By LHL
A CLOSE friend of mine who worked for some years and later resigned from Top Glove, the world’s largest manufacturer of gloves, said he had enough of the hypocrisy by the management of one of the largest public listed companies in Malaysia by market capitalisation.
On the one hand, the management keeps drilling into employees, particularly those working in its corporate office, about integrity about the so-called “honesty, integrity and transparency” in the company.
We see the slogan everywhere. It is an image the company sought to project to outsiders. The company’s website is littered with such sloganeering. It’s the same on its various premises.
In fact, the chairman Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai aspires to live to over 100 years old based on such “ethics” and he has repeatedly drummed this in to his staff.
And while COVID-19 has made Top Glove’s share prices hit the roof, thanks to the spike in global demand for medical gloves, it has also exposed the shady side of the company for the whole world to see.
A huge portion of foreign workers’ salaries were cut to pay the commission for agencies which brought them in. This is akin to modern slavery. It is very sad considering that these are the very people who ensure the production lines continue running and made Top Glove the lucrative company that it is today.
The deplorable living and working conditions of Top Glove’s workers have also made news not just locally but in the international media. Up to eight or nine workers are crammed into a small room the cash-flushed company dared called a dorm that breaks even the most basic health and hygiene standards.
But the irony is that the management keeps stressing on healthy living. Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai lives by his “5 Quality Wells” – Clean well, Eat well, Work well, Exercise well and Sleep well.
But how well are his thousands of factory workers, physically and mentally?
The management is known to get their staff to brush their teeth regularly and even hands out toothbrushes as corporate gifts as it believes that good oral hygiene is key to good health.
It is also perhaps the only company in Malaysia to tie in some of the employees’ health to pay rise and promotions. Those who were obese stand a lesser chance to be promoted than his or her more physically fit colleagues. Even their bonuses are affected if they are found to be overweight!
The company allows only two paid sick leave per annum, and many staff have to take annual leave even when they are sick. Tan Sri Lim’s mantra is: “Being sick is being abnormal.” This is contrary to the labour laws.
But why is that a company that talks so much about health, hygiene and integrity lags so far behind in the provision of decent living and working conditions for its workers as well as their welfare? The hypocrisy is so obvious.
Perhaps Top Glove should come clean on what its slogans on honesty, integrity and staying healthy mean. Does it mean there’s one standard for the boss and top management and another for its lesser employees?
My friend chose not to stay long enough in the company to find out. – Jan 25, 2021
LHL reaches out to Focus Malaysia to reveal what he believes are the goings-on in the company.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
PunTatBerSiul
All the slogans are just for decoration.
In reality, hypocrites will never fulfill their pledge.
They don't do it openly but deploy their d*ck suckers to exert pressure on their employee. Best example, micro managing on those who they dislike.
These are untold stories in the keparat world.
2021-01-25 15:14