BULLYING, taunting and harassment are all forms of abuse and there is no excuse for abuse in any space, be it at home, in school or at work, says Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) Partnerships Director Amnani Kadir.
She is responding to a video circulating online showing AirAsia Thailand CEO Tassapon Bijleveld insulting a female employee during a virtual town hall meeting recently.
In the video that went viral last weekend, Bijleveld was heard dropping the F-bomb and telling a female colleague to “shut up”.
AirAsia CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Digital president Aireen Omar and head of eCommerce Lim Ben-Jie were also present during the meeting, but did not call out Bijleveld’s behaviour at the time.
“The video was unsettling and a clear example of workplace bullying in the mistreatment of staff by someone in the position of authority,” Amnani told FocusM.
“What we often don’t realise is that workplace bullying is not a one-off incident. To be clear, abusive behaviour is never one-off. Rather, it usually is a repetitive occurrence.
“All others who were present and were seen laughing or smiling in the video were not only witnesses to the abuse but complicit to it.
“They had participated in creating the unsafe work environment for the staff who was bullied, and continued to facilitate a toxic work environment,” she added.
On what employers can do to ensure that all staffs are working in an empowering, safe and healthy workspace, Amnani insists that even if there are policies in place in relation to bullying and sexual harassment at the workplace, it means nothing if leadership does not adhere to it.
“The video clearly showed two individuals in the position of leadership who failed to create a safe workspace,” she pointed out.
According to Amnani, it is never easy to stand up and speak out against abuse, especially when it is towards a person in the position of authority.
“As difficult as it is, we must speak up and say that such behaviour is not acceptable in the workplace.”
Laughing and smiling, Amnani explains, are actions that support and celebrate the bullying.
“In situations like these, we must recognise that it is inappropriate, unprofessional and extremely harmful to the wellbeing of the individual on the receiving end of the abuse.
“This is not acceptable at all. In whatever way you downplay bullying by making jokes to lighten the situation, you partake in the harmful act. There are no excuses for it,” she concludes. – July 28, 2021
