Mustafa Ctr Typical Slave Driver!

[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>31717.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Don't expect such detailed report from the 154th!
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/04/14/whats-really-ailing-mustafa-center/
What’s really ailing Mustafa Center?

April 14th, 2010 |

Author: admin

By Bhaskaran Kunju
Last week an article was published on this site, criticising the decision made by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in bringing to task the owners of Mustaffa Centre for alleged fire safety violations and misuse of non-retail space. (read article here)

The author Hurr Riyahi claimed that the establishment was making a scapegoat of the popular shopping centre despite genuine attempts by the retailer to make amends.

The writer misses out the fact that it took multiple violation notices and a court order for the management to even take any considerable measures (the installation of a numbering system to check the volume of human traffic was deemed insufficient and flawed). Apart from that, the claim that the popular retailer is a victim of any sorts cannot be further than the truth.

I personally know too well of the faults at Mustaffa Centre as I have a close elderly relative who has been working there for a good number of years. The problems that have been unearthed by the recent court order are rooted in the retailer’s absolute focus on profits with little focus on welfare, be it for customers or employees.

For starters, anyone who has made a trip to the 24-hr shopping centre will be aware of the high number of non-Singaporean staff working there. As an in-demand shopping destination with customers coming in round-the-clock it would make sense to include non-Singaporeans to bolster the immense staffing needs.

But in the case of Mustaffa the inclusion of foreigners has been almost a rule while Singaporean employees are an exception. The detrimental effect of this practice can be seen in the extremely low wages of the staff.

A permanent full-time counter staff has a basic wage of around $900 a month for a 6-day workweek with absolutely no benefits whatsoever including medical coverage or annual leave. Furthermore wages have been stagnant for the past 4 years while the years before there were only token increments of a few dollars annually.

In any organisation that permits it, working the graveyard shift is a quick way to supplement one’s basic pay with night shift allowances. In the case of Mustaffa however night shift allowances are approximately just $3-4 a night, averaged from a monthly allowance of $100 for a 30-day month with a 6-day workweek.

It is a paltry sum of money and quite easily the lowest rate anywhere in Singapore. In comparison, temporary staff at NTUC’s Fairprice outlets are remunerated approximately $8.75 a night while permanent staff receive $14 a night.

Some might be under the impression that perhaps sales staff might be receiving commissions based on sales hence basic wages are low. However no real system of commissions exists. Staff are permitted to a certain amount of bonus if the sales figures of the entire department reach a specific target. But the set target is deliberately so high that it is unrealistic and unattainable.

On one hand the single-minded profit driven approach of the organisation is to be blamed for this state but with the availability of cheap and expendable foreign labour this practice is only all the more easily enabled.

The supply of foreign staff appears to be endless and the retailer has a relatively high turnover of employees, all of which only further contributes to the issue of low wages and abysmal employee benefits.





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[makapaaa]

Mustaffa Centre is a globally recognised name with an annual income of around $302 million. Owner Mustaq Ahmad was awarded the Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year 2003 by the Singapore Tourism Board and has been held up as an example of a foreigner who has contributed positively to Singapore by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. “You get the right foreigner here, he creates thousands of jobs for Singaporeans like Mr Mustaq and you need to get more people like him,” said PM Lee at the National Day Rally in 2006. Additionally Mr Ahmad was ranked 38<SUP>th</SUP> in Forbes’ list of Singapore’s 40 Richest People in 2008.

Given the accolades and recognition that Mustaffa Centre has received, the current state of staff and customer management is sadly unbecoming of its reputation.

One might argue that the high number of foreign workers at Mustaffa is due to Singaporeans shunning it as a place of employment for its less than glamourous appeal. However going by some of the comments received on this site, Mustaffa Centre was pointed out to be one of the few retailers that hire Singaporean Indians indiscriminately and is viewed favourably by some quarters of the ethnic Indian population in Singapore. Hence interest is there from Singaporeans. But given the unappealing wages on offer it is likely that only the most disadvantaged of jobseekers would seek employment there.

The suppressed wages and poor benefits on offer for employees is an exploitation of the desperation of these applicants. Concurrently the foreign staff are losing out on fair employment coverage as well. Even if they may well be contented with what they have been offered it is only due to a comparatively higher benefits that they receive at Mustaffa, vis a vis their qualifications and limited job prospects.

In cooperating with the authorities and dealing diligently with the issues raised by SCDF Mustaffa has tried to show that it does place concern for the well being of its customers. But most importantly, it has brought to a quick resolve an unsavoury saga that would have likely harmed its sales figures and reputation if it had been prolonged.

Those who are familiar with the shopping mall would have already been aware of the difficulty in navigating the cluttered and cramped corridors. In fact a look through several online reviews of Mustaffa Centre reveals similar concerns by visitors. When the building is crowded finding an exit seems to be an impossible task and only adds to the fears of the place being a firetrap.

However a lack of exits and entrances is not a natural feature of the building. There is in fact another exit between Exits 1 and 2 and it is located directly in front of the escalator. In times of emergency that exit would be crucial as it would be the easiest to access for customers coming down from the higher floors. But in keeping in tune with the company’s self-serving profit driven practice that exit is covered by a single pane of glass, with sliding doors removed, and instead a counter has been placed on the spot, retailing sunglasses.

There was no mention of this in any of the news reports or in the primary fire safety violations raised by SCDF. I can only assume then that it had unfortunately been missed out during inspection of the site.

The limiting of the exits and entrances is deliberate and apart from maximising retail space, is intended to ensure a funneling of the customers from the entrance to the exit while providing them maximum exposure to the products on sale in the building. If this incident of blocking an exit for the purpose of expanding sales is true then it is a flagrant offence and should be punishable as well for endangering the lives of the shoppers.

I am not at all surprised that the URA and SCDF have taken actions against Mustaffa Centre, if anything I applaud them for making the unpopular and difficult decision of taking to task not only a major retailer but one that is also ethnically identifiable, a sensitive issue at that.

Hopefully the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will be next to look into the matter of suppressed wages and lack of proper employee benefits. A few years ago when a complain was made to MOM regarding this matter, the reply given was that a nominal fee had to be paid for formal investigations to be carried out. Though such a fee is probably meant to keep out frivolous cases, it is unfair and insincere of a department whose main scope of operation is overlooking the needs of the labour pool.

Contrary to popular belief, sales staff at places such as Mustaffa Centre are not necessarily replaceable, which otherwise could in part explain the low wage situation. The references made in this article are to full-time employees working nearly 12-hour shifts and long serving ones at that. But nevertheless the recent revelations from the SCDF and URA citations is only evident of a company that has repeatedly shown a lack of interest in the well being of customers and employees alike.

 

[SIFU]

can be summarise as : NEVER WORK FOR AH NEH COMPANY

 

[cooleo]

can be summarise as : NEVER WORK FOR AH NEH COMPANY

Once again, the Master sprouts words of wisdom. Only people like yellow_people will work for them...cos no so-called 'chinese ah beng' wanna hire him to talk cock!