M’sian’s Tweet on Why We Shouldn’t Talk About Work to Strangers Sparks Debate, But There’s a Plot Twist!

When you go to any event or ceremony, it is inevitable that you’d be talking to strangers and responding to their questions. Some have even decided to deal with the barrage of questions by responding sarcastically.

However, some believe that we shouldn’t even respond to certain questions from strangers or even ask it.

A tweet by Dr Wan Hasifi recently went viral after he said that when you go to an event and talk to new people, you should never ask what they work as or where they work.

Bila pergi majlis, kenal orang baru, jangan sesekali buka topik tanya dia kerja apa, kerja di mana. Tak semua orang selesa untuk berkongsi. Kalau ada kuih atas meja, sembang je pasal kuih. Sembanglah apa nak sembang. Yang penting jangan tanya hal peribadi.

— Wan Hasifi Amin, MD (@drhasifi) January 31, 2022

“Not everyone is comfortable to share. If there are kuih on the table, just talk about that. Talk about anything else. What’s important is that you don’t ask them on personal matters,” he added.

“Everyone is different. I’m not writing this for myself and I also have no issues when people ask me about my work. However, we must accept that not everyone will be comfortable when asked on what they work as, especially at a public event.”

Tweet sparked debate amongst users

His tweet has garnered over 19,000 likes and 12,600 shares. Malaysians took to the comments section to debate on whether or not this is the right way to deal with questions from random strangers.

Some users agreed with Dr Wan Hasifi and explained that certain personal things should always be kept private.

“I really dislike strangers and even family members and friends asking me these kind of questions. I think it’s sensitive, irrelevant and unnecessary,” commented one user.

Another user stated, “I’m used to responding to such questions by saying that there are 3 things I don’t like to share with people. (These are) age, occupation and salary.”

Others slammed him and said that he was making a big deal out of nothing

Meanwhile, on the other side of the fence, users said that there’s nothing wrong with small talk with strangers in regards to topics like that.

Some even claimed that it’s all part of your social and communication skills.

“It’s not like they would attack you if you’re not working, they’re just trying to find topics to talk about.”

“I think that talking about your work is something basic. What else is there to talk about? Why are you guys making life difficult,” commented a user.

Another user said, “Although I dislike people asking me what I do for a living, I’ve never felt that it’s an irrelevant or sensitive question.”

“They’re just trying to make a conversation, it’s not like they want your assets. Social skills,” stressed the user.

“Are the social skills of today’s generation that bad?”

Turns out it was just a social experiment!

In a Facebook post, Dr Wan Hasifi explained that the tweet was just a social experiment!

“2 days ago, I started an experiment on social media. The experiment aims to analyse the SOPs that I have framed for the Title Selection & Writing Procedures on Social Media for the use of my own company’s Content Department and Marketing Department.”

The experiment had to have the following features:

1. Not piggybacking on someone else’s popularity (eg: upload a screenshot of someone else’s post and commenting on it)
2. Not to defame any party
3. Don’t criticise or humiliate any party
4. No negative elements
5. Most importantly, have all the elements of a high ‘viral coefficient’ (which I have identified through various studies).

“Fortunately the tweet has managed to get 3 million impressions in the space of 3 days. To anyone who has been involved and have become a respondent to the experiment, I would like to offer you a thank you,” he added.

“To those who have criticised me, don’t worry, I forgive you all because you all have somehow gotten involved in this experiment. I do not carry any stress to those who have said negative things about me.”

What do you think of the plot twist? Let us know in the comments.

Also read: M’sian TikToker’s Video on How to Deal With Questions by Random Aunties Sparks Debate