MANNERS AND OTHER MATTERS

I have just returned  from Europe flying Qantas and Air France via Singapore. What a delightful combination it was! The expected friendliness of the Qantas crew and genuine friendliness of the Air France attendants; the attention to detail in all areas; the fact that nothing was too much trouble and most importantly the impeccable manners of those wearing the colours of both airlines. A joy in this day and age of increasingly uncaring, impolite and disinterested airline assistants. Irrespective of whether we are travelling in the” pointy end” or “down the back” we as passengers should remember our manners and have them reciprocated. My arrival at Paris airport was painless and efficient. After 20 or so hours of travelling it was a pleasure to be greeted with a smile and offers of assistance through a seamless transit process, despite the early dawn timeframe. Then onto London and the dreaded Heathrow airport, which proved to be also efficient with both immigration and luggage. ...

I have had an extraordinary experience today...courtesy of  an elderly, terminally ill  Chinese lady and her elderly Vietnamese carer. I was visiting my sister, who is very kind to her elderly Chinese neighbor, a Buddhist, with a daughter who is a nun, and a son who is a monk.  Unexpectedly there was a knock on my sister's front door.  A tiny old woman stood there in tears, explaining in broken, Vietnamese English that she was the regular carer for this sick neighbor and she was from the Chung Wah Association of Western Australia. We invited her to enter the house, she did after removing her shoes.  And when she explained that she could not get the old woman in her care to answer her phone or receive her at the door she became frightened that the old lady had perhaps "passed". She was scared and very brave in asking for our help. I have spent time in China and Singapore with The Percy Institute and I was able to speak a tiny bit of Chinese with her to put...