BEING worked to the bone.
Such is the claim of a former 99 Speedmart employee who grumbled about having to work 12-hour shifts, six-day weeks and having to cover “two or three stores”. All this for RM60 more which is a pittance of a salary.
Rahsia dia? Kerah tenaga staff branch outlet dia kaw2 dgn bayar gaji paling minimum. Branch manager(BM) tak cukup orang, BM kena cover 2 kedai, kadang 3 kedai, gaji utk manager cover dari opening sampai closing 2-3 outlet hanya rm60 utk sebulan. Babi! Ni sebab aku resign. Anjing! https://t.co/TB9rYnxSEW
— Dr. 𝕁𝕖𝕓𝕒𝕥 (@jebatgarcia) April 19, 2025
This was Dr.Jebat’s (@jebatgarcia) contention on X – such terrible working conditions that eventually forced him to resign as a branch manager of 99 Speedmart.
The self-proclaimed Master’s graduate was responding to an analysis of the convenience store’s incredible success by Ekonomi Rakyat (@EkonomiRakyatMY).
The latter report had placed emphasis on incentive schemes, pricing strategies and product placement payments as key to the chain raking in incredible profits which amounted to almost half a billion ringgit in profits annually.
This has allowed founder of the convenience store chain and CEO of its publicly listed holding company 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd, Lee Thiam Wah, to be named as the eighth richest person in Malaysia on the 2025 Forbes list with a net worth of US$3.5 bil (RM13.32 bil).
Notwithstanding this, Dr.Jebat, is adamant that the secret lies in 99 Speedmart extracting its pound of flesh from each and every one of its employees while paying them minimum wages.
Looking back, the poster reckoned that he would be willing to live up to the challenges of long hours and back-breaking labour (9am to 10.30pm for six days) as a branch manager if he were being paid a monthly wage of at least RM3,500.
The poster further contended while he respects the founder – a polio survivor – for having started from the very bottom, the problem of staff shortage would not have existed if an equitable wage was paid given the number of outlets has climbed to over 2,000.
The poster also warned Malay female applicants vying to fill up vacancies in the HQ (headquarters in Klang) that they would eventually be offered branch manager positions, insinuating that HQ vacancies were reserved for Chinese applicants.
Dr. Jebat’s tirade seemed to resonate with many current and former employees as they flooded the comments section with similar grouses.
Ex-staff seemed unanimous that it was tough pulling 12-hour (or longer) shifts daily with meagre wages.
The lack of off days was another grievance. One former staff claimed he had to work for months without a break.
One claimed the working conditions were so poor that he threw in the towel by serving a 24-hour notice, thus leaving an outlet short-handed.
Another commenter grumbled about staff shortages which became very acute during public holidays. This necessitated finding replacement staff if employees wished to take leave.
One netizen drew comparison with another “orange-coloured 24-hour convenience store” whereby his sibling who worked there previously had to cover three branches with lunch breaks in the car.
The list of complaints and grievances was long and seemingly never ending.
On the one hand, it can be argued that these are the career opportunities available to those who think formal education is a waste of time.
Those who believe that an SPM certificate is not worth the paper it is printed on will be doomed to grind away at such menial jobs while dreaming of making millions as a social media influencer.
On the other, many who are better educated and work in corporate jobs will say it is no better. Staff may be better remunerated but rest assured, employers will want to extract that pound of flesh nonetheless.
Suffice to say, ethical and equitable working conditions are a long way off in Malaysia regardless of whether one is doing corporate or menial jobs. – April 22, 2025
