MY name is Aisyah and I work in the retail industry where I manage both mall operations and tenants. Last week, I woke up to news that the government was planning to implement MCO 3.0. The rumour transmitted through WhatsApp, a few days ago, which the government denied, has come true. It sounded like another “death sentence” for many of us.

The retail industry has been my family’s livelihood for more than 10 years and during these years, never have I faced such a critical situation like what we see today. It is atrocious.

Since MCO 1.0, tenants operating in shopping malls have been struggling to make ends meet because of low footfall. Sales dipped remarkably during this time, hitting new lows.

Despite this nightmare, many scrambled to quickly switch to the e-commerce platform but out of 10, only two to three succeeded in doing so.

I have personally witnessed many tenants have their shops wind up because operating costs were simply too burdensome or overwhelming to keep their business afloat, even when mall owners/landlords had given significant discount or rebates on their rent to help tide them over.

Things never really recovered during the CMCO period but lately, footfalls had started to to be heard again, which gave everyone a small amount of relief.  

When the announcement of the MCO 3.0 was streamed live, I received more 20 phone calls and messages from tenants and about 10 more text messages the next day. The underlying context was the same despite having different conversations.

One sales assistant, a single mother of three, rang me up and said in a quivering voice, “I was told by my superior that I was going to be laid off.” With the returning of normal operating hours under CMCO, she said to her boss that she thought the Ramadan sales were going to revive the company’s cashflow, to which her boss replied it was unlikely with the recent abrupt implementation of MCO 3.0.

One of the food court operators asked, “What will happen to us if this continues? Already sales have been bad during Ramadan, followed by the implementation of MCO 3.0, and now we have to close abruptly due to the HIDE system introduced by the government. We will suffer tremendously.”

What do these people have in common? They just want to be able to provide for their families.

The majority of retailers were also unable to operate at full capacity or at pre-Covid level due to limited shoppers and shorter operational hours, among others.

When MCO 2.0 was implemented, the general public started to avoid crowded and enclosed places. This fear had caused a significant drop in shopper traffic by as much as 60% at most shopping and commercial centres.

In addition, 80% of retail workers are dependent on their monthly salaries. The number of people whose lives are destroyed by the lockdown is disproportionately higher than the number of people dying from Covid-19.

To make matters worse, mall operators and tenants are forced by the government to blindly comply with the decision to shut made based on the Hotspot Identification System (HIDE), which was implemented without proper explanation given on its mechanism. I believe that the government had failed to engage the mall operators to solicit feedback, a very simple thing to do.

From the PH government that lasted only 22 months to the current PN government which assumed power through the backdoor, the ministers have not been convincingly able to navigate the crisis out of stormy water, crippling our economies further into darkness and hopelessness.

Really, can we not have better ministers who are able to handle our national crisis? Why can’t our leaders show compassion towards those who are working tirelessly to rebuild the nation’s economy?

The worst part is, there was news coverage revealing that there were a few government ministers breaking fast without observing the SOP and there was no stern action taken against them. Some celebrities even crossed state lines on honeymoon without being stopped by the authorities and was only being penalised after social media users caused an uproar. What kind of double-standards is this?

I would really like to reiterate this point. Shopping malls have provided a safe space for all shoppers by strictly adhering to all the rules and regulations imposed by the government. The retail industry has diligently done their part in curbing the spread of the pandemic by working together with the government.

In return, the government should offer the retail industry some sort of compensation when the MCO is implemented, such as tax exemptions and a stimulus package. This is because at the end of the day, the taxes paid by the businesses are channelled back to the government.

Furthermore, we should be given advance notice, when the government decides to impose strict MCO rules, as it shows professionalism and some form of structure and planning. Perhaps it needs to learn from other countries what effective measures have been implemented to manage the pandemic without affecting the economy to a grave extent.

I do sincerely hope that the government is able to plan its strategies more effectively and wisely, as their decision to implement MCO 3.0 has been very abrupt and thus has negatively affected many industries, especially retail.

As a nation, I strongly believe that we can overcome this pandemic only if there is more thought and scrutiny put into the drawing up of SOP. The government cannot afford to fail the people over and over again for the simple reason that government ministers have been paid handsomely to ensure that there is no sub-standard management of this pandemic. The blood will be on your hands. – May 11, 2021.

* Aisyah reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.