EXPOSÉ: Cilisos Staff Breaks Silence On Abusive Editor-In-Chief

TW: Photos and videos of abuse in the workplace taken by Cilisos staff

We have had enough of our editor-in-chief, Iqbal Fatkhi, who you may also know as @Iqtodabal on all social media platforms.

In October of 2023, Iqbal entered as the new editor-in-chief of Cilisos Media. He replaced our former EIC, UiHua Cheah. At first, he presented himself as an outgoing, charismatic and encouraging leader. He took the time to talk to all Cilisos staff individually and even asked each of us to share our hopes and dreams for the company. We took him in with open arms but not long after, he betrayed us.

For months, the Cilisos staff have been enduring his abuse everyday – including the weekends. But after numerous incidents, we have finally decided that enough is enough.

This is the full series of events of Iqbal Fatkhi’s true nature towards his employees.

Racism

“Everytime we have a meeting, he would make everyone sit in a group according to their race. So, as the only Iban in the company, I have to sit alone.” – Hazel, Cilisos video editor.

Inflated ego

 

“When we don’t like his ideas, he’ll continuously try to brainwash us and in the end will say, ‘BECAUSE I’M THE BOSS'”. – Shiebnaa, Cilisos social media manager.

“When he comes in and leaves the office we all have to line up by the door and cheer, ‘2,4,6,8. Who do we appreciate? Iqbal Iqbal Iqbal!’ I felt like I was in a cult.” – Elil, Cilisos staff writer. 

Personal vendettas

“I am deathly allergic to cats but Iqbal loves them. Instead of respecting me, he has been putting cat fur on my desk so I would get used to it… I had to go to the doctor so many times.” – Shiebnaa, Cilisos social media manager.

“He convinced the shareholders to replace me as EIC. So I’m now driving Grab.” – UiHua, ex-Cilisos editor-in-chief, now Grab driver.

Obsessive micromanaging

“Whenever we shoot videos where I am the talent, he would be in the room. For each mistake I made, he would deduct RM10 from my salary. There was one month when I only took home 50 sen.” – Ameera, Cilisos editor.

“Iqbal always ajak everyone in office to lunch together, but never belanja us. That’s okay, but he’ll do spotcheck everyday to see if someone brings bekal. If they did, he will rampas the bekal and arrange it on his desk. You can only take it after working hours. His excuse was, ‘Everyone has to eat outside and socialise.'”-  Ain, Cilisos video editor.

“I was late to work one morning because I had diarrhea. From then on, I had to inform him everytime I berak and send him photos of my poop. I was mortified and ashamed.” – Ameera, Cilisos editor. 

“He cannot accept that he’s the only one that can meow. So, he set up an emergency meeting and forced everyone to meow. Now, I meow in my sleep.” – Alifwan, Cilisos video editor.

Extreme and harmful political values

“Every morning before starting work, the staff has to line up in front of a gigantic portrait of Anwar and burn incense while chanting ‘Malaysia Madani’ 33 times. We have to pay respects to the Anwar portrait again before going home.” – Badd, Cilisos and Soscili editor.

“He made it compulsory for Cilisos staff to like Rafizi Ramli’s tweets using our personal Twitter accounts. If we don’t like them, we’ll be fired for not supporting reformasi. Of course we all have to register PADU as well.” – Badd, Cilisos and Soscili editor.

Here’s how you can help

After careful consideration, we decided that this was the only way to go…

for an April Fool’s joke!

If you stuck with us til the end of this article, you sure kaki cerekarama TV3 kan? Or you’re just a concerned and thoughtful reader who knows to read the full article (and not just the headline) before taking any action.

Either way, Cilisos appreciates you and would like to thank you for your support. We all love a bit of drama, but not every headline is a true depiction of the full story. So, we encourage our readers to read critically and if you need practice, you can always read more Cilisos articles.

Happy April Fool’s day! Oh and Iqbal is a nice boss. (He’s behind me as I’m typing this.)