The French had their flying kisses so why cannot we Malaysians have our ‘flying/flashing thank you’? To execute a ‘flashing thank you’ is simple. Just clench the fist close and then open it in full like giving a five. Repeat this a number of times like flashing a ‘thank you’, ‘thank you’.

Thus one is not only saying thank you with the mouth as a mere lip service but also with the hand gesture as a physical effort and as a form of sincerity. This form of a thank you gesture is very useful when one is in a long traffic jam/queue and wants to change lane. After signaling to change lane and the driver at the back to give way, one should then thank him with a ‘flashing thank you’ especially when the jam is slow-moving.

If in a non-air conditioned car, one can stretch out his right hand through the window and flash a ‘thank you’, ‘thank you’ to the driver at the back. When in an air-conditional car, one can flash a ‘thank you’ with the left hand and the driver at the back can see this via the rear screen window. This way, foreign tourists will be impressed on how quaint and courtous we Malaysians are to say ‘thank you’ to each other even when on the road.

Further, when riding down the escalator and one see an uncle going up on the escalator across at the shopping mall and after waving to one aother, one can lift up the neck-tie with one hand and then with the other hand, flash a ‘thank you’ to him for the neck-tie birthday present he sent you. This can also be for T-shirts, bags, belts etc.

The Hindus and the Thais have their ‘namaste’ and ‘wei’ respectively by clasping the two hands together like in prayer but the visibility for this is very low. Only the people in front can see it However, for the flashing ‘thank you’, the visibility is 360 and it can be seen from the front, back, side, up and down especially when we raise our hands high up during its execution.

If one wants to say or gesture a ‘thank you’ from the ‘bottom of my heart’, it is easy. With one hand placed on the heart (left side of chest), the other hand flashes a ‘thank you’, ‘thank you’ ‘from my heart’.

It is strange that mankind had been in existence for so many centuries and yet no universal gesture for thank you has been invented so that an Eskimo from the North Pole could say ‘thank you’ (a very important word/phrase ) to a visiting New Zealander from the Southern Hemisphere.

Never mind, let the ‘flashing thank you’ gesture be as a gift from us Malaysians to the world. So all Malaysians out there should start promoting the use of this ‘flashing thank you’ to all and sundry.

Also, when we flash a‘thank you’ repeatedly by clenching and opening our fist a number of times, we are actually exercising our forelimbs. This, in turn, exercises the main aorta connecting our hearts to our limbs and thus prevents the cholesterol from clogging our arteries. This helps to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart attacks.

Therefore, the more polite we are in flashing our TQs, the more we can increase our life span. Doctors will advise their patients to flash the ‘thank you’ more often for this is good therapy for their health and their hearts. The combination of the feel-good hormones and the simultaneous exercise will be lethal against high blood pressure and stroke.

Chinese symbolism and ‘feng shui’ masters will advocate to flash the TQ more often for this is tantamount to inviting and waving good luck and good fortune to ‘come, come’ to you and your premise just like the ‘feng shui’ good fortune cat with its mechanical paw waving for good fortune to come in.

Thus the flying/flashing TQ is not only good for your hearts and your health but also is good for your wealth and good fortunes. Flash on!

In line with ‘Malaysia Boleh’ let us all Malaysians popularise this flashing TQ to show to the world that we Malaysians can contribute to world goodwill and the world’s good health.