Cover image via
mamashaun (Xiaohongshu)
& ?? ??? (Douyin)
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We say ‘thank you’ regardless if we are being served or serving you.
The video was uploaded on Douyin — China’s equivalent of TikTok — on 21 September.
In the one-minute long video, the vendor — who sells Tianjin-style pancakes — says Malaysians have a ‘bad habit’ which he can no longer stand.
“This is how they (Malaysians) come and buy things. They keep saying ‘thank you’,” he begins.
“Just to buy one Tianjin-style pancake, some people will say up to three times ‘thank you’. There are so many of such people.”
“Let me demonstrate: ‘Boss, give me one Tianjin-style pancake.’ I ask, ‘What flavour?’ (Customer responds,) ‘Original flavour.'”
“I answer okay (and they go,) ‘Thank you.’ When I finish making and give them the pancake, they say ‘thank you, boss’ as they pay me the money.”
“When I return the change, they say, ‘thank you.’ You see three times in total. Many people here say three times,” the vendor says with mild annoyance.
The vendor also mimics how Malaysian customers nod their heads every time they say ‘thank you’ during his enactment.
His response? He says ‘thank you’ back to the customers.
“They say thank you, I must respond. As a Chinese national, I am not only representing myself but also China. Later people say Chinese nationals have no manners,” he relates.
“I must respond. They say thank you, I say thank you.”
“Dear brothers, just because of these ‘thank yous’, my neck pain has given me so much trouble, do you know?”
“There are so many of you. But here I am alone. Is this a ‘wheel war’ to you?”
‘Wheel war’ refers to enemies attacking one by one in sequence like a wheel instead of attacking all at once.
“I might as well give back a bow. My neck problem surfaced.”
“I want to ask, for my neck problem, do you all collectively repay me the money for the medicine?” the vendor concluded cheekily.
At the time of writing, the video has garnered over 290,000 likes.
“You are absolutely right. Malaysians love to say ‘thank you’ the most,” commented a person.
“Although I pay with my own money, they serve us. Out of politeness, ‘thank you’ always slips out of (our) mouths,” added a Douyin user.
One netizen told the vendor that people don’t mind if the other person does not bow, adding that the vendor does not have to nod and can continue minding his own matters.
On his Douyin account, he often incorporates various Malaysian delicacies into his Tianjin-style pancakes, such as durian and roadside Ramly burger.
Tianjin-style pancake is a traditional Chinese pancake that originated from Tianjin. The popular fillings in the pancake include yau char kwai, baocui (thin and crispy fried cracker), and ham, among others.
According to a video on Xiaohongshu, the vendor has five flavours, namely original, chicken floss, Taiwan sausage, luncheon meat, and gold coin pork.
The vendor says in many of his Douyin videos that he is willing to let customers bring any food they want to put into the pancake as fillings.
Visit his Douyin here and Xiaohongshu here.