In the plight of the pandemic, workers are now forced to adapt themselves towards a new kind of norm. No longer would they need to commute to work every day, being stuck in traffic jams, and deal with the costs of petrol on a regular basis, as now most companies have started to embrace remote work.
Even with the convenience of being indoors at the comfort of one’s home, there are still those that desire to be placed under the work environment as home to them is a place of relaxation and not for work. This creates a feeling of uncomfortable contradictions where the lines of work and life has taken a beating. To some, this cognitive dissonance might be the straw to break the camel’s back, and COVID-19 has definitely changed the environment to a point of no turning back, if not only to adapt. To improve the mental stagnation of talents, Forest Interactive recontextualized what it means to be at work. With the help of Gather Town, the talented developers and designers Aqilah Hashim and Deanna Cheah, both members of the Corporate PR department, worked hard to recreate the HQ office in a 2D space.
Dubbed the “Virtual HQ,” it is an identical look and space of the actual office in Kuala Lumpur where talents can create their own avatars and populate the virtual space to mingle around with others, have meetings, and even organize and partake in in-house events such as playing music with a piano or playing games. This is all done to maintain the connection between the talents in a way they typically would interact in real life, all while allowing new-joiners who have never been to the HQ to experience the office through their screen. While it could never replace the real thing, talents still got a taste of the actual office, and the space evoked feelings of anticipation and excitement with a sense of nostalgia for the veterans.
Speaking of taste, to commemorate the launch of the space, the International Coffee Day event was held inside the virtual office. Presented by Nuwiya Amal, Forest Interactive’s own UI/UX designer, who is also a former barista, the purpose of the event was not only to exalt one of the most popular beverages in the world but also to bring awareness to those who brought the beans to people’s lives.
As stated by Nuwiya during the event, “We celebrate International Coffee Day to not only show our love for the drink but to also bring awareness to the exploitative coffee industry towards the farmers.” She added “Suppliers in the industry always pay lesser than what the market can offer to the farmers. As result of that, farmers are doing the extra work while making less. It’s the trickle-down effect that we’ve seen before, and it is affecting the coffee farmers heavily.”
Nuwiya also mentioned that due to climate change, coffee farms are getting trickier to manage and this can result in more losses for the farmers. To mitigate this at the very least, Nuwiya urged everyone to start buying coffee beans from a local roastery and not rely on instant coffee, where it is proven to have little coffee in it and more preservatives. By buying from there, one can get more coffee in their drink all the while supporting those who work hard for it directly. By reducing the number of hands the money passes through, the farmers are able to get more profit out of the coffee beans they grow.
On a brighter note, at the end of the event three lucky winners from the pool of participants that sent in their questions won locally roasted coffee beans and gift cards from a local cafe in Kuala Lumpur.
Forest Interactive is always pushing for innovation at the front center of its operations, not just in business, but also for the livelihood of the talents as well. The ability to bring about the best in its people comes from the managements’ ability to empathize and willingness to help the talents in whatever plight that they are facing. As such the virtual space was created to make sure that the talents are constantly engaged in a way that does not compromise their health. One such engagements is the International Coffee Day, where the talents learned new things about coffee as well as enjoyed the act of communicating with each other as it would be in the office.
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