to Singapore. We finally reached Singapore at 5.30pm.

Please take note that for such VVIP China groups needs lots of tolerance on the part of the tour guides.

The guests will behave as if they are the kings and are very demanding. Their requests and needs changed all the time.

All the guests are really afraid of the boss. They will all bow and only listen to the boss. As a foreigner, you will be very surprised the way the subordinates treat the boss. They are so afraid of the boss and meet every demand of their boss.

Its one of a torturous group for me as a tour guide to tolerate the ever changing wants and needs of these guests. The five days with them is just like years with them and the time is so difficult to past compared to the normal group.

However, finally I am happy that I finally achieved to send them to Singapore happily without any bad incidence.

Why Do You Want To Be A Tour Guide?

During the tour guide examination, when I asked the trainees "Why do you want to be a tour guide? " Their answer most likely will be as below.

If you asked any tour guides, why do you love and want to be a tour guide? The answer mostly likely will be as stated below.

If you meet any laymen, and when they knew your professional, they will feel so amused on your occupation and envy you on having such a good occupation.

These are generally the answers most trainees and tour guides will tell you and the realistic situation on being a tour guide. So, here I would like to give a better view on the work of a tour guide and also on why I love this job very much...

1) Meeting People
It is very normal for most tour guides to answer this because naturally during the work of a tour guide, we bound to meet new people. This is one of a very main quality which is very much needed in a tour guide. Should you do not have such a quality, then I should say it is best you don't be a tour guide.

Meeting new people is always fun. You will be able to see all kind of people. Some young and old, friendly and nasty, hypocrites and humble, etc. Sometimes you will even find that these nasty ones will always test on how good your temper is.

2) Travelling
Of course, being a tour guide, we travel very frequently. One day I might be in Johor Bahru and the next day I will be in Genting Highlands.

Most people will always admire us when we said we are a tour guide. They will be thinking that we always go to new places, stay in luxury hotel, eat good food, visit new places and always meet new friends. They never realise that in fact the places that we travel are very routine, the food that we consumed is worst than the tourists except that of course meeting new people.

Of course if I want to list down the pros and the contras, it will be listless. However, in my opinion of course in order for someone to be successful in his/her career, he/she must firstly love his/her own career. I for sure love my career as a tour guide and my reason for being a tour guide is very different than others...

1) My love for Malaysia
Malaysia is a very beautiful country. We are blessed with 365 days of shiny and rainy days. As such we are so rich in nature. There are so many types of flora and fauna in the country.

Malaysia truly asia. The slogan itself shows that Malaysia is very rich in heritage and culture.

I will be able to introduce Malaysia to the world at large and give them a better understanding of what Malaysia is all about. Most tourists have so many misunderstandings about Malaysia. I want them to past the word of mouth around how beautiful Malaysia is...

2) Knowledge
Most of Malaysians took for granted what we have in our country for example the plants and the beauty scenery. The tourists have opened up my eyes towards my own country. I learn so much from tourists on what we have in our own country where they don't have it. I started to appreciate on what we have here.

In order to have better commentary, I started to read books on Malaysia. The more I read, the more I love Malaysia. Malaysia is so unique compare to any other country in this world.

Being a tour guide, we will never stop our hunger on squenching the knowledge on Malaysia. There are just too many things to learn from. Be it from the tourists, daily work routine, etc. we are bound to learn something new daily.

Of course, besides these two very main reasons, there are also other reasons like monetary gains, freedom, etc.

China Groups With Optional Tours

This is the month of July. And as usual, the China school holiday started. Initially I was thinking that this month is going to be a very slow season due the earthquake in Sichuan and the Olympic. Luckily that my travel agent is dealing mostly with the Guang Dong group. So, during this period of time, most of the groups come from Guang Dong. So, I was basically tight up with the China groups.

I have been taking 3 China groups consecutively. Two of the groups are the usual routine that is JB in and JB out group, where by the third group is JB in KL out group.

These three groups went on smoothly without any bad incidents.

For the third group, they are from Soon De ( Guang Dong Province ). It is a group with so call super VIP. The reason why I said its so call VIP is because most of the travel agents in China will name their groups the VIP group. So they will need to pay more for better food and hotel. So, usually these type of tourists are more stuck up.

In their itinerary, the Chinese need to pay RMB 350 for optional tours in Malaysia. The optional tour is compulsory because this is in fact to pay to the local travel agent in Malaysia for their lodging and food. The optional tour is actually a special package of tourists spots and special food item. So, for the optional tour in Malaysia, usually it is for the Bak Kut Teh, the Curry Chicken Bread, Putrajaya, KLCC and the traditional Malay house.

It is always very unfortunate for the China tourists because the travel agents there never update what is the latest happening in Malaysia. The biggest problem with the travel agent in China is that they are small travel agents. So, these small travel agents will attract their own customer with all kind of offers. Then because they can't form a group because usually a group has to consist of minimum 16 tourists. So, the small travel agents will past these customers to the bigger travel agent which is also known as the wholesale travel agent.

The small travel agents will usually have all kind or different itineraries with the wholesale travel agent. So, sometimes the tour members itineraries will differ with each other. This is where the problem arise. When we tour guide follow the standard itineraries set by the local travel agent here. So, when we did not go to the tourists spot set by the small travel agent in China, the tourists will definitely make a fuss.

There is a family consists of a couple and a daughter. They pay their tour through the small travel agent. The small travel agent itinerary has the optional tour whereby it has also the historical museum. The problem is that the historical museum which is located near the Dataran Merdeka is close. So, just because of this historical museum, this family is making a lot of fuss.

This family is also one of the so call very miser people. They hardly spend money and have the mentality that we tour guides are there to swindle their money. Throughout the tour, they only buy a little box of chocolate. Sometimes, I really wonder why these China people cant change their mentality of trusting more people.

Snatching Incident At KLCC Photography Spot

On the 11th July 2008 I was receiving a China group from the Second Link. The following is their itinerary:

11th July 2008 2nd Link to Genting Highlands ( First World Hotel )
12th July 2008 Genting Highlands to Kuala Lumpur ( Maluri Hotel )
13th July 2008 Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru ( Pulai Spring )
14th July 2008 Johor Bahru to Singapore.

Due to the weekend, my group is arranged as such that they are staying in Genting Highlands on the first night. So, I arranged as such that I will try to finish my city tour on the second day. However, I could not finish off the city tour and decided to leave the KLCC and Chocolate Beryls on the 3rd day.

On the 3rd day, we checked out from the Maluri Hotel at 8.00am and heading towards KLCC. We reached the photography spot for the KLCC at the traffic light junction at about 8.40am.

So, all the tourists were busy having their photography session. A mother and son who do not like photography were standing near to the traffic light. I was standing about 50m away from them.

Suddenly I heard a loud thudding sound. I turned my back and saw a motorcyclist snatched the handbag of my tourist who was standing near the traffic light. Because of the snatching, my tourist fell down on to the road and she was pulling and clinging on to her handbag. The motorbike was dragging my tourist who is on the road for about 30m. I immediately run towards the incident and shouted. The snatcher turned back and saw the tourist pulling on the handbag. Upon seeing this, he did not give up but speed off. My tourist was still pulling on the handbag and did not want to give up too. But after dragging it for further 50m, finally my tourist gave up.

I immediately run towards her. She is at the middle of the road at the traffic junction. It is very lucky that there is no vehicle at the junction at that time. I helped her to stand up and asked her if she is hurt and lost her passport. Fortunately, she is not badly hurt and left her passport in her luggage.

I took her to the police station at the Malaysia Tourists Information Centre ( MATTIC ) to lodge a report. Then I brought her to a clinic at Jalan Raja Laut for a medical check up.

From this incident, I learnt my lesson well that if we take our group for photography session early in the morning ( especially on Sundays or public holidays ), we should be extra cautious because it is generally very quiet and very few vehicle. So, incident like this can easily happen.

It is very fortunate that its been my habit to advice my tourists to always keep their passport in the luggage or in their pocket and not in the handbag.

From the incident, the guest lost all her money which amounts to about RM3000.00. Here, again I learned my lesson that in the future I must also advice my tourists to divide and place their money in different parts. So, if the incident occurred, the tourists won’t lost all the money.

From time to time, snatchings happened. Malaysians have been very, very angry for the peaceful of the country has deteriorated terribly. When snatching happened, this has tarnished our country’s reputation terribly. It is my personal hope that our government will put in more effort to demolish this menace.

I was told by lots of foreign tourists that in their country, motorcycles are not allowed to go into the city at all and also in the highways. The main reason is to prevent snatching and pollution.

Satisfied And Happy China Teacher Group

On the 6th July 2008, I recieved a China group which consists of 29pax for Taksina. The tour leader is He Xiao Yun. The following is their itinerary:

6th July 2008 In from 2nd Link (Johor Bahru) to Kuala Lumpur
7th July 2008 Kuala Lumpur to Genting Highlands
8th July 2008 Genting Highlands to Melaka
9th July 2008 Melaka to Singapore.

The whole group of China tourists are teachers from the San Mei School, Nan Ning, Guang Xi.

They reached 2nd link very late at about 4pm because of their delayed flight from Bali to Singapore.

As usual, recieved them and give the best service that I could. The teachers are very happy with my commentaries and very satisfied with my service.

Towards the end of the day, with a very heavy heart sent them off.