Netizens Praise Malaysian CEO For Changing Company's Official Attire To Traditional Batik
The corporate change aims to promote Malaysian culture and give batik more representation.
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Berjaya Corporation will be changing their official company attire to traditional Malaysian batik from today, 9 April, onwards
The matter was announced by the group's newly-appointed chief executive officer (CEO) Jalil Rasheed on his official Twitter account today.
"Today we announced that Berjaya Corp and its entire group of companies is changing its official attire to batik. Batik everyday for men and women highly encouraged," he tweeted.
According to The Edge, Jalil was appointed in March, making him the first CEO of Berjaya Corporation to be unrelated to the family of its founder, Tan Sri Vincent Tan.
Image via Business Today
According to Jalil, the corporate change aims to promote Malaysian culture and give batik more representation
"Besides being personally biased, our warm climate was a consideration," he said.
Additionally, he thinks the change can help give back to the industry dominated by local craftsmen.
"We also want to help small-time businesses in the batik industry keep their craft alive," he added.
Jalil said all of Berjaya's hospitality and front-facing staff will change their uniforms to batik gradually
The change will ultimately involve about 20,000 employees among the group, and he hopes that their suppliers and vendors will adopt the policy as well.
"I hope more companies will join us in promoting this. These are small changes we can make from a corporate perspective. We do what we can."
His Twitter thread has since gone viral with many praising and commending the CEO for the initiative
"Applause for the move and kudos for breaking out from the [only] Thursday batik normal. Next mission is to 'merakyatkan batik'. Thank you for breaking the barrier," said a Twitter user.
Image via Twitter
"Excellent. May all Malaysian companies follow suit. Let it be a Malaysian identity, especially if the batik is locally-produced," said a netizen.
Image via Twitter
Another said, "I've been championing this, too, in my company but they still prefer it Western."
"Always admired Indonesia, Philippines, and African leaders when they go for meetings in their national costumes!"
Image via Twitter
You can check out Jalil's Twitter thread here:
When he was at Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), Jalil extended the flexibility of work from home as a permanent option for all employees:
A fan of batik yourself? Check out these local businesses that make modern batik pieces:
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