Is it really that hard to smile? Apparently so for 5,000 Lower Myanmar Railways staffers who are currently being trained how to do just that as part of a Japan-sponsored training program that’s not only encouraging them to show teeth, it’s physically teaching them how to do it.
According to U Kyaw Kyaw Moe, general manager of the rail line, the program is having employees bite down on everything from pencils to chopsticks to pieces of bamboo, to develop just the right customer-friendly grin.
Speaking to reporters at a Friday press conference, Kyaw Kyaw Moe said the special smiling sessions are part of a larger four-year training program by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) designed to help the railway improve customer service.
He then proceeded to personally demonstrate the effect biting on a pencil has on your smile — enthusiastically, we might add.
According to Burmese-language outlet Duwun, 10 staff members who have undergone the training in Japan have now been tasked with training staffers back home across 14 provinces.
“Our aim is to improve our staff’s conduct. We have been engaged in this program since 2016. We trained our employees on how to smile when they greet their customers,” Kyaw Kyaw Moe told reporters.
“If you bite on this pencil, your cheeks will lift. We trained them on how to say ‘Mingalarbar,’ to bow 15 degrees, to not chew betel nut or to smoke while on the job.”
Myanmar’s railway system is currently undergoing renovations to revamp not only the Yangon circular train but other networks in the country, with assistance of JICA, Japan’s international development agency.
The renovations, which began in 2018, are expected to take six years to complete.
Plenty of time for railroad employees to get those smiles ready.
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