Egg on Khairy’s face over non-bumi ad
YoursayPublished: Jun 8, 2014 8:54 AM | Updated: Jun 8, 2014 9:46 AM
YOURSAY ‘Why is BN so reluctant on enacting the Race Relations Act?’
MD: 'Non-bumi' job ad an honest mistake
Awakened: Well, the bumiputera MD (managing director) has openly admitted that the advertisement was a mistake and he apologised for it. He also mentioned that majority of the employees in his company are bumiputera.
Sports and Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, if you sincerely, truthfully and wholeheartedly believe in equality, justice and fairness, can you also please go after the largest employers in the country - which is the government and GLCs (government-linked companies) - and stop the ‘bumiputeras only’ advertisements.
Swipenter: Leader Cable Industry Bhd managing director Azhar Ariffin, with due respect, why should you apologise if you advertise for a prospective employee with the right qualifications to work for your company, be he or she a bumi or non-bumi?
If you think that you need more non-bumi employees to balance your workforce, I don't see any problem in that. If KJ does, then it is his problem not yours. We must learn not to ‘kow tow’ to meaningless demands from the politicians.
KJ has nothing better to do than to play race politics with your advertisement. So if the advertisement is for a bumi then there is no problem from this Oxford-educated apple polisher but not otherwise.
What kind of hypocrisy is this country getting into?
Nes: Dear Azhar, there is no mistake, honest or otherwise. You have rightly encouraged non- bumiputera to join your company, which is 83.5 percent bumiputera, to create a more diverse workplace.
Unfortunately, as the norm nowadays (remember Francis Yeoh?), you have to pander to an egoistic minister whose intelligence is blinded by his ambition, and you willingly throw your principle out of the window.
So now it is okay to encourage bumiputera to apply and not non-bumiputera?
Tupaibesi: But certain companies put out ads like this: Mandarin/Chinese dialect speaking preferred. So is that okay?
Why do we require this in Malaysia when everyone should be able to converse in Bahasa Malaysia and at least a little bit of English?
Sleepy: Are we telling businesses that when you go overseas, especially China, you must not speak their language?
I know many Malays and non-Malays who speak good Mandarin. ‘Chinese-speaking a must' is very different from 'Chinese a must'.
Meor Kamil: It is not just this advertisement in Jobstreet that is racist. There are a lot of job advertisements that say ‘Chinese speaking is a must’.
Not Convinced: Meor Kamil, I’m a Chinese but I can’t speak or write Mandarin. I have no problem with advertisements stating that ‘Chinese speaking a must’.
Rather than complaining, I can either look for jobs that require me to be conversant in other languages or to learn to speak Chinese to increase my employability.
MrM: So Khairy, is ‘Bumiputera encouraged to apply’ acceptable for a company that has 83.5 percent bumiputera employees?
If yes, does that mean that only bumiputera be encouraged to apply and no one else? Please clarify your stand because currently there is too much ambiguity as to what you mean.
Karma: There is no mistake indeed. The company need not lie here to satisfy Khairy just because he has a tendency to mobilise his hooligans to rough up companies.
Oh Ya?: The ruling elite's failed policies should be blamed. They associate everything with race and religion.
This issue of bumiputera or non-bumiputera would not arise if they do away with race-based political parties and practise meritocracy
At the very least, why are they so reluctant on enacting the proposed Race Relations Act? Is it because they are the ones who will be at the receiving end?
Joepaul: If race is an issue, why amend the ad to read ‘Bumiputera encouraged to apply’. How is it different from ‘Non-bumi encouraged to apply’.
Azhar, you don’t have to be so apologetic and grovel to Umno. Just advertise for staff and select those who meet your requirements.
HatiPakatan: All men are born equal but some are more equal than others. This is still true even written 70 years ago by George Orwell in ‘Animal Farm’.
So in the food chain, where do the non-bumiputera stand? Are we like amoeba and plankton?
Vijay47: Leaving aside the terrible ‘England’ and other mistakes in the advertisement - about seven of them - the question we should also be asking is why the percentage of non-bumiputera employees in Leader Cable is only 16.5.
In the government service, bumiputeras constitute almost 96 percent. Is Cable Leader trying to emulate its masters?
Of course, the company and Khairy could argue that since the company is not public, it can do what they like. Which is fine. Then don't complain about private sector employment figures.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.
MD: 'Non-bumi' job ad an honest mistake
Awakened: Well, the bumiputera MD (managing director) has openly admitted that the advertisement was a mistake and he apologised for it. He also mentioned that majority of the employees in his company are bumiputera.Sports and Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, if you sincerely, truthfully and wholeheartedly believe in equality, justice and fairness, can you also please go after the largest employers in the country - which is the government and GLCs (government-linked companies) - and stop the ‘bumiputeras only’ advertisements.
Swipenter: Leader Cable Industry Bhd managing director Azhar Ariffin, with due respect, why should you apologise if you advertise for a prospective employee with the right qualifications to work for your company, be he or she a bumi or non-bumi?
If you think that you need more non-bumi employees to balance your workforce, I don't see any problem in that. If KJ does, then it is his problem not yours. We must learn not to ‘kow tow’ to meaningless demands from the politicians.
KJ has nothing better to do than to play race politics with your advertisement. So if the advertisement is for a bumi then there is no problem from this Oxford-educated apple polisher but not otherwise.
What kind of hypocrisy is this country getting into?
Nes: Dear Azhar, there is no mistake, honest or otherwise. You have rightly encouraged non- bumiputera to join your company, which is 83.5 percent bumiputera, to create a more diverse workplace.
Unfortunately, as the norm nowadays (remember Francis Yeoh?), you have to pander to an egoistic minister whose intelligence is blinded by his ambition, and you willingly throw your principle out of the window.
So now it is okay to encourage bumiputera to apply and not non-bumiputera?
Tupaibesi: But certain companies put out ads like this: Mandarin/Chinese dialect speaking preferred. So is that okay?
Why do we require this in Malaysia when everyone should be able to converse in Bahasa Malaysia and at least a little bit of English?
Sleepy: Are we telling businesses that when you go overseas, especially China, you must not speak their language?
I know many Malays and non-Malays who speak good Mandarin. ‘Chinese-speaking a must' is very different from 'Chinese a must'.
Meor Kamil: It is not just this advertisement in Jobstreet that is racist. There are a lot of job advertisements that say ‘Chinese speaking is a must’.
Not Convinced: Meor Kamil, I’m a Chinese but I can’t speak or write Mandarin. I have no problem with advertisements stating that ‘Chinese speaking a must’.
Rather than complaining, I can either look for jobs that require me to be conversant in other languages or to learn to speak Chinese to increase my employability.
MrM: So Khairy, is ‘Bumiputera encouraged to apply’ acceptable for a company that has 83.5 percent bumiputera employees?
If yes, does that mean that only bumiputera be encouraged to apply and no one else? Please clarify your stand because currently there is too much ambiguity as to what you mean.
Karma: There is no mistake indeed. The company need not lie here to satisfy Khairy just because he has a tendency to mobilise his hooligans to rough up companies.
Oh Ya?: The ruling elite's failed policies should be blamed. They associate everything with race and religion.
This issue of bumiputera or non-bumiputera would not arise if they do away with race-based political parties and practise meritocracy
At the very least, why are they so reluctant on enacting the proposed Race Relations Act? Is it because they are the ones who will be at the receiving end?
Joepaul: If race is an issue, why amend the ad to read ‘Bumiputera encouraged to apply’. How is it different from ‘Non-bumi encouraged to apply’.
Azhar, you don’t have to be so apologetic and grovel to Umno. Just advertise for staff and select those who meet your requirements.
HatiPakatan: All men are born equal but some are more equal than others. This is still true even written 70 years ago by George Orwell in ‘Animal Farm’.
So in the food chain, where do the non-bumiputera stand? Are we like amoeba and plankton?
Vijay47: Leaving aside the terrible ‘England’ and other mistakes in the advertisement - about seven of them - the question we should also be asking is why the percentage of non-bumiputera employees in Leader Cable is only 16.5.
In the government service, bumiputeras constitute almost 96 percent. Is Cable Leader trying to emulate its masters?
Of course, the company and Khairy could argue that since the company is not public, it can do what they like. Which is fine. Then don't complain about private sector employment figures.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.
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