Melissa Wathan’s experience with fellow staff members in The Hub Coffee Roasters will surely enrage Malaysians when the ex-coffee barista spilled the beans of their alleged racism and bullying.
She only started her new job as a coffee barista just last October in 2020, but things haven’t been going smoothly for Melissa and had to halt her current job as it became way too much for her to handle.
The Malaysian-Indian home-brewer made her accusation known to the public after posting a lengthy statement on Instagram on 3rd March, detailing the traumatising experience that forced her to stop working at the Hub’s Damansara Heights outlet.
Melissa wrote how “it’s been a week” and that her trauma still lingers in her mind until now. She “never understood how verbal abuse and racism” can affect people until it happened to her. The ex-barista mentioned how she is often the one who understands and has to put up with how other people treat her. But she feels unheard as she is a human being with emotions as well. The home-brewer expressed, “I’m sorry that the colour of my skin or my previous work experiences were not good enough to qualify to work for the industry”.
Melissa also wrote how she is a passive individual and rarely argues about anything. But at that point, she felt that she finally needs to stand up for herself because it relates to something she genuinely cares about. She wrote, “I would never want anyone else to feel like they never belonged in this coffee industry. It shouldn’t be like this. Is it really like this? because I thought it was supposed to be better”.
Melissa’s journey working at the well-respected coffee company in the Coffee Specialty Industry in Malaysia began in October 2020 when she met Nicholas Tay, the owner of The Hub Coffee Roaster. The outlet is located at Plaza Zurich Damansara. She felt “honoured” to be conversing with Nicholas because the outlet owner provided her “service and comfort” during the early stage of her venture.
Because Nicholas was short of staff and that Melissa had a background as a home-brewer, she was given the job upon texting him. Even though she had zero experience, Nicholas reassured her that it’s all okay and that Melissa demonstrating an uplifting attitude during work is all that matters. She stated, “I agreed and started training at their OUG outlet until further notice” and how the baristas were friendly and helpful. Melissa had a great time working with them.
Things went into turmoil during the last early month of February 2021 when Melissa was requested to assist at the outlet at Damansara Heights. Despite being anxious, she expressed, “I was nervous yet excited because it was a dream to work there”. But it didn’t go according to how she expected it to be.
During Melissa’s first day of work, she already felt disliked at her workplace when a barista named Joey, described as someone tall and wearing spectacles, told the home-brewer that she was unneeded at the outlet and they have already informed Nicholas about this.
Joey also told Melissa that they could manage the entire outlet without her assistance. She gave no attention to these comments and continued working. Melissa stated that she only worked twice a week at the Damansara outlet, but the situation got worse. The ex-barista stated, “As weeks passed, I became more and more of a victim of verbal abuse” and became completely devastated when she was asked to work 4 days a week at the outlet.
Melissa mentioned to the owners if there was a better option because of how the other baristas disliked her presence there. She told them about how she was treated and that they will look into this matter. Hoping that the girls were confronted about this issue, Melissa continued on with her work, knowing that it would be easier to work with them now. But that’s not the case at all.
She mentioned how Joey berated her by calling her “brainless, worthless, and f**king lazy all in the name of training” on the day she continued working there. Apparently, Joey and her friend are known to be very forward and sarcastic with people who they’re training. The mean barista also stated that she’s not a babysitter and even telling Melissa that she lacks passion for coffee.
Joey even told her that she isn’t qualified to work in a specialty industry and that Melissa belongs in a restaurant chain instead. The barista also stated that Melissa’s presence was useless. The latter expressed, “I felt so humiliated and degraded”.
Things escalated even worse when a regular customer came in and asked about an outlet that was planned to open opposite their store. A ridiculous question was asked of whether the owners of the other outlet were Indians. But Joey then answered in a racist tone, “mana adalah, Indians useless”. The rude barista then turned to Melissa and said she didn’t mean her. The latter stated how she felt so offended and degraded. Later on, Melissa would be continuously yelled at just because she wasn’t good at the espresso routine to the point where she became demotivated and silent without uttering a single word.
At that point, Melissa came to the conclusion that her time at The Hub Coffee Roasters needs to stop. She then texted the wife of the owner telling her she wanted to quit. During the phone conversation, Melissa felt like she wasn’t important enough as the owners kept justifying Joey and the girl’s behaviour towards her. Both those girls were needed there as they are able to keep the outlet in check. A request was given to Melissa to take the next day off and that they will hash things out with her when she continues working in the OUG outlet.
The day after that, Melissa got a text stating that they’ve accepted her resignation, calling it a better choice since she wasn’t happy being there. Nicholas’s wife stated they were “better off as coffee friends” rather than being colleagues instead.
Melissa expressed, “I’m never the kind of person that shares about problems I face but I never in my life felt so humiliated and bullied for wanting to learn. They failed to provide me the reassurance and comfort I needed as an employee. I’m still so affected by the bullying and racism”.
The place Melissa once thought of highly was only a huge disappointment. She stated that the baristas who harassed her are still working in the specialty coffee industry while she had to be the bigger person and resign. This story of hers’ is very important because it sheds light on the effects of bullying and racism. Melissa mentioned, “I left this ‘specialty coffee industry’ because I felt like an outsider. I felt like I never belong, to begin with”.
Following the accusations, The Hub Coffee Roasters’ released a statement on the company’s Instagram page regarding Melissa’s experience working at the Damansara outlet.
At first, the company said that they agreed that the staff was rude and disrespectful. Also, they thanked Melissa for her time with the company. But then they denied the allegations of the racist staff and that their company recognises the best talent they come across with. Apparently, nothing will be done about the rude staff. The Instagram post has since been deleted.
Nicholas then posted his “unequivocal, unconditional, and unreserved apology” to Melissa on The Hub Coffee Roasters’ Instagram page. Fortunately, he has fired Joey who was racially insulting the ex-barista. Nicholas was hesitant at first to deal with the incident but then said that he had to fire her, even though she was his best-performing barista.
He stated, “It took me 2 full days of thinking, to be able to put myself fully in her shoes. I was brought up in a very different environment than Melissa’s, and as such, I realised that my understanding of her feelings might have been different. In the past 2 days, I took it upon myself to talk to my friends of other races, in order to fully understand their predicaments, to better emphatise. This is a very humbling process, and I must say, I have learnt more about the pain and sufferings endured by different people, than the kind of suffering I have undergone myself”. Nicholas putting himself in Melissa’s shoes, now understood how miserable she felt during her experience.
He mentioned how he’s against racism, even those from his own community. When he expanded his business, he insisted that a non-discriminatory policy should be implemented. Nicholas knew she wanted Melissa to work at his company because of how similarly passionate she is about coffee just like him. Upon hiring her, he made an awful mistake of not being there for when she needed guidance. He admits his mistake and will owe up to it someday.
Nicholas also brought up Joey and how great she is working at his outlet. But in the past few days, he shoved away all his work and responsibility in order to understand how this incident became the way it was. He finally realised that some things have to be dealt with, such as Joey’s rude and discriminatory behaviours. As a result, even as a formidable staff, Nicholas fired Joey, also hoping that she also changes her attitude. Apparently, Joey was spoken about this and is willing to change for the better.
Nicholas asked for Melissa’s forgiveness and to give them another chance to prove to her that they can change. He ensures that this apology is truthful and sincere and that hopefully, he can meet up with her to talk about this. Nicholas continues praying that he can make amends with Melissa soon.
So people, especially Malaysians, stop looking down on people or judging them based on their skin colour and background. I hope this whole incident is a lesson for you guys to be more respectful to people who are different from you. Please say no to racism and bullying!
The post The Hub Coffee Roasters Apologises For Alleged Racism & Bullying appeared first on Hype Malaysia.
0 Comments