A posting which was posted on the Performing Arts Centre of Penang’s Facebook page has recently garnered more than 600 shares after informing the public on how the staff at the arts centre has been constantly abused by visitors. They even informed visitors that if they cannot comply with the SOP that they can always go home.
Here is the full post.
At penangpac, we are always trying our very best to be warm, friendly and welcoming to all our visitors. Sadly, not everyone are as nice as others.
Last week, a visitor used the F-word towards our staff for asking her to sit in a designated row instead of her own favourite seat. Although the staff explained to her that this was meant to help with crowd controling during shows, the visitor replied, “That’s your problem, not mine!”
And then there was an incident where a seat reserved for the camera crew was taken over by a visitor during a fullhouse show. When explained, the visitor replied, “So take your camera elsewhere!”
This morning, when our staff was ready to take the temperature at the entrance of our centre, a visitor who came with children yelled, “Why did you take their temperatures on the forehead? I told you to do so on their wrists!!! Didn’t you read the news???”
There are so many incidents similar to these. When they happen, our staff try their very best to stay calm and respond accordingly. But we are no robots – we have feelings too. Why are people so rude? Why can’t we show some warmth and friendliness?
Esther, our Box Office Executive, shares her experience which makes things clear – “Once a woman and her husband came to our centre. Since my Hokkien isn’t good, we spoke in English. Later, I heard the woman say to her husband in Hokkien, ‘this girl is so slow’, to which her husband replied ‘if she is smart she wouldn’t be working at the box office’.”
Our cleaner, Sumiyati from Indonesia agrees. According to her, people always treat her like she is stupid just because she is a cleaner.
It is disheartening, really, to see, hear and witness these incidents taking place in an arts centre especially since arts is supposed to bring people together.