What a village medical check-up taught me about recruiting

In short: good recruiting means going to where people are, asking, and explaining why an opportunity matters to them. Marcus Koh was reminded of this at a free medical check-up for an Orang Asli community in Ulu Yam, Selangor, where volunteers had to invite villagers in one by one.

On Saturday 31 October 2026 I had to compete with a wedding.

I joined a free medical check-up for the Orang Asli community at Kampung Gurney in Ulu Yam, a quiet corner of Selangor. It was a community project of the Rotary Club of Petaling Jaya, run with the National Kidney Foundation, and supported by the Rotaract Club of Petaling Jaya.

Nobody queues for a check-up on their own. We had to go into the village and invite people in. That morning wedding preparations were in full swing, and the groom's family had driven in from Perak. In the end, most of the wedding party came to be checked as well.

I spent the morning "recruiting" patients, and recruiting is what we do every day - for a job, for an opportunity, for an idea. Nobody says yes because we are standing there. They say yes because someone took the time to ask, and to explain why it matters to them. That is the art of selling, and a village road on a Saturday is as good a place as any to practise it.

50 villagers had blood and urine tests, their BMI measured and their eyes checked. The village kids had a very good time.

What stayed with me was how simple life is there, and how generous the people were. They were approachable. They cooked together and offered us their food, free. Hokkien mee was on the menu, which I did not expect. The whole village came together for the wedding, across different faiths, as one community.

I came back tired, energised and grateful. Our world is not perfect, but we do what we can, and it means more when we do it with like-minded people.

The same habit is how we recruit at PositiveLinks Asia: we go to where the right people are, and we explain clearly why the role matters to them. If you are hiring in Southeast Asia, talk to our recruitment team.

PositiveLinks Asia is a recruitment, contracting and HR advisory firm in Southeast Asia, founded in 2010. Recruitment covers Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. HR advisory serves companies in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. Contracting is provided from Malaysia. For other countries, PositiveLinks Asia confirms what it can do for each request.