TIKTOK user neeeesh12 (HarneeshKaur) was praised as “beauty with brain” after she stood up for her rights by ticking off a Tealive staff for lying that the popular bubble tea brand only hires Malays to run its outlets.
The incident happened yesterday (May 4) when she asked a staff manning the counter if Tealive has any job openings, only to be told that the vacancy is for “Orang Melayu sahaja” (Malays only).
“It took me a few good seconds to process what I’ve just heard and I replied saying sorry for I thought I heard wrong and she repeated saying that (the job is for) Orang Melayu sahaja,” she related her experience in a videoclip lasting about three minutes.
“I was shocked, I was stunned that when I reached home, I got in touch with Tealive’s customer service and told them that this happened. I was told they don’t have any policy of preferring to hire Malays over other races and that their jobs are opened to people of all races and religions.”
Confused as to why the staff had denied her of a job opportunity when she clearly has the right to apply for the job, Harneesh went back to Tealive to “confront” the same staff by telling her that the customer service has clarified that it is not true that the job openings are meant for Orang Melayu sahaja and why did she claimed it to be so.
“The next thing I knew was that she was reaching out to the drawer to take up a job application form and said tak apalah you isi ini saja (never mind you just fill this up).
“Of course, I said no because I wouldn’t want to work with such people and I told her tak apalah you boleh simpan borang itu (you can just keep the form) and that I was just finding out what was happening as it’s not cool to deny me a job because I’m not a Malay.”
Harneesh then reminded the said staff that it does not cost much to be kind to others and to make sure that she hands a job application form to the next person who walks in instead of telling him/her that the vacancies are meant to be filled up by Malays only when that is not even the company’s policy.
“It’s so surprising to me because Tealive is a huge brand in Malaysia and you hire employees like that. So Tealive, I’m really sad and hope that you’ll review this matter by making it clear to your employees not to deny someone their right to a job because they are not Malays or that the existing staff prefer to work with their own race.”
What happened to Harneesh is reminiscent of what was encountered by TikTok user @itsbrownbarbie who alleged on April 8 last year that an employee of a home improvement retailer MR DIY branch in Bangi (Selangor) had discriminated against Indians.
“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,” she shared.
“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.” – May 5, 2023
