A little background about myself. I come from a Malaysian/American background. My father is a ethnic Chinese from Penang and my mother is a Caucasian American from Illinois. I, however, retained my father's Chinese features and barely a hint of my mother's. I've spent most of my young adult life in Penang so I speak Malay and Hokkien fluently, although now, with a heavy American accent since I've been in the US for the majority of my adult life.

Recently, I brought my Malaysian wife and my aged father to visit Malaysia. It had been 22 years since we had been back. We travelled via Narita, Japan and then to KLIA. Personally, the service, courtesy and polite nature of the Japanese were in contrast with the sort of reception we received at the KLIA airport and future travels around Malaysia.

We found staff to not have the basic courtesy skills to ask questions politely and no sense of urgency. We were unable to find one of our bags, and therefore asked one of the airport staff to assist. He obviously did not think it was very important as he leisurely strolled to the lost baggage counter, chatting away on his cellphone.

After a lengthy hour he returned carrying our luggage. He even had the nerve to say we didn't bother checking all the other carousels first before asking him. Walking away he muttered ‘Poyo.’

Exiting the arrival gates, I was told by my uncle to wait for him at the food court. Walking to the elevators, we were harassed by a taxi tout. After declining numerous times, he eventually stormed off, muttering obscenities under his breath.

One of the events in our itinerary was to visit the very much publicised Tioman Island. While waiting to board for Tioman, I had asked my father to take a seat. Upon boarding, we were met with stares as we started to make our way ahead of the line to see if my father could have priority. I was met with replies from the counter staff, such as ‘Bodoh, action sangat duduk tadi’, which loosely translates to: ‘Stupid, who asked you to sit?’

I'm not sure if they were blind to my aged father's weak knees. I was starting to feel Tioman wasn't geriatric-friendly and priority boarding for the aged just wasn't standard procedure. Who'd have thought common sense would not prevail?

Upon arriving at Tioman, we headed to our small resort. We had already booked a chalet but we found the room not to be ready. Checkout time was stated as 12 noon and check-in time was 2pm. We had arrived at 4pm. I was met with a barrage of half-hearted excuses, and when I decided to raise my grouses, I was told to just wait without any time estimates. Further questions were met with piercing stares and rude retorts.

Dinner time in Tioman was also a very interesting experience. I found how Caucasian foreigners were given faster treatment, even after arriving much later than other tourists. The waiters seemed very polite, but to my disdain it was all just a facade. The words angmo kau and mat salleh bodoh came up all too often. Translated they mean ‘white dog’ and ‘stupid white man’ respectively.

Leaving Tioman was also another embarrassing experience. Traveling with an aged individual requires certain care to be taken especially in large crowds. As I was bringing my aged father to the front of the line, I was shouted at from across the hall by a man no younger than myself. I was told to go an take a seat as they would announce when the boarding would take place. His snide and sarcastic public remarks and questions were not pleasing.

Even after pleading with him that my father was old, we did not get any sympathy. Even after pointing out how a few Caucasians tourists were moving towards the front of the line, he just sneered and did nothing. Personally, I felt I was singled out.

Eventually the crowd started to board, and I was waiting for an announcement but none came. We ended up at the back of the line, with my father standing for 30 minutes. Nobody came to our aid to help my aged father board first.

This brings back to mind how Malaysia ranked as the Third Least Courteous country by Readers Digest. I hope the Ministry of Tourism will understand that, people on the front line are the ambassadors of Malaysian hospitality. I have more rude experiences to share about my travels around Malaysia but I fear this letter will become too long.