MPO 7 Legal Fund

We are seven former musicians of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, who in February 2012, were informed that we were all being fired, effective August 2012. No reasons for dismissing us were given, and all attempts to arrange meetings and discussions with Nor Raina Yeong Abdullah, the CEO of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, were categorically refused.
Because of their actions, the orchestra has been under an international boycott since July 2012.

International Boycott of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra 

Every one of us had served the orchestra faithfully, and at the highest standard for many years (four of us since the orchestra was formed in 1998). We had all been involved in community and educational activities well beyond the scope of our contracts, and none of us had any disciplinary or artistic blemishes on our records.

Believing that our dismissals were illegal, in May 2012 we petitioned the Minister of Human Resources, who referred our case to the Industrial Court of Malaysia. On 24 August 2015, the judge returned her verdict: despite our many years of dedicated work with the orchestra, including long service bonuses and contractual retirement clauses, and despite our unblemished employment records, we were all in fact fixed-term, temporary employees, and had no right to expect continued employment. She decided that the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra had every right to terminate our employment at the end of our current contracts, without giving any notice or reason.

More on our plight

Based on all the legal advice we have since received, and the case readings we have done, this decision seems to go completely against the Malaysian Industrial Relations Act, and against just about every precedent that has been set by previous cases. It affects other Malaysian musicians, including all of our former colleagues in the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and seems to give Malaysian employers the right to fire their employees at will, without giving any reasons, merely by stating their "intention" to use a fixed-term contract of employment, whether genuine or not.

We believe that an injustice has been done, and are determined to exhaust all of our options to make it right. With this campaign, we would like to invite you to participate in the next stage of the legal challenges that we face. Our future earning potential has been severely affected by our dismissals, and any amount that you are able to contribute will be gratefully and thankfully received.

Donations can be made anonymously, and we pledge to be completely transparent with the use of those funds, and with our progress. Everything we receive will go to our legal fund, and at the end of the case, if we win a monetary award, we will either return your donation to you in full (if you wish), or make a lump sum donation of the full amount collected to a worthy youth orchestra.

Thank you.

Toko
Brian
Paul
Darcey
Kevin
Markus
Liu

Local coverage of the international boycott