Personal touch

I used to work in a family bank in Sibu.It was the oldest in Sarawak, well known among the Hokkien peoples because the founder was a Hokkien.And eighty years ago, many Hokkiens and Teochews" owned the shophouses in Sibu town.These china born men traveled by ships through rough sea,finally set foot on Sibu, Sarawak.They were humble sole proprietors,mainly engaged in groceries trading,imports of china goods, textiles,hardware, and coffee shops(otherwise known as kopi tiam). Nevertheless,proud of their hard fought achievements ,they were known as "taukays" or "taulows".Comparatively, there were fewer Foochows business men then, most of them were farmers or rubber tappers living in the "san pa"(meaning village in Foochow )
As majority of the bank customers and staffs were Hokkiens,naturally,almost everybody spoke in Hokkien dialect, even during our loan committee meetings.I am blessed to be able to speak Hokkien fairly fluently as I grew up in Mukah, and that was the common dialect that most peoples used in town as well.Thus,when I joined the bank, I fitted in very well, as most of the staffs were friendly, with the exception of a few.
I remembered seeing the customers pouring in ,everyone knew exactly where they were heading, but there were no queuing system.Somehow, there was never any argument on who was being served first, which was amazing.Then , I realized there were mutual understandings between customers and bank staffs.So, there was no need to fight for whom to be serve first, because some customers would not wait at all.They just quietly slipped their cheques and application forms to the staffs, and swiftly left the bank ,only to collect their documents later, usually taking their sweet time.Sometimes, it was late in the afternoon, when the bank nearly closed shop, at 5pm.I was with remittance department at that time, I noticed that the application forms were left blank, only the cheques weren't.And the staffs knew exactly what they wanted, they would readily and automatically filled up the details and prepared the bankdrafts or mail transfers or telex telegrams for the customers.Indeed, it was so personal that they even knew which customers were special, that certain charges had to be waived.For new staffs this was a "landmine" area, because if they were not careful, they could step on it and got themselves bombarded either by the customers or our big boss.Our customers were pampered to such an extent that they could walked right up to our boss's room and filed in their complaints in person.Now, this was the testing time for the new staffs, they had to be observant and studied their customers background well.If in doubt, asked the senior staffs, they were not under any obligation to tell you every thing.Besides, they were so busy sometimes they stood up and typed!
And we had customers who thought that the bank was their second home.When they came to collect their documents or drafts, they would stretched out their hands and grabbed any pen,then briskly started to write on their envelopes.Next, searched around for glue, and almost without failing, they could found it and happily sealed up the envelope before the last touch of pasted the stamps on .Sometimes, they would look for staplers and paper clips too.One day, one of the clerk was so impressed by their manner that she asked, "Do you want us to post it for you?" No offense, of course.No joke no fun.One of the customer happened to be a self made millionaire.So humble in his look that one would thought he was a poor hawker,(judging by his worn out shirt and trouser), and true enough he started his business as a hawker.The lesson? looks can be deceiving.
Our bank premise had a few doors, though closed and sometimes not, were easily accessible by outsiders.I must say, security, zero.One day, I was engrossed in my work , but somehow, I sensed that there was a presence of a being . When I turned around,my customer was standing behind me, almost breathing down my neck.Goodness! I nearly jumped up form my seat.But how could I lost temper when he said he needed my help? And don't forget the golden rule : "customers are always right."
The trust between customers and cashiers were just unbelievable.Can you imagine a customer passing a black plastic bag to a cashier,mumbling something and hurriedly walked away? It was actually bundles of XXXXX cash , wrapped in old newspapers,handed to the cashier in good faith. And our good old cashiers would never dare to refuse to accept .Golden rule number 2: Service above all.Again, there was a mutual trust here, the customers left without waiting for the cashiers to count, and the cashiers took their words for the correct amount.During my 17 years banking life, I had only seen once or twice miscalculations.Otherwise, all went pretty well.
Donkey years ago, Bank Negara auditors seldom called at our bank .Later, the audit became a yearly event.There was once this "rude"comment made by the Bank Negara chief auditor." Your Bank is a kampung bank, but solid as a rock."No insult here, take it as a compliment.
Whatever it was, the bank was once a very solid bank in Sarawak.And I must say,the personal touch that the bank staffs could furnish, none others could compare.