Despite the MCO being in place, Proton’s daily operations are still on track while providing support to the front liners fight against COVID-19.
We have passed the midway point of the extended MCO slated to end on 14 April 2020, and surely many of us are looking forward to that date – as long we are able to cull the spread of the virus. As with many companies based in Malaysia, Proton has made changes to its operations since the beginning of the order on 18 March.
For a large corporation such as Proton, the company just can’t press the pause button entirely as the company still has its daily tasks to be completed. Proton took the extra measures to adhere to the requirements of the MCO in order to break the COVID-19 chain of infections. And at the same time, the company obtained approval from relevant agencies for essential operations to be carried out.
With a staffing force of close to 10,000 people, the health status of every employee is monitored twice daily – including weekends – with plans in place to isolate and treat those who are infected with the virus during the MCO. Proton is extra cautious and took into account where the staff are based as well as their active work status.
Prior to the MCO, all staff movement outside the company was limited from the beginning of February 2020. Furthermore, those who travelled were required to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine upon their return including being screened for the virus before and after the quarantine period.
“When the news of the COVID-19 virus made headlines, Proton put in to effect an action plan to mitigate against infection. We have been diligent in our efforts and even before the MCO was announced, we cancelled all overseas business travel and enforced work from home operations for a few departments with staff who were quarantined for possible infections. Our main priority is the health and safety of our staff and we are hopeful of emerging from this situation unscathed,”
Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer of Proton.
Proton says that all of its facilities have been shut down since 18 March, while certain job functions are still required to be performed onsite. For example, maintenance of the company’s production facilities will need to continue while a few service centres are assigned to maintain and service Proton fleet cars used by government agencies.
Proton made sure that staff members did not go against the rules of the MCO and obtained approvals to issue letters for only essential staff members to perform their duties on site. And like most companies, Proton’s staff from other departments are working from home.
As for our other staff members, we have asked them to adapt their work practices to the MCO rules. Thanks to video conferencing and messaging technology, meetings and discussions can be held from anywhere with an Internet connection so we are hopeful of keeping disruptions to our business operations to a minimum level,
Dato’ Radzaif Mohamed, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Proton.
Besides its interdepartmental efforts to flatten the curve, Proton has also put its weight into helping Malaysia’s front liners in the fight against COVID-19. Proton has loaned 50 units of the Proton X70 to the Ministry of Health. The vehicles will be used to shuttle health workers to and from work as well as sending them to any virus hotspots in the country which required immediate attention.
These are trying times but we are certain that if we pull together, Malaysia will come out of this strong. PROTON will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with all Malaysians as we see this through.
Dr Li Chunrong, Chief Executive Officer of Proton.
