"Racist" recruitment ad lands Oldtown White Coffee in hot water

Oldtown White Coffee has come under fire from the Malaysian public after its recruitment ad was perceived to be discriminatory and circulated on social media.The recruitment ad highlighted the launch of Oldtown White Coffee’s upcoming Taman Mount Austin outlet and added that the outlet was looking to make several new hires.Priority however, would be being given to Malay and Chinese applicants. The public has since been in an uproar over the ad, with some pointing out that the ad was provocative to Indians in Malaysia.Since the outrage, Oldtown White Coffee has since issued a statement apologising.It said: “We understand your frustration but do give us the opportunity to clarify this matter.”The company also added that the recruitment letter was posted by a franchisee for the new outlet and the company is in contact with the franchisee, Somasundaram Ramesh A/L Rajendran on the matter and that the management was not aware of the contents.“As a home grown Malaysian brand, we value everyone equally and it has never been our intention or the intention of the franchisee to make any individuals feel slighted or offended in any way. We will take immediate and appropriate action internally to ensure that this will not happen again,” said Oldtown White Coffee.The issue of racial discrimination has increasingly been in the spotlight in Malaysia of late. Just this month, to promote positive sentiments amongst Malaysians, NagaDDB released a video showing Malaysians standing up for their fellow Malaysians, across the Chinese, Indian or Malay ethnic groups.