When in doubt, quit the job

MY company does not seek or accept business from any alcohol, tobacco or gambling outfits. This has been the policy since zubedy (m) Sdn Bhd was set up in May 1994. We do so simply because I disagree with alcohol, tobacco and gambling. It does not fit into my core values.

But that does not mean I do not have friends and family members who consume alcohol, smoke or gamble. In fact, some of my closest friends are drinkers and smokers and they are good people. To each his/her own and may God take care of all of you.

My issue with these three vices is more personal and stems from home and how I grew up but I do not see a need to explain it here.

Yet, in no way do I see a non-drinker to be a better person than someone who consumes alcohol. In fact, when I was little, one of the best humans I met was my late father’s good friend, Uncle Ali Rahman. He was likely an alcoholic but I have not met many with such a kind heart. He was loving, caring and respectful even to a six-yearold child. Many labelled him as one who was bound for hell because of his drinking habit, and I was con- fused because those who said so were far short of his kindness and goodness. May Allah bless his soul.

When my organisation was highly recommended to do a job for a tobacco company, I refused to provide my service. The company’s head of human resources asked me if I was serious as the contract was worth RM1mil. I thanked her for her confidence in my team and brand but suggested a few other providers whom I considered capable of delivering what was needed.

I told her I couldn’t be involved in making her sales team and workforce more effective and efficient in getting more people to smoke and possibly promoting cancer. The HR person respected my stance and we became friends.

When my good friend and former boss at Nestle, the late Benny Loh, joined a beer company as its head of sales and marketing, he wanted me to help him set in place the sales team there.

Obviously, I said no although Benny passionately and cleverly tried to sell me the idea that beer companies never sell alcohol; they sell happiness.

Making people happy, he said, fitted well with my core values. It was a nice try, Ben!

When I quit Nestle, I initially wanted a stint as a copywriter. An advertising agency offered me a lucrative salary but I would have to write for a tobacco brand. I settled for another position with a salary package that was less than half of the first offer but I avoided dealing with tobacco.

How could I write to attract more of the young to smoke and burn their lungs? Could I perform at my best when the very industry was at odds with my own values? Would I give my employer less than a fair deal?

Would my salary be haram? Could I be excellent in my job? As such, I humbly suggest to any cabin crew with any airlines, local or international, who feels uncomfortable with the uniform policies to consider another profession.

Although I see the wisdom of airlines in putting in place two sets of uniforms, tudung and non-tudung, to allow individuals the right to choose their dressing, the cabin crew must consider their other religious concerns like serving alcohol, sleeping with male counterparts in the same area during long flights, free mingling with the opposite sex and etc. Would these gel with their chaste attire?

To the members of parliament who are fighting for the rights of Muslim women cabin crew to wear their religious attire, should they have the right not to serve alcohol or do the other duties needed as per their job description too?

If you are serious with your values and see that all these are against your religious leaning, I suggest that you choose another profession even if the remuneration is less.

Quit. Do not worry, Allah will provide! “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” Quran 13:11

“Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such (trial) has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until (even their) messenger and those who believed with him said, ‘When is the help of Allah?’ Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.” Quran 2:214