Racial Discrimination in Job Ads
Ads calling for applicants of specific races are very common in Malaysia. These are examples my friends have sent me:
First of all, it’s not JobStreet’s fault. Since 1995, they’ve been doing Malaysians a huge favour by making job searches much easier. In fact, I got my first full-time job in 2003 through JobStreet.
The real culprits are the companies who filter applicants through race and our government which indoctrinates a culture of racial discrimination into corporations and citizens through political segregation. What the government preaches, the sheep usually follow.
Advertising Mandarin, Cantonese or Hokkien as language requirements in a job ad is fair and perfectly acceptable but filtering job seekers based on race is pure discrimination. It disregards the fact that there are a number of non-Chinese job seekers in Malaysia who can speak Mandarin, Cantonese or Hokkien. No one particular race is guilty of this. I’ve seen ads requiring workers of other races as well.
One of the exceptions to this would be when workers of a specific race are genuinely required for a job. For example, a movie set in India requiring Indian actors.
Examples of discriminating ads
- Chinese person required.
- Light-skinned female required.
Examples of non-discriminating ads
- Mandarin speaker required.
- Chinese actor required for film set in China.
I can hardly wait for the time when Malaysian civil liberties groups have enough power to do something about this. Guidelines, law enforcement and lawsuits would be great.
We need something like the UK’s Race Relations Act 1976:
The Race Relations Act 1976 makes discrimination on racial grounds unlawful in employment, training, education, and the provision of goods, facilities and services (both in the private and public sectors). The Act defines two main types of discrimination: direct discrimination and indirect discrimination.
Direct discrimination
Direct discrimination occurs when someone is treated less favourably on racial grounds. Racial grounds include not only grounds of race but also those of colour, nationality, citizenship, and ethnic or national origin.
Example: A dress manufacturing company advertises in the local newspaper for a Turkish machinist.
It’s possible that we already have laws like this but our government may not be enforcing it. Either way, it shows how ads like this fly by us everyday without anyone caring.