JOHOR BARU, May 28 — Like many entrepreneurs in Malaysia, Mohamad Ridwan Mustafa breathed a huge sigh of relief when the country started to transition into the endemic stage from April 1. He had been struggling to keep his restaurant business in Taman Universiti, near here, afloat the past two years.
He now helms the kitchen after his chef left but he is optimistic that business will improve with the reopening of the Johor-Singapore land borders. Hiap Joo Bakery’s co-proprietor James Lim said since the reopening of the border, sales has been very good.“Such is the demand for our banana loaf cakes where a bulk of it is bought by Singaporean customers. Even this isn’t enough... the output figure is more than before the MCO where we only maximised our banana loaf cakes to 7,000 a day,” said Lim, referring to the movement control order or lockdown.
However, Singapore visitors have always been attracted to food outlets nearer to the city or the border crossing. “Our Singaporean customers, as well as Malaysians who are working in Singapore, will usually come over on weekend nights.” Chan added that some of his Singapore customers are golfers who drop by his restaurant after a game in Johor Baru.
Chan also shared Muz’s sentiments and added that it will take several months for business owners in Johor Baru to see if there is indeed a large rebound due to Singapore visitors. Nadzri said with the increase in the number of Singapore motorcycle customers, there will be a need for smaller workshops to expand to cater to a growing market.“Businesses need to give it some time before committing,” said Nadzri.
He pointed out that in Johor Baru, the Bazar Karat night bazaar and the Pasar Borong Pandan wholesale market are popular with Singaporean shoppers.