KUALA LUMPUR: The automotive workshop owned by Mr Wong Tung Khong in Sungai Besi was quiet on Tuesday , with only a few employees servicing customers' cars.
Business then slowed down by October, when COVID-19 cases surged following the Sabah state election in September.With Malaysia recording a four-digit spike in daily cases despite the current MCO, talk of a return to a strict lockdown was rife. Nonetheless, with people encouraged to work from home and travel limited to a 10km radius within their own districts, many business owners have seen a drop in customers.
Before Jan 1, Mr Wong said, his shop used to service 10 to 15 cars a day. Now, at best, he only gets five to six customers a day.If a lockdown were to be enforced, running costs such as rental and salaries still had to be paid, he said.“We need to be clear. If they say two weeks, it’s two weeks. If four, then four. Basically we want to know what’s the real direction for managing the situation,” he said.
"We would like to have a decent Chinese New Year at least. Because after Chinese New Year, everything's quiet anyway, there's nothing to celebrate," she said.Likewise, Mr Syed Naquiz Shahabuddin Syed Abdul Jabbar, who owns several food and beverage outlets in the Klang Valley, told CNA he had to close one outlet in an office area.
Michael Kang Kang, who heads the SME Association of Malaysia, said a number of businesses had exhausted their resources surviving the first MCO back in 2020. “If clusters emerge, lock down those clusters to prevent their spread, but not a full lockdown,” he said.