“You don’t eat pork, right?”
Singapore Chinese Muslim Heidi Heng was shocked when she was asked the question when she tried to find out more about an opening for an administration position.
At first, she said, she was mistaken for being a non-Chinese because she was seen wearing a headscarf. Then, she was told that her Halal diet would be an inconvenience to other employees especially when it comes to company events.
Heng was responding to job application queries sent via Whatsapp messages on her phone when she was confronted by questions that involved her race, religion and dietary option. She was corresponding with someone who appeared to be the human resource staff of an unnamed company.
A screen grab of the conversation was posted on Facebook on Tuesday, and has since garnered more than 1,000 shares and nearly 100 comments.
The conversation had taken place over Whatsapp when Heng was asking for the appropriate email address to send her resume to. Heng seemed disappointed at how the conversation had panned out, even labeling the comments that the staff member made as “racist”.
“Work is work, food is food. I can eat Halal food, (you) can eat (your) non-Halal food. Just (wanted) a simple admin job, end up get a racist comment… Admin job got event every month meh (sic)?” she said.
Most of the commenters on Facebook have shown support for Heng while criticising the company.
“I don’t see why one’s dietary preference will hinder the productivity of the admin job… what if the candidate is a Chinese vegetarian?” said a Bob M Fauzi.
One commenter even offered Heng a job and is awaiting her reply.
Yahoo Singapore has contacted the Ministry of Manpower for a comment.
Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com
