This generation has been putting in great effort in trying to be inclusive and not discriminate the minorities. In recent years, we’ve seen big brands’ companies such as McDonald’s, KFC, Starbucks, etc., taking initiatives in hiring people with disabilities (PWD).
However, despite the effort done by big brands, the mentality and attitude of some employees in the company might not align with the company’s goodwill. Just like this one McDonald’s premise manager who allegedly discriminated a PWD.
Yesterday (16th February) morning, around 8am, a rant post was uploaded by a Facebook user named Muhammad Hanis. Hanis is the brother of Aniq Ashraf, a dyslexic PWD who works in McDonald’s Forest Height, Senawang. If you are not aware, dyslexia is a condition where the person struggles with reading and writing activities. Their brain might jumble the words up, and make them see it all backwards. Being dyslexic, everything work-related for Aniq is usually assisted by his father; from checking his work schedule to dropping him off at work.
In the post, Hanis stated that Aniq was supposed to work on Sunday morning (13th February), but failed to do so. Naturally, he was queried for not showing up to work. Their father responded through WhatsApp that Aniq’s name was not on the roster (which was apparently sent at 1am), hence the absence. However, they explained that instead of using his name for the roster, like they did with other employees, they used his employee ID instead. Isn’t this an inconvenience for a PWD?
When his father told the manager that his son’s name is Aniq Ashraf, not a series of number, the manager replied, “If you’re human and not a number, make sure my lobby is clean and organised, and not leave the sweeper outside. Human beings listen and understand instructions, while numbers don’t. (Numbers) are slightly stupid.” The nonchalant response has boiled Hanis’ blood, resulting in him cussing out the manager in the WhatsApp group. The manager simply replied, “See you at work tomorrow. Act like it.”
As if pouring gasoline on fire, Hanis stated that when his brother came in to work the next day, not a single person from the management team took the initiative to personally approach him to apologise, nor console him regarding the issue.
This issue has since gone viral overnight all over social media and has managed to invoke the anger of netizens. Netizens have been urging for McDonald’s Malaysia to take appropriate action against the manager, and asking others to boycott that particular McDonald’s branch. One Facebook netizen was so angry that they said, “I wanna see the manager’s face, so I could spit on their eyes and make them blind.”
We hope people can be more accommodating and compassionate towards each other, especially those who are less privileged than others.
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Update (18th February):
McDonald’s Malaysia has since confirmed that an investigation is being conducted at its Seremban outlet. The statement reads:
“We are able to confirm that the behaviour of the specific restaurant manager was found to be unacceptable and in violation of our policy on diversity and inclusion. Appropriate action will be taken against the said individual.”
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