HOMEGROWN home improvement retailer MR DIY Group (M) Bhd is obviously aware that it is never easy to own and manage a chain of more than 940 stores nationwide across three brands (MR DIY, MR. DOLLAR & MR TOY) and in Brunei.
Given its its rapid expansion pace, MR DIY deserves credit for resolving one shortcoming that Malaysians despise most swiftly – racism.
The Main Board-listed company reacted by conducting an immediate and thorough internal investigation on the behaviour of an employee of a branch in Bandar Seri Putra, Selangor who turned away a female job candidate because of her race. This follows a live revelation by TikTok user @itsbrownbarbie who alleged that an employee of a MR DIY branch in Bangi (Selangor) had discriminated against Indians.
“If the Malay manager or supervisor are not keen to employ Indians, just be upfront about it that ‘we don’t hire Indians to work here’ … Don’t hurt the person because he/she is born dark-skinned,” she said in her posting.
“Earlier this afternoon (April 7), my sister went to the MR DIY Bandar Seri Putra outlet to look for a job and were told by the supervisor that he/she has received a text from the outlet manager not to hire Indians.
“So obviously as a sister, I feel irritated as I’ve encountered similar situation before in Mid-Valley whereby the Chinese manager told me that “I don’t want an Indian, I want a Malay” … hello, hello then what should we Indians do? We also have the same stomach as you guys … we eat the same rice.
“I’m stressed that racism still exist in Malaysia … I’ve many Malay friends who don’t behave like that … If you want to work in MR DIY, you only need a pair of eyes and two hands and two legs. Arrange things using hands and use legs to walk and use eyes to scan and put things into the plastic bag.”
Well, the above incident is an example how a remote incident – or the presence of ‘Little Napoleons’ – can ruin the reputation of a business who does not even have a discriminatory employment policy at its headquarters level.
In a statement to Free Malaysia Today who broke the story, MR DIY said the company has conducted an immediate and thorough internal investigation on the matter.
“We confirmed the behaviour of the specific employee. It was found to be unacceptable and in violation of our policy on diversity and inclusion. Appropriate action is being taken to resolve the matter,” noted MR DIY.
The company added that it had reached out to the affected individual to express its regret over the incident and to offer its sincere apologies.
“MR DIY would like to reiterate that we do not accept any behaviour in violation of our policy on diversity and inclusion and will make every effort to prevent such occurrences in the future,” the company said. “We are an equal opportunity employer and a proudly Malaysian company.” – April 8, 2022
