Amcorp Mall People

One of the joys of living in a mall is getting to know the people who work there.

Drop by, buy a paper and a snack, and say "hello"

The owners of the news stand get our vote for the hardest working people in the mall. They open the stand at 7:30 a.m. and close it sometime after 10:00 p.m. The only day it was closed was National Day - it was opened during Hari Raya and Deepevali. When our grandson was born prematurely, they shared their memories of their son who weighted 2 kilos when he was born. He is now a robust 8 year old, who aspires to be prime minister.

A number of mall workers mentioned that they work long hours to pay for their children's education, which served as a reminder that governments (and taxpayers) should respect their sacrifices by providing good schools and good teachers.

On the look out for a customer or
a conversation

Many an evening we walked by this furniture and rug shop. The owner migrated from Pakistan about the same time we came to Malaysia. The evening we took this picture he commented on how much he liked Malaysia and Malaysians. He observed their lack of jealousy; he used the example that if you drove a BMW people weren't resentful. If you decide to buy a rug or furniture as well you will make this merchant very happy.

On the apartment side we passed this receptionist every day. Our conversation really went beyond "hello" or "pagi" (pagi is morning - short for good morning). I never asked about her hours, but many mall staff worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week! Not only long hours but complicated family lives and child care arrangements.

Mrs. Siva who ran the laundry for "Hangers"

A luxury we came to enjoy was taking our laundry downstairs and having someone else wash and fold them. In addition to laundry we got occasionally got help with our Bahasa Malaysian, e.g., to let someone know that they had reached a wrong number we could say that they number was not healthy