A former petrol station operator who felt he was unjustly terminated from his job protested against Chevron Malaysia Limited (Caltex) by supergluing his hand on the floor of the company’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Fadzilah Abdul Hamid worked as operator in two Caltex stations located in Kelana Jaya and Kampung Subang in Selangor, Malaysia for 17 years.
Back in April 2000, the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry released a circular stating, “All costs for implementing self-service including the set-up of automatic devices and calibration of those devices are to be borne fully by the oil company and no direct or indirect charges are to be made by the petrol station operators.”
Photo credit: Yusuf Azmi / Facebook
Fadzilah reportedly refused to pay charges to Caltex, using the circular as guide. According to a report on The Malay Mail Online, Fadzilah took the matter to the federal court which later ruled for RM300,000 ($73,000) to be paid to Caltex. The oil company terminated Fadzilah’s services.
Social activist Muhamad Yusuf Azmi represents Fadzilah. He said that the cost of terminating the two petrol stations is estimated at RM700,000 ($170,400).
“The operator Fadzilah Abdul Hamid turned up at 11am to meet the company’s upper management, but until 3.30pm, not a single representative met him,” he revealed.
Knowing he had to do drastic measures to get his voice heard, Fadzilah decided to protest the company’s indifference by supergluing his hand on the company’s headquarters floor.
Just as he expected, he gained a lot of sympathy from netizens who believe the oil company should not treat him in this manner. Others pointed out that the circular was in Fadzilah’s favor; thus, the courts should have ruled in his favor and that the company should not terminate his services.
Yusuf also claimed that the company’s top management had met with Fadzilah and other Caltex operators in the past for allegations of unfair charges but the company reportedly set various conditions, including “non-disclosure of the contract and not to make any deposit claims”, reports The Malay Mail Online.