A hotel manager in Penang has resorted to selling the hotel’s food to ease the burdens of his staff members due to lack of customers during the movement control order (MCO).
In a video by Bernama, Jeffrey Lim, who is the manager of Red Rock Hotel, was seen holding a placard – with “RM3.00 ONLY” written on it – outside of the hotel’s building in Macalister Road.
He was promoting the hotel’s food and beverages to the vehicles and pedestrians passing by the area.
“We had to do this a means to survive. This effort is to help the staffs survive, as there is not much aid from the government for the hotel industry,” Mr Lim told Bernama.
Some of the meals for sale are tom yam bihun, fried rice, and chicken rice – all for RM3 each. The menu varies every week.
Mr Lim noted that the hotel began selling its food since 1 February.
The MCO which was implemented by the Government from 13 January – and supposedly lifted on 4 February – has been extended until 18 February in all states in Malaysia except Sarawak.
[Video] Demi kelangsungan perniagaan, pengusaha hotel berniaga makanan tepi jalan pic.twitter.com/DqHfWJ7pwX
— BERNAMA (@bernamadotcom) February 2, 2021
Netizens replied under Bernama’s tweet, stating that other hotels have also resorted to selling food and beverages outside of their venue – namely Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and Hotel Royal Penang.
Shangri La Tg Aru Sabah pic.twitter.com/UlAKbqbNT9
— ❣️Nea (@cahyamatha) February 2, 2021
Royal penang Hotel jangan lupa singgah pic.twitter.com/2nUfURATRp
— shidijelah (@shidiiiis) February 2, 2021
Besides hotels, other businesses are also affected by the implementation of the MCO, and were forced to operate beyond their usual practices.
According to one Twitter user, the owner of his favourite café at Puncak Alam, Selangor had to work alone selling packed food outside of the premise. He added that the café previously had many customers.
ini gerai dia pic.twitter.com/72mzij47cR
— danielle (@iberriesme) February 2, 2021
Looking at the way things are at the moment, Twitter user Anwar Ahmad called on the Government to react quickly and rationally rather than merely extending the duration of the MCO. He also urged the Government to be more considerate of the businesses that are affected.
Nampak tak keadaan negara kita mcm mana skrg?
Gov kena react lebih pantas dan lebih rasional, selain dari keep extend PKP and so on.
Now ramai dah start berniaga tepi jalan.
Dalam keadaan mcm ni, harap PBT lebih bertimbang rasa, beri peluang kpd penjaja untuk berniaga.— Anwar Ahmad (@anwarrrrahmad) February 2, 2021
Another Twitter user warned the people to brace for the impact of this half-baked MCO, adding that sources of clusters have been allowed to operate fully while those that do not contribute to any COVID-19 clusters have been forced to shut down.
Brace for impact.
This MCO 2.0 is half-baked. Neither here nor there.
Sources of clusters continue to operate in full scale. By the order of MITI. But those without a single cluster are shut down.
More Malaysians will collapse, physically and mentally.
— Uncle Thanos (@zen_lumphini) February 2, 2021
Over on The Star’s Facebook page, netizens – including Malaysian reggae artist Sasi The Don – lauded the manager of Red Rock Hotel’s effort, and showed support to him for demonstrating excellent leadership abilities in helping his staffs to survive during the pandemic.
Many others also questioned the Government’s plans and efforts in helping affected businesses, with one user suggesting that the Government should just reopen all business sectors but with strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs).
