YOURSAY ‘What about Chinese companies who refuse to employ Indians, Malays?

Hamleys takes disciplinary action over 'tudung' issue

Baiyuensheng: How can one employee tell a job seeker to take off her tudung without the approval from the management, and a new employee at that?

A police report should be lodged. Where are Malay rights group Perkasa and Muslim NGO Isma on this? Is it because the company belongs to a Mat Salleh (foreigner)?

YS Tam: Baiyuensheng, what about Chinese companies who refuse to employ Indians and Malays? Racists and bigots are not only found in toy shops. They are everywhere and they come in all colours.

Have you heard how your Chinese friends talk about the Indians? Maybe you are deaf and blind to racism from your own race?

My Chinese friends call the Malay women "pau tau" (wrap the head). That is so narrow-minded. But I have never heard of any Chinese employer apologising.

ACR: This is a very funny episode given that Hamleys was brought here by Global Retail Ventures whose directors are Malays/Muslims. It cannot be company policy but the doing of some ignorant staff as explained.

Being allowed to wear clothing in accordance with a religious belief is a basic human right. Regrettably there is a rush to boycott without waiting for an explanation. That shows how segments of the populace react.

The Cadbury incident allegedly involving porcine DNA being detected in chocolate bars is a case in point. Has Cadbury taken the morons in the Health Ministry to court for maligning them?

Disgusted: Why does every small thing ended in a big racial spin nowadays? It was an isolated incident where an employee did something ultra vires and has been sacked. So let it rest and not make a national issue out of it.

I am sure director and actor Rosyam Nor whose daughter was denied a job at Hamleys because she wore a tudung has accepted their apology and forgiven and forgotten the issue.

Let’s not keep harping at it here and close the case once and for all. Let it also be a lesson for employees anywhere not to discriminate any employee based on race, creed or colour.

DAP: Why must only halal turkeys be imported?

Vijay47: I do not agree with DAP’s Seputeh MP Teresa Kok's argument that the import of turkey must be relaxed in view of the difficulty in sourcing halal turkey.

My stand is that the government must stop this rubbish of intruding into our dietary preferences. Period.

Who is the Veterinary Department or Veterinary Services Department director-general Mohamad Azmie Zakaria to decide what I should have on my Christmas menu?

The importation of food or for that matter, any product, should not be decided by the restrictions imposed on any race or religion.

We need to be exceptionally vigilant here against this kind of extremist rulings. If we are quiet now, next year they might ban mangers or sleighs on the grounds that they are not representative of life in Malaysia and "anyway, you kept quiet last year".

It seems like more and more Muslims in authority are seeking to see what more they can subject non-Muslims to. All this to protect the sanctity of Islam?

I wonder whether the Christians and Muslims in Turkey have turkey for Christmas. Merry Christmas.

Gaji Buta: I thought Muslims in Malaysia are not supposed to even wish “Merry Christmas” according to some fatwa. Oops, I mean 'religious edict' as I am not supposed to use this word according to another religious edict.

So where is the issue in Muslims visiting Christians’ homes to share a turkey? In fact even on a normal day, it is almost impossible to get a Muslim to have a meal in a non-Muslim’s house because of the pots and plates, etc.

Paul Warren: Isn't this the start to ensuring the advice given by Isma to Muslims not to greet or wish Christians to have a Merry Christmas? That being the case, the authorities are slowly starting to curb the Christian celebration of Christmas by denying them turkey.

The irony is, they want halal certified meats and foodstuff consumed in the celebration of Christmas; Muslim-blessed or approved food to be consumed in celebration of Christmas.

That might just suggest that when it comes to money, however, Isma is hypocritical in being quite happy to see halal-certified food being consumed in celebration of a religious festival that is an anathema to them.

To be consistent, they should say that halal foods should not be consumed in celebration of a religious festival that is not Islamic.

Bamboo: This is just the self-righteous Muslim bureaucrat putting red tape on the import of turkeys which are mostly consumed by Christians. Are they so righteous for avoiding taking commissions or bribes during the discharge of their duty?

Sinan Bawan: There are some sound reasons for the import of halal turkey. Christmas is a time of sharing and celebrating with all, not just Christians.

Guests at Christian open houses include Muslims as friends, colleagues and relatives. Open houses at festivals are now part of Malaysian culture. End of the year office parties include roast turkeys. It does make sense to facilitate the import of halal turkey.

However, I do not agree to the stopping of the import of non-halal turkey... that's anti-free choice and competition.

Personally, I am more concerned with the rising prices of grains, vegetables and fruits. MPs should be focusing on food security for the nation.

Ex-PJ: Teresa, chances are that there won't be enough turkeys, halal or not, at this late hour. The real turkey is Veterinary Services Department’s Mohamad Azmie.

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