MORE restaurants are likely to close for good following the tighter controls imposed in the second phase of the movement-control order (MCO) which started yesterday, said operators. 

The April 1-14 phase of the MCO has shorter operating hours between 8am and 8pm for restaurants, supermarkets, grocery shops and petrol stations. 

Restaurants and other eateries are still only allowed to open for takeaways and deliveries.

As a result, many have opted to stop business for the time being and said they will only decide whether to reopen after the MCO ends.

With the stricter hours, operators said it’s no longer feasible to cover costs and feed their workers.

The MCO was extended after the authorities failed to slow down the spread of Covid-19. The authorities also tightened the laws by pegging opening hours for eateries.

Up to yesterday evening, there were 45 deaths while 2,908 were hospitalised after catching the virus.

Harmony Banquet Restaurant head chef cum owner Yin Lau said he is offering a 20% discount on takeaway food from his establishment in Puchong as an incentive.

“The response was not bad but after doing the calculations, we found out that we can’t even pay for our workers’ food. It’s just about clearing out stockpile of ingredients,” Yin said.

“At the beginning of March (before the MCO), we could earn a few thousand ringgit a day but that dropped suddenly to only a few hundred.

“I recall a day when we only received an order during daytime and there was no business at all at night.”

Yin said he will close the restaurant for two to three months and whether it resumes will depend on the situation.

“The Covid-19 outbreak has severely affected the whole market, so we’ll have to stop operating at the time being and see how it goes.”

Muslim Restaurant Operators’ Association of Malaysia (Presma) president Jawahar Ali said its 4,200 members, who run about 8,000 restaurants throughout the country, will abide by the government’s directives to curb the spread of Covid-19.

“We will follow the government’s directives. Restaurants will only open for takeaways and no dine-in will be allowed.”

But with people stocking up on food on their own, Indian-Muslim eateries, known as mamak joints, will likely see a further drop in business, said Jawahar.

Since the MCO was enforced on March 18, he said, the worst-hit mamak eateries have suffered up to a 70% drop in business.

Even before the MCO, member restaurants were already reporting a drop of between 30% and 40%.

Mamak eateries also cut back business hours from 24 hours to 18 hours before the MCO.

“The restaurant staff work in three shifts, then we cut it down to two shifts over 18 hours.”

Another factor making it financially untenable for Presma’s member restaurants to stay open under the second phase of the MCO is the discounts delivery services, such as Grabfood and Foodpanda, are offering customers.

Up to 30% discounts are offered, which eat into restaurants’ earnings.

“We have sent a letter to the delivery company (Foodpanda), hoping to reduce the discount from 30% to 15%.”

Jawahar said he expected food delivery orders to spike during the MCO and wants food delivery services to reduce their take of the profits to help restaurants tide over this time of crisis.

“We are grateful that the banks are willing to suspend loan repayments for the next six months, even though we’ll still have to pay interest. We still have to pay electricity and water, but we will not lay off anyone,” he said.

In contrast, Ku Su Shin Choong Hung Restaurant Association (Kusu) president Lum Tuck Loy said restaurants operated by those under the association have not been open since the MCO started on March 18.

“We do not meet the criteria for takeaway and we don’t have workers to provide delivery services, so we had to close in accordance to the MCO,” Lum said.

He said it is difficult to calculate losses now but a restaurant generally needs RM100,000 a month to keep the business running. With the MCO in place for close to half a month, losses can be expected to be near the RM50,000 mark.

The MCO, he said, came too suddenly and restaurants had to let ingredients ordered for March 18 go to waste since it was too late to cancel their orders, even though dry food can still be stored.

He added that the restaurants are still paying workers even though they are closed for business. – April 2, 2020.