Converse in the Language of the Locals

Malaysia is a multicultural country, so you will have different languages used. Even though Bahasa Malaysia is the national language and English is taught in schools, you still need to use the local language or dialect. This will then make the locals happy and thus create lasting relationship. This was apparent when I was working in a resort in Cameron Highlands. I have always worked in places that people understood Bahasa Malaysia or English, so it was easy to create promotional materials to attract the locals to my restaurant. So naturally I brought the same thinking to Cameron Highlands. What I didn't realize was that most of the locals were farmers who were only fluent in Chinese. So whatever flyers or promotional materials that we sent out was just rubbish to them, which I only found out after talking to a local farmer. Now I have software that I can write out menus and flyers in Chinese. I even hired a clerk and a few staff that can read, write and understand Chinese. Well this got the attention of the local Community and now they are frequenting my outlets. In the months of June till August, we get allot of Middle Eastern customers as they want to escape the heat in their country. So for these months my promotional materials are written in Arabic. How its even easier with Google Translator.
If you can learn the local language or dialect, that is even better. The locals will warm up to you if you took the trouble to learn their language. This I found to be true when I was attached to a hotel in Thailand. The Thais were so happy that I could speak their language and even my staff respected me more.