The Malaysian Insight

EATERY operators have lost half their business this past week, as customers stay indoors due to the smoke choking Malaysia.

After seeing a gradual drop in patrons as the air pollution worsened, some Chinese restaurants have even cut their operating hours, serving only during lunch and dinner.

Indian-Muslim eateries, which are popular hangout joints and cheap meeting points, are mostly empty at teatime and supper.

Roadside food stalls have it the worst, said Ikhlas, a small traders and hawkers’ association, as being totally exposed to dirty air means that even the owners and workers fall ill.

“Some of our members have complained that business has dropped 50% because customers don’t come out, and when they do, it’s always takeaways,” said Ikhlas president Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah.

“The ones who are probably doing okay are the big fast-food chains because they have delivery services.”

When customers opt for takeaways, they usually place fewer orders for food and drinks, resulting in them spending less, said Ayoob Khan Muhamad Yakub, who heads the Indian-Muslim Restaurants’ Association.

“People don’t ‘lepak’ (hang out) at mamak shops (Indian-Muslim outlets) any more because of the smoke. They just eat and leave, and this brings down business.”

Thick smoke from forest fires in Indonesia has enveloped more and more of Malaysia over the past week, causing air quality to plummet to “unhealthy”, and even “hazardous”, levels.

Sarawak is bearing the brunt of the smoke from the burning of peatland in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Sri Aman suffered “hazardous” air for about two days, while Kuching, the state capital, has recorded a “very unhealthy” air pollutant index (API) reading.

Despite this, food-stall operators in these areas have little choice but to stay open.

“They continue to operate at hawker centres as it is their livelihood. Since they work outdoors for long periods, they inhale a lot of dirty air,” said Federation of Sarawak Hawkers’ Association chairman Voon Chin Leong.

He said the majority of hawkers in the state operate from early morning to 3pm, but when API readings hit “hazardous”, they close about noon.

“The air pollution in the morning is not serious. At noon, the API gets worse. When it reaches 200 or 300, the air is dangerous to health.”

An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates “good” air quality, “moderate” (51-100), “unhealthy” (101-200), “very unhealthy” (201-300) and “hazardous” (300 and above).

“The turnover is definitely affected. It is estimated to fall by 20%. People who dine at hawker centres eat quickly and go back indoors,” said Voon.

For Chinese kopitiams in the peninsula, some of which have cut their operating hours, turnover is expected to drop 50%, said Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association president Ho Su Mong.

“Last week, Johor kopitiams were affected. After the situation there improved, this week was the turn of outlets in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang to be affected. The most seriously hit are the ones in Sarawak.”

Even though they have slashed their business hours and are selling less food, eateries have to maintain the same orders of fresh ingredients from suppliers, said Ku Su Shin Choong Hung Restaurant president Lam Tuck Loy.

“The orders placed by the restaurant with the supplier cannot be reduced.

“Some vegetables do not have a long shelf life. For example, bean sprouts must be soaked in water for a long time. If business is not good, the fresh ingredients go to waste.”

All the associations interviewed called on the government to do more to prevent transboundary smoke from being an annual problem.

“We know that the cause is Indonesia. But it shouldn’t be an excuse not to do more, because the smoke affects our businesses and the larger economy every year,” said Ikhlas’ Ridzuan. – September 20, 2019.