It seems to me that many of us Malaysians do not possess the courtesy of saying the three most powerful words; 'sorry', 'thank you' and 'please'.
These few words are definitely the simplest gesture to show kindness, gratitude and appreciation but it is also one of the most undervalued habit.
Some of us are too ignorant and possibly just overlooked the need to use these words daily but some don't even acknowledge the familiarity of these words.
Imagine someone knocking you and left without saying sorry.
Imagine someone not saying thanks after copying your homework.
Imagine someone asking for your help without ending his/her sentence with 'please'.
How would you feel?
If a stranger knocked you and left without saying a word, I am pretty sure most of us would have cursed and sweared at the stranger.
On the contrary, if the same person said sorry regardless it being sincere or not, we would tell them that it doesn't matter just so they don't feel as bad.
Let's say you lent your homework to your friend to copy.
If he says 'thank you' when he returns the book, you might even consider lending it to him again.
What if he doesn't?
Who the hell is he to copy your work? He should've done it by himself. Homework should be done at home and not done by one person just to pass it around.
Same goes to the word 'please'.
If you ask for my help with a 'please' at the end of your sentence, I might say yes without a second thought.
If you don't use the magic word, I may just assume that you are demanding me to do it for you and remember, no one likes being ordered around.
Use these words whenever necessary.
Don't ever be afraid of overusing them.
Who knows you may even light up a person's day.
Courtesy is the one coin you can never have too much of or be stingy with.
