Christmas Party for the under-privileged.

One thing about the people in resorts or any other hotels, they are very friendly and always smiling which makes the guests feel good. We were told during our training that we have to smile at all times and even when we answer the phone. I guess i forgot about the training bit before i started internship. So anyway, there were many other trainees and interns in the resort. They were from China, Japan, Maldives and the locals. So then, there are training workshops when there are new staffs/interns going in. My training workshop was only a day..a LONG day.. We were briefed on the history of the company, how the name emerged, about the owner of Shangri-La, about all the other resorts and hotels owned by the group in all over the world, and about the current staffs in this resort. It was very interesting and amazing especially to know how many hotels and resorts owned by the Kuok. And now their aim is to build more resorts and hotels to reach up to 100 in total, all over the world! WOW! Currently, the number is 62. And, on the workshop went, talking about dressing codes, courtesies, cleanliness, working behaviours, the do's and don't's, etc etc. We also have this greeting gesture which we have to do whenever we meet guests or the higher rank staffs ie: the GM and the RM. It is a Malaysian gesture thing where we strike our left chest with our right hand with a slight bow of the head and greet 'good morning/good afternoon/selamat pagi/etc'. I've to say, i liked it because it feels very polite and the guests love it, they even do it too! So then, i started working on the next day after the training, which was on December 9th, 2008.

My very first event I experienced was the Children's Christmas Party for the under-privileged kids. I didn't have to do much because everything was already prepared for it. My supervisor told me that I can just observe how they prepare for the event, the follow-ups and so on. There, i learnt that getting confirmed list of guests is very crucial as they had to prepare the gifts and seats for each of them. As some of the kids were mentally challenged and disabled, they tried very hard to not hurt their feelings (by calling out the wrong names or not missing out one kid's name) and to make them happy. These children come to the resort every year for a tea party and it is certainly most satisfying to see them leave happily.

Having to experience this was most fulfilling and learnt that it isn't easy to organize or prepare such events even as small as this.


Bas.