By: Azman Zakaria
Photo: Noor Azreen Awang
SERDANG, 2 Nov - “It makes me happy when I make others happy and ease their journey.”
Those are the words expressed by the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Auxiliary Policeman, Sri Kantha Rao s/o Sani Babu who received the Special Award for Customer Service Quality on Service Quality and Innovation Day (HKIP) 2018 UPM, today.
He said, even though he feels extremely exhausted standing for three hours controlling traffic during big events in UPM, the feeling goes away when drivers or passengers smile and wave at him.
“Although it is tiring to stand and command traffic, I would still smile. When people reciprocate the smile or wave their hands, the fatigue disappears.”
“That enables me to keep on smiling although I stand for hours under the sun’s scorching heat. I do it for the sake of my duty and the university,” he said. He has been in service in traffic control and safety services at the university for 29 years.
Sri Kantha Rao, 49, from Tanjung Malim, Perak said the situation occurs especially on new student registration day and during convocation ceremony where there are a lot of vehicles entering UPM.
“After being on duty on such days, I’ll go back home to rest as I need to prepare myself physically to be on duty again the next day,” said Sri Kantha who is also well known as Uncle Sri.
He received a certificate and RM500 from UPM Vice Chancellor, Prof Datin Paduka Dato’ Dr. Aini Ideris on Service Quality and Innovation Day (HKIP) 2018.
His friendly attitude is appreciated by UPM staff and students, as well as the public. Without his knowledge, UPM posted a photo of him with a caption ‘Good Morning Uncle Sri’ on UPM Facebook Page on 29 October during the 42nd Convocation Ceremony.
The post received 11,716 reactions and reached 152,396 people, making it the second highest ranking throughout all the information shared on UPM’s social media.
He said, since young, he loves to mingle with everyone regardless of ethnicity, and it has become a habit he carries into work.
“To greet someone with a friendly attitude regardless of ethnicity is a normal thing for me… but to others, it is probably something extraordinary,” said Sri Kantha who is a father of three from his marriage to S. Yasotha, 48.
Prior to working in UPM, he worked as a security guard in a private company for six months. “My colleague informed me about the available vacancy for UPM Auxiliary Police. Both of us applied for the post, but I was the only one who succeeded,” he said. - UPM
