Raya treat for foreign workers
Mah Sing pays tribute to labourers’ sacrifice in moving video
PETALING JAYA: While most Hari Raya videos focus on local families, Mah Sing Group’s latest video celebrates the sacrifice of foreign labourers who often have to spend their Raya in Malaysia.
On Facebook, the group said there are more than two million migrant workers in Malaysia, many of them Muslims who work throughout Ramadan.
“They are far away from their homes so that they can help build ours. We want to share their stories here that are often untold.
“They are Our Unsung Heroes,” it said.
The 3.5minute video shares the stories of workers at the Southville City development in Bangi and the hardships they face working away from their families.
Bangladeshi Mohamed Johorlah says he works even while fasting as he has to provide for his family– a mother, wife and four sons – back home.
“My aunt, younger brother and youngest daughter died but I couldn’t go home,” he says.
Indonesian Mishari says when he went home, he did not recognise his daughter from the photos he had of her when she was younger.
The visibly emotional man adds that he “cried in his heart because as a man, he cannot shed tears”.
Myanmar national Rothur Rahman says he feels sad celebrating Hari Raya here as he misses his family back home.
On June 16, to celebrate the workers’ sacrifice, Mah Sing Group treated more than 600 Muslim construction workers to a buka puasa event at the Savanna Executive Suites in Southville City.
The video shows Mah Sing Group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum, chief executive officer Datuk Ho Hon Sang and Mah Sing employees giving meal packs, gifts and even singing and dancing with the staff.
Rothur thanked the company for organising the event, saying it was the happiest he had been in the last three years.
This initiative by Mah Sing is in line with the group’s tagline “Reinvent Spaces. Enhance Life”.
Each construction worker also received RM50 as duit raya, while the meal packs given out were prepared by Picha Project, a social enterprise which aims to empower marginalised communities in Malaysia through a sustainable food catering and delivery business.
The video can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/mahsing/ videos/10155442772139133/