“(Insert race) only, slim, tall and pretty prioritised”.
This is just one of the many requirements we have seen on job vacancy posters. Nothing new, and the public has, on numerous occasions, made noise and boycotted the companies responsible for putting up posters of this sort.
Recently, a poster looking for a graphic designer has been circulating on the internet, and the requirements are, to say the least, baffling. On the poster, it was stated that the employees preferred virgin applicants, with “tak cute takpe”, praying five times a day and fasting during Ramadhan being the other qualities they were looking for.
Netizens went amok over the poster, with many questioning the necessity for such requirements. Shouldn’t other qualifications like results and work experience be the priority when it comes to hiring requirements?
Depending on the nature of the job, certain physical qualities like height and weight may be required. In this particular instance, however, it is a job that has nothing to do with physical attributes whatsoever and is highly reliant on capabilities and skills.
Even when it comes to models, promoters, or other jobs that require their employees to be exceptionally good looking, some employees discriminate by skin colour. Fair skin and small waists are deemed to be the ideal physical trait in most Asian countries, but people come in all shapes and sizes, and it Is undeniable that such preferences can be pretty discriminatory.
By: Celestine Foo
