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by Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Aug 17: Brewing coffee and making the brand’s signature drinks with his deaf colleagues is a fun and easy experience, according to Starbucks Signing Store manager and coffee master Musriffin Sani Musa.
Musriffin said the newly hired deaf crew and team were easy to work with as they have a direct approach towards their respective responsibilities.
“They will express what they want and we will direct and instruct them on what to do. We want to make them feel that this is their store. This is from Starbucks to them, ” he told DayakDaily during the launch of the first Starbucks Signing Store in Borneo at Vivacity Megamall today.
Musriffin said that when he received the project to have deaf employees at their store from Starbucks management less than a year ago, it was something new and exciting.
“Before starting with a project, we attended classes organised by the Sarawak Society for the Deaf (SSD) which lasted for four months.
“It was after we were ready that we started hiring, the process from A to Z of the project was challenging, but once we got all the staff hired it was an enjoyable experience,” he said.
Musriffin elaborated that the hired deaf crew members had settled down with their jobs, and they were always in a cheerful mood when working and serving customers at the store.
He revealed there were eleven staff at the store, where nine were deaf.
“Out of 11 of us, only me and another management personnel can hear. We need to take telephone calls, take outside orders, and some customers need our hearing assistance. We need to be there,” he explained.
He said most of the deaf staff members hired in Kuching have food and beverage experiences, and they also brought in staff from Starbucks Signing Stores from Bangsar Village in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
“Those staff from Peninsular Malaysia came here to help as they have the experience, while we are still new.”
For the hearing community, Musriffin wanted them not to use the word “hearing impairedt” but instead used, the word, “deaf” for their staff.
“We hope this Signing Store will also become an opportunity in the future for deaf people to became a barista as they will be taught professionally,” he said. — DayakDaily
