Malaysian Man Glues His Hand To Former Employer’s Floor In Protest

Fazilah Abdul Hamid worked as a Caltex petrol station operator for the past 17 years at two sites in Kelana Jaya and Kampung Subang, Selangor, until being served an unexpected notice in May ordering him to vacate both locations within 30 days. He claims the termination from the oil giant Chevron Malaysia Limited (Caltex) to be unjust and has glued his hand to the headquarters floor in protest.

The letter of termination claimed that it was due to unpaid charges outlined on a circular regarding the Implementation of Self-Service at Petrol Stations. Muhamad Yusuf Azmi is a social activist representing Hamid and has taken to Facebook to refute the letter. According to Azmi, it was stated in the circular by The Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry that, “all costs for implementing self-service including the set-up of automatic devices and calibration of those devices are to be borne fully by the oil company, and no direct or indirect charges are to be made by the petrol station operators”.

 

Hamid was forced to this extreme measure after he tried to object his wrongful termination through official channels but received no response from the company. He went to the Caltex headquarter in Kuala Lumpur to sort this out with the officials but he was ignored there as well.

“The operator Fadzilah Abdul Hamid turned up at 11 am to meet the company’s upper management, but until 3.30pm, not a single representative met him,” Azmi told Malay Mail Online. “Until today, after 175 days since the date of the termination claim, no response has been received.”

Azmi wrote, “My heart hurts when I see Fadzilah and his wife resorting to these measures.” along with pictures of Hamid’s protest on Facebook. The pictures show Hamid’s wife bringing him food and other supplies to support him. He said “It’s so sad because the authorities have not taken action against Chevron. They have broken their promises towards him. I appeal to the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK) or any other party to help this citizen in need.”

Azmi claims that Hamid is not the only Caltex operator to have complaints. A number of others have asked the company to review the charges to no effect and Hamid is the only one to have taken such direct and desperate action.