Malaysian Hospitality.

"Dik, pakai seatbelt, please."

I was so sad to leave Malaysia that time, I even forgot to put my seatbelt on. Then the cabin crew asked the passenger next to me if she has put her seatbelt on or not.

"ermm delay ke?"
"haah dik. kejap lagi kita take off."
"I have another connecting flight to Dublin and I only have 2 hours to go to the gate kat Heathrow nanti. Do you think I can make it?"

Then, another cabin crew came,

"Adik ni dia nak fly ke Dublin. Transit dua jam je kat Heathrow nanti."
"Takpe dik kalau tak sempat, pergi kat desk airline tu. Nanti diorang uruskan."

Then, the plane took off. After a while,

"Hai dik, nak makan apa?"
"Ayam."
"Risau lagi ke dik? Inshaallah ok. Fly sorang ke?"
"Risau la jugak. Haah sorang-sorang je."
"Kat Dublin buat medic eh?"
"haah."
"Nak jadi doktor kena cool dik." Then. he laughed.

When everyone started to sleep, I decided to read my Obs and Gynae notes. I have 12 quizzes to complete before I started my Obs and Gynae rotation and I only knew about that a night before. I have no choice but to study about child labour in flight. I knoww, right??

"Ya Allah, study dik?"
He looked a bit shocked by some of the pictures in my notes (you know, the picture of the baby's head come out from you-know-where during labour).Then, he switched on the reading light which later I was asked to switch it off by the passenger next to me.


My seat was actually next to the flight 'kitchen' ( I don't know the right term for this. It is a space that have curtain where the cabin crews take or store food for the passengers).

"Nak air, dik?"
"Air apa ada?"
"oii demand."
"Milo ada? hehe."

10 minutes after that, I got my Milo and cheese cake. Yes, Milo!

"Adik, bangun. Dinner time!"
"Tak nak la makan. Thanks."
"Eh kena makan dik. Lapar nanti."
"Tak lalu."

After 15 minutes, another female cabin crew came to me.

"Eh tak makan ke?"
"Kenyang."
"Dessert pun tak nak?"
"ermm boleh la."
"Macam tu sekali dia risau. Okay je dik."
"Tak. Dah tak risau dah."

Once we landed in Heathrow,

"Nah, in case you miss you flight. Paling-paling sekejap pun 3-4 jam jugak kena tunggu."

She gave me a paper bag containing a bottle of mineral water, muffins (or cheesecake, I can't remember), peanuts and ice cream.

"Aiskrim tu makan cepat-cepat, takut tak lepas kastam."

"Dik lari dik. Cepat. Good luck!"


I missed my flight anyway. I was put on the waiting list for the next flight to Dublin. Until now, I remember how these two cabin crews treated me.

MAS, our airline. Our beloved airline. Oh, don't you just love it when the cabin crew say, "To all foreigners, welcome to Malaysia, to all Malaysians, welcome home!" Despite of what people say about MAS, I'm still proud with our airline. If you are going to fly with Malaysia Airline soon, give the cabin crews a card or flowers, they need that. They might smile to all passengers but deep inside they are heartbroken.

MH370 and MH17, you will always be remembered.