More models owed payment by the organisers of the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week have been paid their dues, said model Alicia Amin who staged a protest over the matter on the sideline of the event last month.
To date, eight models who sought her help after waiting to be paid since 2019 have received full payment but three are still waiting, she added.
Expressing relief for the eight models, Alicia (above) said the payment has helped them settle urgent bills.
"One model told me she is so happy that she got paid because she can now use that money to get married," she said on the sidelines of the premier of the film “Rasuk” at GSC Tropicana Mall, Petaling Jaya this week.
The actress shared she had been inundated with messages from other models expressing gratitude to her for speaking out on their behalf.
"One senior model thanked me after finally receiving the RM17,000 owed to her. She said everything has been paid.
"For this model, who does not have a celebrity status, to be owed that much - it means she had done a lot of work (but did not receive payment for it)," Alicia added.
When the controversy broke out last month, KLFW organiser Andrew Tan reportedly admitted there were payment delays.
"I can tell you now that they (models) cannot claim we do not pay at all. We may be late, but we do and will pay," he was quoted as saying by The Vibes at the fashion week's media launch.
Models fear speaking out
Earlier, Malaysiakini reported four KLFW models were paid what was due to them, following the protest.
On Aug 18, Alicia staged a one-person protest against delayed payments for runway models at the KLFW, held at Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur.
Alicia said she felt conflicted about working with the organisers, knowing they owed money to other models, and decided to stage the protest when the matter was not resolved following discussions with the organiser.
The 27-year-old even turned down an offer by a law firm to take legal action against the organiser, as she said she wanted to resolve the matter amicably.
During the protest, Alicia demanded that all models working at the KLFW this year be paid on the same day.
She said she did not personally face non-payment issues anymore but was doing it for new models in the industry.
This is because new models fear speaking out as they do not want to jeopardise future bookings, she explained.
Alicia shared she endured this when she was new to the industry and was only paid after she threatened to take legal action against the organiser.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.