PETALING JAYA, June 10 — Baskin Robbins employee Muhammad Azizul Solahuddin encountered his first deaf customer but his quick thinking helped overcome any breakdown in communication.

Muhammad Azizul who works in the Atria Shopping Gallery branch told Malay Mail that he initially panicked when the customer came to the shop four days ago.

"My other colleagues didn’t know what to do and I too felt nervous as that was the first time that I’ve welcomed a deaf customer.

"The customer was curious about the flavours of the cake and wanted to inquire more about it based on his hand gestures.

"Initially, I thought of just asking the customer to write down his questions on a piece of paper but then realised that it would be time consuming.”

Recalling he had a friend who understood sign language, Muhammad Azizul quickly video-called him to ask the customer about his needs and queries about the choice of cake.

With his friend serving as translator, communication was much easier as both parties understood each other.

"It was then that I learnt that the customer wanted to purchase an ice-cream cake for his child and wanted to know the different flavours for it.

"I saw a smile on the customer’s face after he booked his order. I wanted the customer to be treated equally like my other customers.

"For me, I went the extra mile to get my friend to be the translator and communicate with the customer as I didn’t have any knowledge of the language.”

Muhammad Azizul, who hails from Shah Alam, said that his manager had also praised him for treating the customer with respect.

He said that he too had a keen interest in learning sign language should he encounter a similar situation in the future.

His video on Twitter has been liked by over 18,000 people with many praising him for treating the deaf customer with patience while others said that sign language should be incorporated into the education system.