Preschool Staff Used Work Email to Send Feedback That Feels Discriminating

Thanks to the anonymity of social media, it’s very easy to be openly intolerant these days.

Ever since Goody Feed revealed that all its writers are cats, we’ve got hate mail and abusive Instagram messages from dogs who learned how to type.

Similarly, many people create separate accounts on social media with different names so they can fling abuses at their desired target.

But some people are a bit more brazen than that; some people use their work email.

Preschool Staff Used Work Email to Send Feedback That Feels Discriminating

If a company has been awarded the official halal certification from MUIS (Islamic Religious Council of Singapore), you can be sure that their food is halal, right?

Well sure, except if you’re this woman who questioned the certification because she saw a Chinese man with tattoos handling food.

The company in question is You Tiao Man, a local supplier of you tiao that has been certified halal.

They have been featured on several news publications and even on television, as they were recently featured in a short clip on CNA. 

Shortly after this clip was aired. You Tiao Man received this email:

In case you can’t see it, here’s what the complainant said in their email:

Dear Sir, 

Very curious about the matter:

Why your demo show not using glove while frying the item??

That only I see how about other item.

Can that consider HALAL as the man look like Chinese man with tattoo using hand. 

How come MUIS not alert on that?

While hygiene was consider too for the CERT HALAL.

Sorry for inconvenient cause. 

The email sounds like someone badly wanted to display their bigotry but was too sleepy to worry about grammar.

The complainant’s gripe seems to be about the fact that the man shown in their feature on CNA “looked Chinese” and had a tattoo on his arm.

The complainant also seemed troubled by the fact that their employees weren’t wearing gloves while handling the dough.

Urged to Be More Inclusive & Embrace Diversity

It was the tone of the complainant’s email, however, that upset You Tiao Man CEO Audrey Chew. Ms Chew took to social media to voice her displeasure over the issue.

In her Facebook post, Ms Chew said she was upset by the fact that the email mentioned her employee’s race and the fact that he has a tattoo as reasons to question their halal certification.

“I just hope that since it’s 2021 we can all be more inclusive and embrace diversity”.

She also shared her email response to the person in question, addressing their numerous concerns.

As for why their employees don’t use gloves while handling food, Ms Chew explained that shaping and stretching their dough is necessary to create a “superior product”. The dough also tends to stick to gloves, which makes the process more difficult.

As for the halal certification, Ms Chew said that they have a certain percentage of Muslim staff which is in line with MUIS’ regulations.

Ms Chew added that they have followed all the other guidelines set out by MUIS.

The You Tiao Man CEO said the company is “colour-blind” and hires individuals of all races. “Seeing a multi racial team working together is a great source of pride for me”, she wrote.

“We respect and encourage all religions, races, and background, regardless of where they come from”.

Ms Chew also expressed concern at the complainant’s “underlying tone” of bias in her email, especially since she was using her work email.

As she said in her post, the complainant appeared to be working at a local preschool, and sent the bigoted email to You Tiao Man using her work email account.

PCF’s Response

Ms Yvonne Tang, Director of Strategic Planning & Communications at PCF released a statement in response to the backlash, saying the email was sent by a non-teaching support staff.

“PCF believes in, champions, and teaches the importance of multiracialism. Our diversity means that we all need to be tolerant, understanding, and inclusive,” she said.

“We know that a member of our non-teaching support staff had used her work email account to ask questions and make comments that do not reflect PCF’s views. She will be counselled about her inappropriate actions.”

Bigotry will always be baffling to us, especially when someone goes out of their way to display it.

Recognising that you have certain prejudices is the first step to overcoming them. If we want others to treat us with respect, shouldn’t we do the same?

This message is for the dogs that are still sending abusive messages to us.

Featured Image: YouTube (You Tiao Man) & Facebook