M'sians Slam Convenience Store For Using Sign That Dehumanises Disabled People
"Please throw away your food once you are done eating. Only people with disabilities (OKU) don't throw away their food after eating," the sign read.
By Aqasha Nalani — 19 Jan 2023, 01:32 PM — Updated almost 2 years ago
A convenience store was recently called out on social media for using a sign that dehumanises people with disabilities (OKU)
In a tweet that went viral, user @jllmisai said that his friend sent him an image taken while they were at FamilyMart's NU Sentral branch.
The man also attached the photo in his tweet, which shows the store using a sign that reads, "Please throw away your food once you are done eating. Only people with disabilities don't throw away their food after eating."
After seeing the notice, the man said that he was taken aback by it because the store publicly insulted OKU.
"It's not a problem to give a reminder to your customers. However, is it necessary to make such an analogy that clearly insults disabled people?" the man asked.
Malaysians were also outraged by the insensitive sign and left their thoughts in the comments section
One user commented that the store should have just written, "Please throw away your food after eating" on the sign. Instead, they added unnecessary comments that insulted people with disabilities.
"It's not that they don't have common sense, but they wrote it while they were emotional and failed to think of the consequences," the user wrote.
Another user commented that the store attempted to appear savage but was insensitive in its efforts.
They also pointed out that OKU frequently visit NU Sentral and that the store should have learned not to make such a mistake.
"Uncle, why are you attacking the OKU? Pity us disabled people who are suddenly blamed," another user wrote.
FamilyMart has since issued an apology for the incident
Speaking with SAYS, the popular convenience store said that they have removed the sign and that an investigation is currently underway.
"This is not acceptable for FamilyMart, and please know that an immediate removal has been done. An investigation is ongoing and stern action will be taken to ensure this doesn't happen again," it said.
"We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that FamilyMart does not condone any discriminatory language and practices. We once again apologise for this incident."
