Adeel Malik
Mong Hyun Yoon, CEO of Korean automobile company Hyundai, had released a heartfelt letter wishing his Muslim employees a happy Ramadan as reported by Malaysian Digest.
He addressed the letter to his employees in the Hyundai Assan Otomotive Sanayi (HAOS), Hyundai’s longest-serving plant outside of Korea located in Izmit, Turkey.
He decided to join his employees in fasting since last year, to “be one with the HAOS family in their thoughts and understand them.”
Initially, he was not affected much by fasting. However after a few days, he admitted to look forward to the time of breaking fast.
“Whilst I was in the office and seeing the difficulty of the fast (among staff), our assembly line was fasting without any water and as a foreigner this left me in awe.”
“I wanted to express my joy and I’m proud of you,” wrote Yoon, as he was impressed by the employees’ willingness to fulfil the religious obligation and not seeing it as a chore.
From fasting, Yoon expressed that he could understand the daily ordeals of the poor and needy, as stated in the Quran. He also conveyed his appreciation towards the low-income groups in doing the hard jobs for the company.
“There are a lot of people around us who work in low incomes. These people do what they do because of us, they do the work we do not want to,” he wrote.
“With the blessings of Ramadan I hope we recognise these people and thank them and I hope it is a Ramadan where we learn to share with them.”
As a sign of appreciation, the company will distribute cheques to help the employees’ household in shopping for iftar. On top of that, extra breaks and special menus for fasting food will also be designated.
Yoon also reminded the employees to abide by the safety measures before ending the letter, as working in plants involve dangerous tasks. He ended his touching letter by saying:
“I hope at the end of this holy month it is a festival in which all of the families of HAOS celebrate with smiles.
“May Ramadan bring blessings to your houses and goodness to your families.”
