The Malaysian Insight

ROADSIDE food vendors are continuing to eke out a living amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

They told The Malaysian Insight that business is declining as the government continues to keep the country in lockdown.

Many said business has dropped by 50% and even if they are allowed to operate for longer hours they do not think the situation will improve much.

Wan ton mee seller Chan Boon Seng, 50, said his business has dipped 50% since the start of the current total lockdown.

“With the lockdown, people are not coming out to buy food and the operating time is limited,” he said.

“I used to earn RM300 to RM400 a day, but now, I’m considered lucky if I can earn RM100.”

Chan, who operates the stall with his brother in Jalan Thambi Pillay, Kuala Lumpur, said the government should keep to a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the food business.

“They can’t say one thing and do another because at the end of the day, the people are the ones who will suffer,” he said.

“At this point, if I get summoned by the authorities, I would rather go to jail because I have no money to pay the fines.” 

Yesterday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the movement-control order (MCO) will now follow its four-phase Covid-19 recovery strategy.

He said the full lockdown will continue until new Covid-19 cases reported daily drop to below 4,000.

He said the government will announce more comprehensive assistance for all groups of society today or tomorrow. 

The government enforced the nationwide lockdown on June 1.

A Malay mixed rice stall operator who only wants to be known as Siti said she has been operating in Jalan Tun Sambanthan 4, Kuala Lumpur for 30 years.

She said since the pandemic, her business has dropped more than 70%.

“Most of my customers are contractors and office workers. Since the lockdown, these people have not been at their workplaces, so my business is badly affected,” she said.

“I even had to let go of two of my workers as I could not afford to pay their wages.” 

Siti, who used to only sell mixed rice, is now also selling kuih, hoping that she could make some extra sales. 

Krishnamurthy Thangavelu, 60, who sells Indian titbits opposite NU Sentral in Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Kuala Lumpur, said office workers in the area who were his regular customers are now working from home and this has affected his business badly. 

Krishnamurthy, who is a also a wedding photographer, said he was forced to sell his camera to raise money for his titbits business. 

“Since the lockdown, I’ve been earning about RM50 a day whereas last December, I was making about RM200,” he said. 

“Even with the government extending the operating hours for eateries, I doubt I will make much as most people are still working from home.

He said those working in shopping malls were his regular customers too, but the outlets not allowed to operate during the lockdown.

Masala tea seller Haswaani Subramaniam, who plies her trade on a bicycle, said her business has dropped more than 50% since the lockdown.

“I used to sell six containers of tea a day, but now, I’m lucky if I can sell three containers,” said the 26-year-old. 

She said weekends are the worst as there are barely any people in the area.

She said even with the longer hours eateries are allowed to operate, it does not make a difference as most people are staying home.

Haswaani’s brother, a graduate engineer, started the business last year after he was unable to find a job during the pandemic.

The siblings are moving around the NU Sentral area and in Leboh Ampang.

Yesterday, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government decided to allow restaurants and food outlets to open from 6am to 10pm starting today. 

Previously, all eateries were only allowed to operate from 8am to 8pm during the full lockdown, which started on June 1 and extended to June 28.

Ismail Sabri said in a statement yesterday that phase 1 of the lockdown would be maintained under the national recovery plan until the three key threshold value indicators are achieved.

He said that for phase 1, the general SOP of MCO 3.0 still applies, whereby all social and economic activities are not allowed to operate except for the essential service sectors listed by the National Security Council. – June 28, 2021.