HIT with a full lockdown after numerous movement-control orders, traders at the iconic Jalan Chow Kit area in the heart of Kuala Lumpur have voiced their frustration with Putrajaya for not putting much thought into this current lockdown.

They are not happy that no aid has been announced yet and that the vaccination process is still slow, and also expressed concern over changes to the standard operating procedure (SOPs), which will further cause them more hardship.

Chow Kit Road Traders Association chairman Baba Sharin told The Malaysian Insight Putrajaya seemed to have panicked over the high number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, which saw them rushing to announce the latest lockdown, which will take effect from today till June 14.

He said this lockdown should have been enforced much earlier. Instead, what has happened now is due to panic, without much thought given to how traders like him would survive.

Under the total lockdown, only food business and a limited number of essential services are allowed to operate from 8am till 8pm.

“For second hand clothes store owners like me, I have to close my business.

“Now all second-hand clothes store owners will have to go online, but that is not effective.

“I’m an old man and am not savvy in using Facebook or Instagram. Thankfully, some young people are teaching me how to use social media. I can still make money but not like before,” said the 60-year-old Baba.

Baba said even allowing food stalls to operate from 8am till 8pm daily defeats the purpose of operating.

“Who is going to come anyway, given that the authorities are urging everyone to ‘stay home’,” said Baba.

The association has 530 members and Baba said almost all of them will be affected by the total lockdown.

“I am not the only one affected. For example, a nasi lemak seller. They are only allowed to sell their nasi lemak at 8am, but in reality, people come to buy nasi lemak as early as 6.30am. So, what happens to them?

“Furthermore, with most of them ordered to work-from-home, who is going to come here?”

Baba is a popular figure along Jalan Chow Kit. He has been in the industry for more than 40 years.

He said he is speaking not only for himself but for more than 500 members who have been coming to him with their complaints.

“They cannot not generate profit. This is what most of them have told me,” he said.

“Night market operators selling vegetables or dried food have it worse. They open at 4pm and close at 8pm. What can they do? They have to open, so that they can take home some money and not return empty-handed.

The usually bustling Jalan Chow Kit was quiet when The Malaysian Insight paid a visit recently.

Most of the streets near the area were almost empty as many were working from home.

At night, according to Baba, the roads are deserted.

“Very rarely do you see such an atmosphere in Chow Kit. This is an area people visit regularly. Not only locals (come), but foreigners as well.

Pancake seller, Roni Syah Putra, was another trader who complained about poor business.

The 37-year-old said his father’s business had been sliding since the movement-control order was enforced in January.

“I usually use 15kg of flour daily to make and sell pancakes. But since the MCO, to finish 10kg of flour is a struggle.

“It is worse now that people are working from home. Fortunately, I can still operate from 8am to 5pm, which are my usual business hours,” he said.

Aziz, a Thai food restaurant owner, said he had to lay off seven of his workers and cut the pay of his existing staff in order to survive.

“For Thai restaurant owners like me, we have to operate from 10am to 7.30pm. No one visits Thai restaurants in the morning.

“People come in from 4pm onwards. My business hours are actually from 2pm to 3am. This is before the pandemic. We have suffered a lot,” he said.

Government should provide aid

Baba, Roni and Aziz urged Putrajaya to announce another round of assistance for petty traders, adding that with daily cases on the rise, the restriction order would not end soon.

“If the government can consider another round of aid for us that would be great. This process will take a long time, until and unless we are all vaccinated and cases begin to drop.

“We will not be back to operating like we used to until then,” they said.

Baba, meanwhile, said, many are looking forward to getting a date for the vaccination.

However, he said, there is a problem among the older traders who are not well informed on how the system works.

“My friends, who are the same age as me, don’t have enough information. Many of us want to get vaccinated but until now there isn’t any update in our MySejahtera app,” he said.

Aziz on the other hand received his vaccination date.

“We want the vaccine. I have a date already. All we want is safety, for our family, for our customers and for the people around us. I don’t think the traders here are against the idea,” he said.

“I am afraid after hearing so many stories about the pandemic. I am adamant to get vaccinated,” said Roni.

Situation could have been better

Baba said although their businesses and income are affected, the majority of traders in Jalan Chow Kit agreed with the government’s decision to impose MCO 3.0 and now the full lockdown.

“Yes, our business is not okay, but safety comes first. The sooner we end this, the sooner we can get back to our daily routine.

“Maybe the government can still improve at a certain level. We will follow the SOPs given,” Baba said.

Roni agreed, saying if the government loosens the SOP, it will be difficult to contain the pandemic.

“I hope they can contain it. As long as others and I can run our business, be it for only four hours a day, we will still be grateful.

They also urged Putrajaya not to back-track on the SOP.

“The thing that irritates me is the changes in SOP. One day you can do this, the next day you can’t.

“Most of us here are law abiding citizens. But don’t take us for a ride,” said Aziz.  – June 1, 2021.