Top Glove Puzzled By Minister S Remark On Terrible Condition Of Its Hostels

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Top Glove Corporation Bhd executive chairperson Lim Wee Chai has expressed his puzzlement over Human Resources Minister M Saravanan's remark on the terrible condition of the rubber manufacturer's worker's hostels.
During an online press conference after Saravanan spoke on the deplorable conditions of the Top Glove workers’ hostels, Lim revealed that the minister himself visited the workers' accommodation but he was silent on the living condition of the workers.
"I think he had visited us two to three months ago and during that time, (things) seemed to be good. We don't know why he said differently (now)," Lim told the online press conference.
He said he would like to have the minister pay another visit to the workers' hostels, adding that the company would engage with the ministry to know what needed to be done to further improve the living conditions at the worker's hostels.
"We welcome him to come and visit again because, after the minister's (last) visit, the conditions (at these hostels) continued to be improved. Why so? We put in a lot of money to improve the facilities," Lim said.
At the beginning of the press conference, the media were shown the basic facilities that have been provided for the workers, which included sports facilities, a gym, in-house canteen and barber facilities.



Top Glove said it had spent tens of millions of ringgit in improving the living conditions of the workers and in future, may spend a huge sum to further improve the facilities for the workers.
Top Glove also said the staff were using good mattresses of no less than four inches thick.
"We bought 100 double-storey new houses for them 10 years ago, which cost us RM20 million and we built our own hostels six years ago and that cost us RM30 million. A few months ago, we bought 100 units of apartments in Meru, Klang, costing about RM20 million," he said.
Lim further said the company treasured its staff and always cared for their well-being and health.
"We gave them toothbrushes, toothpaste. We asked them to eat well and gave them veggie meals. We encourage them to go to the gym and sleep well, we asked them not to work late.
"Others talked bad about us. That's irresponsible, but we have to show them we have all these good practices all along.


Lim Wee Chai
"As the world’s largest (rubber glove) manufacturer, we must have done many good things. If not, we cannot grow into a big company… When our company is big, good news or bad news also hit the headlines," he said.
Saravanan has said that he found Top Glove's hostels to be in terrible condition and the minister raised concerns that the Top Glove-linked Teratai cluster could get out of control if the factory failed to act.
Meanwhile, Top Glove executive director Lim Cheong Guan admitted that the company was sending 500 staff, particularly those who have recovered from Covid-19 and discharged from hospital, to some designated hotels.
”They have been cleared and they are being isolated at designated hotels for requisite days. We cannot send them back to the hostels in Meru which have been placed under enhanced movement control order (MCO)," Cheong Guan said.
Some staff were granted the green light from the Health Ministry to work and they will be sent back to work once the factories reopen, according to him.
On Nov 17, Country Heights Holdings Bhd founder Lee Kim Yew slammed Top Glove for sending over 200 staff to one of its hotels and it turned out disastrous as over 160 of the workers were found to be infected with Covid-19. - Mkini

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