Hawkers in Ipoh hope they won’t have to close shop

IPOH: Hawkers and traders in Ipoh are worried about the drop in patrons due to the conditional movement control order (MCO) that is currently being implemented in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

A manager of a 24-hour restaurant who wished to be known as Gopilan, 37, said the number of customers visiting his restaurant have been dropping daily.

“Even though the conditional MCO is not implemented in Perak, the city here is recording more cases. I think that could be the reason why we are getting fewer customers,” he said, adding that the majority of the customers are factory workers.

Gopilan said the restaurant was already suffering with losses since the implementation of the MCO in March.

“When the authorities announced that dine-in is allowed, we were very happy and hoped that things would get better but we were wrong.

“A woman with a Covid-19 tag went to a shop about 10km away from our place. But, the news still affected us.

“We are worried that if the cases continue to spike, we might have to close our business,” he said.

On July 22, it was reported that a woman who was pictured having a meal wearing a pink tag on her wrist at an eatery in Meru Raya tested positive for Covid-19 in her second test after 13 days of home quarantine.

To date, Larut Matang Selama is the only Covid-19 red zone district in the state while Kinta district is a yellow zone.

At least nine schools in Bagan Serai, Parit Buntar, Taiping, Sitiawan, Manjung and Ipoh were ordered to close due to the detection of Covid-19.

Sunny Khoo, 77, said his foodstall received less than half the usual number of customers after the MCO was imposed.

“My stall is quite lucky to still have loyal customers coming by everyday,” he said.

“To get more orders, I registered with a food delivery service. But its commission is a bit high for small businesses like mine.”

Khoo said if the conditional MCO is extended, hawkers like him would just have to hope for the best.

“We are working hard to keep our business open. We hope more customers will support us,” said the 77-year-old hawker.

Nur Amanina Azlan 47, is planning to focus on food delivery if the number of customers continues to decline.

She has been selling nasi lemak near her house after being laid off from work in April.

“It was not easy at first. I use to sell 30 to 35 packets in the mornings.

“But since more Covid-19 cases have been reported in Ipoh, I can barely get 10 customers a day.”

She plans to promote her nasi lemak on social media and take bulk orders instead.

“It’s tough for everyone. I have applied for jobs, but since there are still no calls for interviews, I will continue to sell food,” she said.