Creative agency gets slammed after stating that its “company culture is unfriendly to religious beliefs”

Is this really the new Malaysia everyone is so proud of?

Recently, a digital creative agency in Malaysia was slammed by netizens online after telling an applicant that the company “has a culture that is unfriendly to his religious beliefs.”

In addition, the e-mail also stated that “we look towards candidates who can put aside religious limitations and have an open mind to a new open working culture”.

The applicant then wrote back saying that “I’ve gone through my resume thoroughly trying to find stated religion or anything that could support your concern over my application, and the only point that could lead to it is my name.”

The agency then released an official statement on the matter:

“This is in response to the recent misunderstanding that has unfortunately occurred due to our FB post looking for hires.

In the email to one of the candidates, we mentioned that there were dogs and alcohol in the office. We were being transparent about the working condition of the company and we certainly did not want to put the candidate into an uncomfortable situation. It is definitely not our intention to offend any race or religion.

We sincerely apologise for any misunderstanding that has arisen from the communication.

We want to say sorry to the candidate who has obviously been offended and clarify that it was not our intent and certainly not done out of malice.
There will also be no more communication on this matter. Thank you.