Last month, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba and known worldwide as the billionaire in China, stirred up controversy. “Young people should see major tech companies’ overtime work cultures as a huge blessing. I personally think that being able to work 996 is a huge blessing,” Ma said.
What is 996?
“996″ is a term used to refer to the working schedule of 9 am to 9 pm, 6-days a week.
May 10 is ‘Ali Day’. A group wedding ceremony is one of the many traditions on “Ali day” and is a celebration to show appreciation for employees and their families.
This year, at the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou, during the mass wedding ceremony, Jack ma brought up the spirit of 996, once again. He even added a new term, “669”.
“At work, we emphasize the spirit of 996. In life, on the other hand, we want 669,” Ma said.
Hold on…I just caught up with 996, now what’s this 669?
“Couples should enjoy each other 6-days, 6-times, with the duration being the key”, Ma said to the 102 couples at the annual wedding ceremony.
In mandarin, the word “九 jiǔ nine” is a homophone with the word for “long time”.
Ma presented the couples with 2 KPI at the ceremony.
“Thirty years ago, there were 25 million newborn children in China every year. Twenty years ago, there were 20 million newborn children in China every year. Last year we had 15 million new children in China. If we don’t have children, one day we will only have 5 million children a year in this country, and this society will be terrible. So having kids early, having lots of kids, and having good, cool kids is the first KPI,” Ma said.
The second KPI is to learn to live a life. “In addition to good products, we must pay attention to the marriage process to operate. It will always be in the process, we not only assess the results but also assess the process of happiness,” Ma said.
With Jack Ma as their marriage witness, the newlyweds happily applauded and thanked him for the wonderful ceremony.
However, many netizens expressed discontent with his speech.
Comments ranged from,
“Is this supposed to be funny?”
“It’s too much!”
“Who would have the energy to 669 at home after 996 during work?!’”
What do you think about 996 and 669?
Comment below.