Before COVID-19 emerged, if you had flu-like symptoms, you might power through and go to work, even though you felt sick.
But nowadays, isolating yourself from the community is one of the many ways to prevent the virus from spreading further.
This is especially the case if you’re exhibiting symptoms associated with the coronavirus. For this reason, clinics now place patients with such symptoms on medical leave for a short period of time until their PCR test result comes back negative.
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If you feel sick and were issued a medical certificate (MC) for this reason, you’d expect your supervisor to understand, right?
Sure, unless they’re a racist, that is.
Supervisor Allegedly Messaged, ‘Malays Are the Same’ After Seeing Employee’s MC
When Twitter user Qayywm informed his supervisor that he was issued an MC for three days, he received a rather unexpected response.
Qayywm shared the exchange in a Twitter post on Wednesday (14 July).
In what appears to be a WhatsApp chat, Qayywm sent a photo of the MC he received from a polyclinic to his supervisor.
The MC states that the patient is unfit for duty for three days from 14 July to 16 July, as he was diagnosed with acute respiratory illness.
The MC also said the patient was “required by law” to stay at home for the duration of the medical leave, or until they’re notified that their PCR COVID-19 test is negative.
In response, Qayywm’s supervisor said “Please apply leave MC form Send to soon”, which almost makes sense.
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His next message, for some unknown reason, was delivered in Chinese.
And when Qayywm translated it using Google Translate, he was shocked to discover what it meant:
Yes, for falling sick and seeking medical attention like any responsible citizen would, Qayywm received the snarky, racist remark: “Malays are the same”.
Netizens Outraged
Qayywm was understandably furious, calling for racism to stop in his post with the hashtag #SayNoToRacism.
His tweet went viral, garnering over 12,000 likes and 15,900 retweets and triggering much outrage.
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“Rude of him to send you a message in Chinese, and the message itself isn’t any better. As a Chinese Singaporean, I am sorry this happened to you,” one user wrote.
“Ah, the classic “i don’t have the balls to speak racism in english or your language so i’m gonna hide behind mine,” said another.
Company’s Response
According to the Facebook page Wake Up, Singapore Qayywm later revealed that the name of the company he worked for is a lift contractor called 9G Elevator.
In response to the backlash, 9G Elevator said they “are aware of the post and working to gather more information and investigate the incident as quickly as possible.”
“There is no place for racist or discriminatory behaviour of any kind at 9G or any workplace. We continually work to ensure that all our employees feel welcome, safe, and heard.”
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However, netizens were not appeased, as they started leaving one-star ratings of the company on Google reviews.
Social media may have its ills, but it provides an accessible avenue where anyone can expose the prejudice they’ve been subjected to.
Featured Image: Twitter (qayywm)
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