‘Sex for Six Days, Six Times’, Jack Ma’s Latest Advice for Improved Life

After successfully advocating people to follow the spirit of ‘996’ (9 am to 9 pm, six days a week at workplace), Jack Ma, founder and chairman of online shopping giant, Alibaba, now has given another advice and that follows the spirit of ‘669’ which means sex for six days, six times, with duration being the key, for an improved life.

The advice to his employees from the richest man of China came during company’s staff’s group wedding, which takes place every year on ‘Ali Day’ on May 10 at the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou. Ma said, “At work, we emphasize the spirit of ‘996’. In life, we should follow ‘669’”.

Though the 54-year-old Ma’s remark on the firm’s 996-work schedule was criticised by a large section of society, as the schedule calls for employees to work 12 hours a day between 9 am and 9 pm six days a week.

Last month, while defending the Chinese work practice of 996, Ma, a former English teacher who founded Alibaba in 1999, said he and early employees of Alibaba regularly worked for long hours. 

Ma also said that the long hours are a ‘huge blessing’ as “Most of the companies don’t have the opportunity to work 996. If you don’t work 996 when you are young, when can you ever work 996?” he said in remarks later posted on the company’s social media account. According to China’s Labor Law average work hours must not exceed 40 hours a week. 

This year after the ceremony, Ma advised the newly wedded 102 couples, “What is 669? Six days, six times, with duration being the key”. The word ‘nine’ in Chinese is a homophone referred to as word for ‘long’. The quote was later posted on the Alibaba’s official page on Weibo with a winking emoji, which drew widespread criticism from net users.

The ‘996’ work idea was earlier criticised by the tech industry. Now, the ‘669’ philosophy has also taken social media by storm, with many net users calling the comments of Ma, as lewd.

As the officiant of the ceremony, Jack Ma also urged the new couples to procreate, calling children a better investment than property. He said, “The first KPI or Key performance indicator of marriage is to have results, means having children. Marriage is not only for the purpose of accumulating wealth, buying a house, for buying a car, but also for having a child together”.

His message has come amidst a dwindling birth rate in China and an increasing pressure on the country’s slowing economy. The total number of babies born in China in the year 2018 fell by two million to 15.23 million, which also marked for the first time the lowest birth rate since 1961.

Despite China’s relaxing one-child policy in 2016. Many couples have not opted to have babies due to concerns like rising housing prices and access to high-quality education. 

Before starting his entrepreneurship journey Jack Ma was an English teacher who successfully convinced his friends to give him $60,000 (£45,000) to start a Chinese e-commerce firm called Alibaba in the year 1999. Two decades later, Alibaba is an Internet giant and Ma is among the top world’s richest men.

At the height of success, last September, the tycoon announced his plan for a gradual retirement in 2019 to devote his time on philanthropy focused on education.