Sunday, 23 Feb 2020 08:59 AM MYT
Many are just simply grateful that, temporarily, the Government has given them a small mercy: A rental waiver for one month so that they do not have to worry about paying rent when earnings have taken a hit. Another stall owner Asiah Omar, 66, who sells noodles at Tekka Market, said that any help granted to her was good.
David Lim, 64, who runs Empress Place Teochew Beef Kway Teow at Maxwell Food Centre, is unsure what will happen beyond the month though. If the outbreak persists, the waiver for just one month may not be enough to help them survive, he said. Those located in the heartlands observed that more customers now prefer to cook at home rather than eat out.Tay, 47, who owns a stall at Hong Lim Food Centre, said: “No matter how nice the food is, how famous you are or how many awards you have, the coronavirus prevents people from coming.”
The 70-year-old owner of Hokkien Street Bak Kut Teh at the same food centre, who wanted to be known only as Toh, said that his business has plunged by 40 per cent ever since the authorities raised the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition to Orange level, which indicates that a virus is spreading here but is being contained.Fewer foreign workers, some stuck in China
Muhammad Ayub, 60, who sells North Indian food at the same market, said: “Before the virus came, office workers will come and pack food in the evening. Now, it’s very quiet at that time.”The owner of Hai Kee Mixed Vegetables stall, who did not want to be named, said that his business has dropped by 30 per cent due to a reduction in Chinese foreign workers, who used to patronise his stall every morning.
“There are still conservancy and table-cleaning costs, excluding utilities. So the one-month rental waiver works out to paying just half our costs.”