DESPITE encountering huge business losses during the ongoing movement control order (MCO 3.0), traders at the Little India have expressed their hope of seeing the community recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Several traders from various businesses shared their thoughts during a random survey conducted by the Buletin Mutiara team on May 18.
K. Rajendar, 65, Maya Silk Centre proprietor.
“Even though all economic sectors can operate during the MCO 3.0, the business is still sluggish. We hardly make any business, as the number of visitors has dropped significantly due to travel restrictions.
“Our regular customers mostly hail from Butterworth, Sungai Petani and Kulim. This is because there is a large pool of Indian community at these places compared to those on the island.
“From a purely economic perspective, not all are able to survive this situation. Only those who are able to withstand the impact will last.
“After the lockdown gets lifted, business will be revived but sooner or later, there may be another lockdown and we will be back to square one.
“This situation will persist until we have found the cure to totally eradicate the pandemic. Till then, we have to keep pressing on.”
S. Vimala Devi, 49, fruit trader.
“I operate my fruit stall here from morning till evening, and I have an average of 10 customers per day.
“During the conditional MCO (CMCO), the business was slightly better as people could travel from one district to another. But now, things are worse.
“I hope that the MCO 3.0 will help to bring down the number of Covid-19 cases as I still see the spike in daily cases in the country.
“As a small trader, we have been impacted badly during this MCO 3.0. But what we hope is that this measure taken will be really effective to nurse the country back to health.”
Palanisamy Alagarsamy, 43, supervisor of Vinithas Fashion
“Ours is a textile business. During this trying time, people do not spend lavishly on clothes. They give priority to essential needs, such as the provisions.
“The MCO 3.0 has actually impacted my business by 90%. It is like we are coming here just for the routine sake of opening the shop in the morning and then closing it at night, barely making any sales.
“On top of that, no functions can take place currently. Therefore, the need for shoppers to visit textile shops is very much less.
“Perhaps a stricter lockdown can be imposed to flatten the curve effectively as I do see ‘movements’ out there on the streets.”
Raj, 22, F&B operator
“Our business is definitely slow as most of our customers come from different districts in Penang, including from the mainland. When there was no travel restriction, some came as far as from Taiping, Kulim and Sungai Petani.
“There are many offices in the vicinity of Little India, and the people from these offices would come to our shop daily. But now most of them are ‘working from home’.
“Since we are having fewer customers, we are taking the time to find ways to improve our businesses in terms of food quality. We have also applied for the food delivery services and are still waiting for the approval.
“Looking at the number of cases, the lockdown may be extended. It does not seem the Covid-19 infections are simmering down easily. Maybe, addressing the pandemic with a proper vaccine will be the cure.”
Devasingam, puttu mayam stall owner
“Yes, our business has been badly hit by the MCO 3.0, almost a 50% to 60% loss of customers. What concerns us the most is the increasing number of Covid-19 cases and fatality rate in the country today.
“As much as we need customers, we are also concern about the public health and safety. This is what really matters now.
“This stall has been operated by parents since 1985. Thus, we do have faithful customers coming to our shop which enables us to sustain the business.
“I am just hoping that the vaccination programme will enable us to achieve herd immunity against this virus.”
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Patmavathy Jayabalan